Irip Ahn (b. 1990, Seoul, South Korea) is a painter whose work investigates the uncertain nature of seeing. His practice departs from a simple but persistent question: when we recall a moment from our lives, are we remembering what we actually saw, or a version quietly reshaped by regret and longing over time? Memory, he argues, is less a record of observation than a consequence of wanting to believe one has observed.

This inquiry finds form in his ongoing series Fathom. In these works, surfaces built from microscopic organic structures are set against planes of light-absorbing black that appear to hold depth yet contain nothing. The closer the viewer looks, the less certain the image becomes. What seemed visible dissolves. The gap between what we believe we see and what actually exists does not close.

Since his last solo exhibition in 2021, Ahn has devoted five years to intensive studio research, developing the material and conceptual foundations of the Fathom series. This sustained period of production has yielded a body of work that marks a significant evolution in his practice — one now focused not on what to paint, but on how painting itself can make the conditions of vision visible.

Education

2015 / 2013 M.F.A / B.F.A
Fine Art, Sejong University, Korea

Solo Exhibition

Group Exhibition

2019
Above All, Galley A, Seoul

2018
HAUNTING BEAUTY, Artistrian, Seoul

2018
Fear : X, Indie Art Hall GONG, Seoul

2014
JW Young Art Award, Artspace H, Seoul

2014
The 5rd Artists of tomorrow Gyeomjae Jung Sun, GyeomjaeJeongseon Art Museum, Seoul

2012
The 4rd Insa Art Festival, Ara Art Center, Seoul

2012
HOTIST Curator's choice, Gana Art center, Seoul

Publications / Thesis

2014
A Study on the Representation of Absent Images through
Carnivalesque and Festival Mechanisms (Graduate School of Sejong University, Korea)

Awards

2014
4th JW Jung Young Art Award, JW Pharmaceutical Foundation, Seoul

2014 5th Tomorrow’s Artist Selection Geomjae Jeongseon Museum, GeomjaeJeongseon Art Museum, Seoul

Collections

Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in the Republic of Korea