2023.06.01-2023.07.28
Happy Farm
 
2023.09.16-2023.10.30
illusive illusion
 
2023.03.11-2023.04.23
A Glance Back~The Theater of Youth"
 
2022.12.03-2023.01.15
A Glance Back~Have You"Kusama Yayoi-ed" today?"
 
2022.09.24-2022.10.30
Dreamland
Jang_Tarng-Kuh_Solo

 
2021.11.06-2021.11.30
Five Faces of The Artist
Kim Tae-ho

 
2021.09.07-2021.10.10
Five Faces of The Artist
Kim Tschang-yeul

 
2021.04.01-2021.05.16
One Day in the Future
 
2020.12.19-2021.02.07
Tao Wen-Yueh - Soul to Soul
 
2020.09.26-2020.11.22
Lee Lee Nan - He's been here....
 
2020.05.16-2020.07.26
Deconstruct the Past from the Future.
 
2020.03.15 ~ 2020.04.26
Face of The Spring No.20
 
2020.01.04 ~ 2020.02.16
Owing to My Paranoia
 
2019.10.19 ~ 2019.12.08
Salon of an Art Collector
 
2019.08.27 ~ 2019.09.29

Visual Tricks


 
2019.05.18 ~ 2019.06.30

Wu Hao Retrospective Exhibition - Never Say Goodbye


 
2019.05.30 ~ 2019.06.02

2109 Art Busan


 
2019.03.09 ~ 2019.04.27

Flowery Spring


 
2019.03.26 ~ 2019.03.31

2019 HK Art Central -
The Mystery of Time


 
2018.12.08 ~ 2019.02.24

Kim Tae Ho -
Aesthetics of Lining


 
2018.09.15 ~ 2018.10.21
Cynthia Ma -
Dancing Divas of Taiwan

 
2018.04.14 ~ 2018.05.31
Dream Blossom
 
2018.03.26 ~ 2018.04.01

Yayoi Kusama V.S. Choe U-Ram 2018 HK Art Central

 
 
2017.10.26 ~ 2017.12.10

Ala Aureus

 
 
2017.07.28 ~ 2017.09.24

Nothing But Happy

 
 
2017.06.03 ~ 2017.09.03

Choe U-ram - [stil laif] in NTMOFA
Official website

 
 
2017.05.01 ~ 2017.07.09

What You Will

 
 
2016.12.17 ~ 2017.3.12

Kim Tschang Yeul -
God's Tear Drop

 
 
2016.11.11 ~ 11.15

2016 Art Taipei -
MERRY-GO-ROUND

 
 
2016.09.03 ~ 10.23

Future in the Past

 
 
2016.05.21 ~ 07.19

Three Travelers Three Epics

 
 
2016.03.12 ~ 04.30

Look Up Rose from the Sky

 
 
2015.12.19 ~ 2016.01.24

New Light Catch your Eye

 
 
2015.10.24 ~ 11.29

Nishizawa Chiharu ‧ Wonderland

 
 
2015.09.12 ~ 10.11

Post-objectivity

 
 
2015.07.11 ~ 08.10

Absolute Intuition

 
 
2015.05.02 ~ 06.28

Change ‧ I Change

 
 
2015.01.17 ~ 03.29

Ye Yongqing ‧ Grand Sight to the Tropic of Cancer

 
 
2014.11.15 ~ 12.20

Wang Pan Youn ‧
The Sun Never Sets

 
 
2014.09.20 ~ 10.31

Montage!

 
 
2014.06.21 ~ 07.30

Is it paper?

