ARARIO GALLERY Seoul presents Forbidden Love, a solo exhibition by SHIH Yung Chun (b. 1978, Taiwan), on view from October 16 (Thu) to December 6 (Sat), 2025. This marks the artist’s first solo presentation in Korea, where he unfolds his distinctive practice—spanning diverse forms and media—across all three floors of the gallery. The exhibition features three-dimensional miniature installations reminiscent of puppet-theater sets, paintings based on each of these stage-like scenes, and a video work that reconstructs the overarching narrative in cinematic form. A series of these puppet-theater sets—filled with vintage toy packaging and commercial goods evocative of the artist’s childhood—depict seven distinct scenes: kitchen, hallway, hotel room, street, bar, stage, and living room.
The exhibition title, Forbidden Love, serves as a metaphor for the relationships formed among objects drawn from disparate eras and environments. At the same time, it reveals the irony of “forbidden” emotions—such as betrayal, rivalry, and desire—that lie latent within the bonds represented in each of the seven scenes, including maternal care, romantic affection between lovers, friendship, and the pursuit of one’s passion.
