Art: Shan Hur makes installation work to question the confines of gallery space

If his artwork is anything to go by, Shan Hur was a true champion of hide and seek as a child. The Korean-born, London-based sculptor specialises in the partial and illusory deconstruction of gallery spaces, be it a twisted column, a hole in the wall or a broken pillar, in which he often conceals unexpected items of treasure. A porcelain vase for example or a handful of coins stuck in the cement of a crumbling wall, or even a basketball in the centre of a pillar. Taking his inspiration from closed shops and construction sites, his work directly confronts the confines of a gallery space and the viewer as participant to create brilliantly stalling work which questions what we know even as it sits in front of our very eyes.

His statement explains: “Shan Hur’s sculptural interventions disrupt the viewer’s perception of the white cube as an art container, directly implicating the gallery soak as an active element in the artwork itself. The ideas which inform his practice derive from a careful examination of construction sites and closed shops, fascinated by the moment of transition when a particular space is reconfigured for a new purpose.” Just imagine the treasure hunts!