 
 
2014.04.19 ~ 05.18
Jang Tarng Kuh ‧ Roadside Theater  
 
2013.11.08 ~ 11.11
2013 Art Taipei - Glorious Encounter  
 
2013.06.08 ~ 07.07
Magic Hour  
 
2013.04.20 ~ 05.26
The Invisible Medium  
 
2013.03.02 ~ 03.31
Start from Zero Part2 ‧
Small with infinitely large
 
 
2012.12.01 ~ 2013.01.06
Dialogs ‧
Korean Contemporary Arts
 
 
2012.09.15 ~ 10.28
Yayoi Kusama ‧ Infinity Dots  
 
2012.06.09 ~ 07.15
Confused, not Confused  
 
2012.04.21 ~ 05.20
Shinatro Miyake ‧
A COMMONPLACE TALE
 
 
2011.09.17 ~ 10.23
A Fable of Japanese Contemporary ‧ Ten Sols  
 
2011.03.05 ~ 04.05
Ye Yongqing ‧
Beyond the Bird
 
 
2010.10.09 ~ 11.20
International Contemporary Art - Absolute Glory  
 
2010.09.11 ~ 10.03
Wu Hao ‧ Blooming  
 
2010.06.19 ~ 06.30
Zhang Qikai ‧
Mr. Panda's Wonderland
 
 
2010.05.08 ~ 05.30
Nishizawa Chiharu ‧
Where are you from?
 
 
2010.03.20 ~ 04.18
Eddie Kang's Life Play  
 
2010.01.16 ~ 02.07
Kwon Ki-soo's New Xanadu ‧
Are you waiting for me?
 
 
2009.11.07 ~ 11.29
Yoshitaka Amano ‧
Flying to DEVALOKA
 
 
2009.09.12 ~ 10.04
Yang Na&Mu Lei ‧
The Fable of Fairy Tale
 
 
2009.03.14 ~ 04.08
Jang TarngKuh's Solo ‧
The Day I Saw Past and Future Sceneries Playing
 
 
2008.12.13 ~ 2009.01.04
Being or not Being ‧ Lee Lee Nam's Image Mythology  
 
2008.09.13 ~ 10.05
Ah Leon ‧ The Memory of the Elementary School  
 
2008.07.13 ~ 08.05
Kwon Ki Soo ‧
Who's Dongguri?
 
 
2008.05.17 ~ 06.08
Eddie Kang ‧ i am a bear  
 
2008.03.29 ~ 04.22
Tuly Hero  
 
2008.01.05 ~ 01.27
Super - Animamix  
 
2007.10.20 ~ 11.08
3L4D of Ultra-new Vision of 21st Century Animamix  
 
 
 

 

 

 



 

 

A city is pretty by its people, abundant with its legends. When one sees legends dawn upon themselves, it’s also when one begins to compose history.

As legend goes, the Urbanus family floats across the universe; an encounter with any of them has been unlikely. Now, upon the 35th anniversary of Metaphysical Art Gallery, they finally arrive, all of them. And the most remarkable of them has to be the Varietal Urbanus Female, the one with flower-like beautiful body. The most special is that they no longer stay 200 meters above, mysterious and obscure, leaving us to only look up to as if to admire. This time, they unfold their wings, layer upon layer, face to face with you, speaking to your curiosity and your soul.

They breathe. They flicker. They flash. They hiss.



 




They are made of metal, yet they have such a soft body. They are machines, yet they have heartbeats. They have a complex bone structure, yet they look so light that they make dazzling gestures as they move. Their whispers sound so intimate yet ambiguous, as if they are puzzles from afar. And the blinking lights they glow release incessant energy like secret codes from the universe. The closer we look at them, the more obscure they seem. They are mysterious as they have always appeared.



Varietal Urbanus Female  216(h) x 216(w) x137(d)cm    2007  Etched stainless steel, LED, circuits, motors, CPU board, custom software, cable

 


And it’s no AI. United Research of Anima Machine/U.R.A.M. which Choe U-Ram has been leading, published a study of a new breed of mechanic creature as early as 2006. This mechanic being has a system to absorb sunlight and undergo photosynthesis like a plant. They are a future creature that have existed from the ancient time. URAM found their heartbeats and named this new species Urbanus, lover of the city. URAM also uncovers from the Latin scientific research and confirmation their identity. It’s being hailed as 'Anima Machine'. With this finding they also question the truth of biological memories as well as the cognition of time and space.

