SAUVE QUI PEUT

Gallery Hyundai is pleased to present _SAUVE QUI PEUT_, a group exhibition featuring eight artists whose practices respond to the complexities of the contemporary moment through distinct artistic approaches in an era when grand narratives, myths, historical genealogies, and established paradigms are being dismantled and reconfigured. Drawing its title from Jean-Luc Godard’s 1979 film, the exhibition reconsiders the notion of self-preservation in a moment of uncertainty and transformation. The participating artists have developed independent artistic languages and modes of perception rather than aligning themselves with institutional frameworks, prevailing trends, or generational conventions. The exhibition encompasses a broad spectrum of practices, including contemporary reinterpretations of East Asian painting traditions, figurative painting that utilizes artificial intelligence and digital imagery, abstraction and geometric abstraction, process-based painting, sculpture and installation, and works grounded in queer identity and lived experience. Collectively, these diverse practices build upon the artistic legacies and discourses that Gallery Hyundai has cultivated over the past 56 years and provide a platform through which to consider the evolving possibilities of contemporary Korean art. The exhibition unfolds across three thematic sections: _Movement, Intervals, and Drift_ on the first floor, featuring Ju Young Kim and Min ha Park; Female Abstraction: Languages of Sensibility on the second floor, featuring Hyun Jung Ahn, Park Junghae, and Hyein Lee; and _Unruly Subjects_ in the basement, featuring Jung Jinhwa, Leesop Cho, and Sun Woo. As part of its ongoing commitment to identifying and supporting emerging artistic voices, Gallery Hyundai plans to present this exhibition as a biennial platform dedicated to exploring new directions in contemporary practice. Jean-Luc Godard’s _Sauve qui peut (la vie)_ (1979) moves through _The Imaginary (Prologue), Fear, Commerce, Music,_ and _Coda._ Through these interwoven narratives, the film reflects on a world increasingly shaped by the forces of capitalism, in which labor, sexuality, human relationships, media, and even art become subject to commodification. At its core lies an allegorical proposition that individuals must navigate and preserve themselves within systems that continually absorb and transformed lived experience into exchangeable value. The exponential growth in social media and digital platforms, rapid technological advancements such as artificial intelligence, increasingly blurred boundaries between virtual and physical realities, and escalating political polarization and geopolitical tensions worldwide have fundamentally reshaped the frameworks through which we understand the world. The production and dissemination of information have become more decentralized than ever before, while the authority once granted to singular historical narratives, ideologies, and aesthetic canons continues to diminish. The grand narratives, myths, historical genealogies, and dominant paradigms that long underpinned the legitimacy of art have gradually lost their singular authority. In their place has emerged a multiplicity of voices, perspectives, identities, experiences, and narratives that coexist, intersect, and continually redefine one another. We find ourselves in a profoundly pluralistic condition. An era in which art is arguably freer than ever before, yet simultaneously confronted with an unprecedented degree of uncertainty. Against this backdrop, _SAUVE QUI PEUT_ begins with a simple yet fundamental question about the essence of art. Instead of following the discourses and keywords generated by the media, the art market, or institutions, the exhibition explores which forms of sensibility and beauty might endure beyond the urgencies of the present moment, and which artists possess the conviction to pursue such sensibilities through their own distinct visual languages, offering a glimpse of futures yet to be written. Spotlighting artists born after the 1980s, the exhibition seeks to reflect on both the current condition and possible futures of contemporary Korean art. Here, the phrase ‘Sauve qui peut’ is understood less as an imperative or ethical demand than as a responsibility borne by those capable of perceiving the subtle currents of their time, remaining attentive to them, and translating them into a distinct artistic language. The eight participating artists have sustained their inquiries on their own terms rather than aligning themselves with prevailing trends, generational expectations, or established categories of cultural production. Although they each employ distinct media and methodologies, they share a common disposition: an understanding of reality, systems, subjectivity, and collective experience not as fixed entities, but as conditions that remain in flux—continually shifting, evolving, and coming into being. Grounded in personal experience, embodied knowledge, and internally coherent modes of thinking, each artist continues to develop a highly individual sensibility and visual language. Rather than resisting uncertainty, they embrace it as a productive force. In this regard, their practices resonate with the broader conditions of the present, an era marked by the fragmentation of singular narratives and the emergence of multiple ways of seeing and understanding the world. This exhibition ultimately seeks to engage not only the field of contemporary art, but also the broader cultural and social conditions that shape our present moment. In this spirit, Gallery Hyundai has collaborated with musician Kim Oki, whose singular musical practice similarly resists easy categorization. On June 24, Kim Oki will release a full-length album titled _SAUVE QUI PEUT_, extending the exhibition’s inquiry into another artistic medium. At the same time, the exhibition aims to create a space for contemplation, one that considers the conditions of the present while opening possibilities for imagining what lies ahead. It encourages viewers to reflect upon the deeper layers of the self and its relationship to others. At a moment marked by uncertainty and continual transformation, perhaps it is worth returning to what Jean-Luc Godard described as ‘a certain moral position grounded in essence’; the instincts, convictions, and sensibilities that guide our lives. Ultimately, _SAUVE QUI PEUT_ proposes a moment of introspection on that _vérité_—the forms of attention, perception, and commitment that continue to sustain artistic practice today.