In the main photo: Wang Yeul, Utopia-Meditation, 2025. Acrylic on canvas. 55 in. x 110 in.
June 26 – July 10, 2026
Shatto Gallery | 3130 Wilshire Blvd #104, LOS ANGELES, CA 90010
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 26, 2026 | 3-5 PM
Shatto Gallery is pleased to present Walking through Utopia, the second Los Angeles solo exhibition of Korean abstract landscape painter Wang Yeul. In this exhibition, Wang draws from and ultimately interrogates East Asian philosophical and painterly traditions to redefine the concept of utopia, not as a distant fantasy or an idealized state, but as a mode of perception.
Wang’s intensely chromatic, gestural paintings which evoke expansive landscapes through color and rhythm serve as a meditation on the concept of emptiness found in East Asian philosophy and aesthetic theory. Fields of vivid color—saturated Prussian blues and deep vermilions—dominate and structure the pictorial space. Loose, sweeping strokes achieved through traditional bamboo brushes dissolve edges and forms, subtly suggesting natural elements rather than directly representing them.
Wang’s fluid landscapes challenge our notion of utopia as a teleological endpoint or goal with fixed properties. Instead they propose utopia as an ephemeral state of emptiness cultivated through profound contemplation. His works instill a quiet urgency, suggesting that paradise is never a fixed physical coordinate, but a state found in temporary shifts of consciousness.
Stripped of detail, Wang’s abstracted landscapes hint at vast physical realms while leaving intentional space for interpretation. The definition of utopia is subjective and found in ordinary circumstances. By leaving the canvas open, Wang invites audiences to map their own utopias and bring their own personal, emotional colors to the exhibition.
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Wang Yeul (b. 1960) is a Korean abstract landscape painter who received his BA, MFA, and PhD from Hongik University in Seoul. Currently a Professor of Fine Arts at Dankook University, he has exhibited extensively across Asia, Europe, and the United States in hundreds of solo and group exhibitions. His works are held in several prestigious institutions including Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Korea University, and Daejon Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul.
Shatto Gallery
3130 Wilshire Blvd #104, LOS ANGELES, CA 90010
Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 11 AM – 5 PM
Wang Yeul
Utopia-Meditation, 2016
Ink and acrylic on canvas
27.5 in. x 79 in.
Wang Yeul
Utopia-Meditation, 2026
Ink stick and acrylic on canvas
15 in. x 15 in.
Wang Yeul
Utopia-Meditation, 2026
Ink stick and acrylic on canvas
21 in. x 18 in.
Wang Yeul
Utopia-Meditation, 2026
Ink stick and acrylic on canvas
23.5 in. x 28.5 in.
