Villazan is pleased to present "In The Clouds" a group exhibition featuring works by internationally renowned artists Diren Lee, Edgar Plans, and Suanjaya Kencut.

Diren Lee was born in 1983 in South Korea. She builds a view of the world that cannot be explained by just one series of works. By releasing a new series, mixing, and rebuilding it with her previous one, she creates her world. The inner world created to heal her pain now describes her unique characters and symbolism through homage to classical myths and orientalism. All her works are painted on canvas with a single brush, and such a process is also linked to her desire to give the characters a living and breathing vitality.

Diren Lee Diren Lee is a storyteller of the unconscious world. The characters in the two works on display in the exhibition, the cat and the character accompanied by a little angel are connected by a red thread, which is a very common symbol in East Asian culture, as it is said that we are all connected by a red thread and that someday we will meet. The characters are expressed as connected creatures, stressing the meaning of “one-being”. “In my work, the cat and I are different, but they symbolize that we are linked by red threads” states the artist.

Edgar Plans (Madrid, 1977), categorized as the most popular Spanish contemporary artist, grew up and is now based with his family in the northern Spanish town of Gijón. After earning a degree in Art History from the University of Oviedo, Plans started to participate in small exhibitions in local galleries. As of today, his works have been exhibited in Museums such as the MOMA Museum in Moscow Russia, the Xiao Museum in Rizhao, China, and the S2A Museum in Seoul.

The most recognizable characters in Plans' work are the "Animal Heroes", kind of innocent-looking creatures, but who are brave fighters against unjust social causes. In this case, Edgar has portrayed the "Animal Heroes" as basketball players on a cloudy background, as superheroes who can fly and do the impossible in their imaginary world.

Suanjaya Kencut (Indonesia 1994) is a visual artist working primarily with paintings, sculptures, and installations. He derived his inspiration from the traditional Balinese art and modern art installations he grew up surrounded by. The dolls are the main subjects in Kencut's work. He aims to bring them to life by placing them in real-life situations. The dolls seem to live through human emotions, struggles, and life joys. The flat backgrounds and bold color choices give an illustrative feeling to his works yet drive the viewer to envision themselves in the dolls' shoes.

The artist's reason for depicting these dolls with fabric textures and buttons as eyes is because the human eye appears to be the window to the soul as it reveals information about the person and his or her emotional state.

I have chosen to omit such windows and replace them with simply mundane buttons. I want the dolls presented to be innocent and expressionless. I want to present a work that can complement the expression of the audience. The eyes are a reflection of expression that will never lie as windows to the soul. Buttons are a link between one canvas and another, referencing that analogy. I want my work to connect me with the public through a common expression that connects when viewing my work.

(Suanjaya Kencut)

The works of this exhibition depict a group of friends watching a soccer game, which is an exhilarating experience, and also a reminder that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. It is a reminder that, in the middle of the competition, we are united, there is laughter and it is the pure joy of watching a beautiful game together.