Urbanus originated in Choe’s imagination of Tokyo, which he came up with an urban monster hiding above the skyscrapers. Urbanus Female, with their beauty and energetic body, are like Nüwa the goddess in Chinese myth, highlighting their matrilineal qualities. They have a body in a floral shape that absorbs universal energies. When they emit energetic rays, they unwrap themselves like flower blossom and radiate enormous electronic particles. Urbanus Male wander around them, also unfolding their blades, awaiting the release of the energetic rays so they can absorb them. Feeding on universal energies, after a long evolution, those creatures emerge, incredible yet déjà vu. In summer, adult Urbanus Female would give birth to countless mini machines like dandelion seeds, which would float above the streets in the city. Urbanus Male would implant genetic messages in those larvae and continue the prosperity of the urban drifter family.



Urbanus Female Larva  50(h) x 60(w) x 60(d) cm   2006  Metallic material, machinery, electronic device (CPU board, motor)



Having witnessed human civilizations restarted over and over, Urbanus carry with them the secrets of universal energy and, through Choe U-Ram, attempt an enigmatic connection with the Earth. Choe believes that “the definition of life is ambiguous. I’ve always imagined the Deus Ex Machina to be real; as a machine moves, it’s the birth of a life. All their movement is of the metabolic cycle like the internal drive of life.” Thus, like an alchemist of the Middle Ages, simulating natural forms and motions of living creatures, and combining mythic fables and mechanic kinetics, Choe’s Anima Machine is born. “Anima Machine is a species unlike humankind, but they’ve been with us since the ancient times. They are mysterious rare beasts”, says Choe. Such ambiguous space unintelligible between the ancient and the future, and benevolence and menace, creates the imagination of mystery and multiple interpretations for the Anime Machine.

 

 
 


Urbanus male  25(h) x 25(w) x 287(d)cm  2006  Metallic material, machinery, acrylic, electronic device(CPU board, motor)

 

 

Just like “Cakra”. Those wings of golden and silver colors, turn and spin in and out of one another, making themselves look like the mandala, telling the harmonic order of all things. They are also fascinating lights and shadows, splendid like the eternal pulse of time.

And the shining magnificent Temple Lamp. With five pairs of thin wings like those of a cicada, reflecting the crystal ball, it slowly moves with delicacy. The crown on top of the chapel and the pearl in the shape of a seashell, they both radiate such warm lights and spin like the sun. In grace and purity they are, expressing elegance and mystery, communicating of memories, time and space with the audience.





 


Urbanus Male Larva 25(h) x 25(w) x 57(d)cm   2006   Metallic material, machinery, acrylic, electronic device (CPU board, motor)

 

 
 


 


Ala Aureus (single unit)  123.5 x 23 x 18cm    2017  Metallic material, 24k gold leaf on stainless steel, resin, machinery, electronic device (CPU board, motor, LED)

 

 


Ala Aureus, evolved out of Taiwan’s own Broad-tailed Swallowtails, would fly over people asleep on the island before dawn. In those moments when the stars still shine, they would collect dreams, hopes and imaginations from the people, night after night. And their wings would shine, making new golden wings.


 

 

 
 


Gold Cakra Lamp  40(w) x 57(d) x 22 (h)cm  2014  Metallic material, machinery, electronic device, LED  

 

 
 

 

 


Temple Lamp   81(H)x40(D)x49(W)cm  2013   Metallic material, machinery, 24k gold leaf, glass, resin, electronic device (CPU board, motor, LED)

 

 


Choe believes in the ambiguity of life. Once the machine beings to move, it’s also the birth of a life. Their motions all belong to the metabolic cycle upon themselves like the internal drive to a life. The peculiar creatures that Choe makes are like an existence parallel to and symbiotic with human beings since the ancient days. After a long evolution, they emerge in their fantastic, incredible yet familiar look. They appear to represent a myth in search for the origin of human desires; in the meantime, they also seem to tell the prophesy of a newborn ecology.

No stories, no legends. With the arrival of Urbanus, the perplexity of the metaphysical are left to us. As for the distant past and the future times, leave them all for U.R.A.M. to accomplish yet another legend.


   
 
 
 

 

 

*Show Room*

 

 
 
 
 
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
   
   
   
   
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