SEONGMIN AHN & JACOB VAN DER BEUGEL

8th MAY - 10TH JULY / BARCELONA

Richeldis Fine Art is delighted to present new works by Jacob van der Beugel (b. 1978, London; based inDevon) and Seongmin Ahn (b. 1974, Seoul; based in New York), two artists whose practices explore the intersection of materiality, science, and perception. Both explore themes of transformation, impermanence, and the nuances of human experience, creating a subtle dialogue that contrasts their individual approaches to form, space, and meaning.

Jacob van der Beugel — 

“We are, as the Dutch say, pulled from the clay.” —

Jacob van der BeugelRicheldis, BCN — May 2025. 

Jacob van der Beugel (b. 1978, London; lives and works in Devon) presents a new and exclusive body of work that continues his radical exploration of the boundaries between art, science, and human identity. This exhibition brings together two major developments in van der Beugel’s practice: a series of monumental off-white ceramic wall works, and the evolution of his Pills sculptures—abstract forms cast from recycled and self-healing concrete.Van der Beugel’s work is grounded in a hybrid practice that draws from material craft, scientific data, and architectural installation. Originally trained in ceramics under Rupert Spira and Edmund de Waal, and shaped by his early studies in art history, he creates works that are not illustrations of science but transformations of it—tactile, conceptual, and philosophical translations of the body’s internal systems and psychological states.At the centre of this exhibition are the off-white ceramic wall works, which push van der Beugel’s practice toward a more purist aesthetic. The new works are defined by their absence of colour and the use of subtle patination, making them both minimalist and deeply complex. The familiar patterns of DNA and the mapping of genetic systems remain present, but are now rendered in their purest form. This collection marks a moment in van der Beugel’s work where he strips away the distraction of colour, leaving behind only the architectural rhythm of hand-cast ceramic units arranged in precise sequences. The result is a heightened sense of purity and clarity, making this body of work distinct in his broader practice. They recall his landmark commissions, such as The North Sketch Sequence at Chatsworth House, and The DNA Room at Paleis Huis ten Bosch, which embedded royal family DNA into architectural space. In van der Beugel’s words, these works are a form of portraiture that transcends likeness—“a visual arena for understanding the self through the architecture of science.”This new series of Pills marks an evolution in van der Beugel’s ongoing exploration of form, medicine, and psychological containment. Cast from highly polished self-healing concrete—a material developed by scientists in Delft—the Pills exist as symbolic and sculptural objects. Enlarging something intimately familiar into a form that becomes architectural, monumental, and quietly uncanny, they lie in space with a grounded stillness that carries a certain classical weight. The Pills are monochrome, a departure from previous works, giving them an even more austere, purist quality. Their surfaces, patinated rather than distressed, suggest a quiet rupture and resilience. The intricate copper inlays, though reminiscent of fauna or microscopic organisms, lend the sculptures an organic life. In the context of this exhibition, the Pills function not as remedies, but as reliquaries—objects that hold the anxiety, hope, and abstraction of the healing process itself.There is a quiet, meditative quality to these pieces, where the weight of history and the precision of science meet with an organic softness. The intricate inlays, which seem to nod at ancient patterns found in both Eastern and Western traditions, bridge the realms of nature and medicine, evoking a timeless connection between the two. Much like the great sculptures of the past, the Pills bring an effortless balance—combining strength with delicacy, and past with present—offering a contemplative reflection on our existence. The work invites an appreciation of both the scientific and natural worlds, captured in a form that feels both ancient and contemporary, monumental and intimate. “There is no stillness here. It is a mutating story.” — Edmund de Waal

Throughout van der Beugel’s practice is an ongoing fascination with endurance—both biological and cultural—and with the material metaphors that arise from natural systems and architectural repetition. His use of ceramic and concrete is not incidental: these are elemental, durable materials, capable of carrying memory, gesture, and erosion. The tension between their permanence and fragility reflects the human condition itself: bodies coded by biology, shaped by context, always changing.

Exhibitions and collections include: Chatsworth House, Paleis Huis ten Bosch, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum Beelden aan Zee, the Royal Academy of Arts, the University of Cambridge, the Wallace Collection, and the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, Los Angeles.

Seongmin Ahn — A Circle Is Not a Circle: 2001–2002 / 2025

“When viewed from the right place, even paradox has form.”

Seongmin Ahn, a Korean-born artist based in New York, presents an evolving body of work that explores the structures of perception, presence, and impermanence. In her series A Circle Is Not a Circle, Ahn engages with the dualities at the heart of both Eastern philosophy and quantum theory—fluidity and form, logic and paradox, stillness and movement.

Originally conceived in the early 2000s during a period marked by illness, the works reflect a deeply personal inquiry into reality’s shifting nature. Taking inspiration from Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics, Ahn’s approach mirrors the subatomic world—where matter behaves as both particle and wave—by inviting viewers to engage from multiple perspectives. Her folded mulberry paper and sumi ink installations create spatial illusions that cohere into a perfect circle only when viewed from a precise vantage point. From all other angles, the image dissolves. In this way, the works resist fixed meaning and ask for movement, attention, and presence.

In 2025, Ahn returns to the series from a different place—physically steadier and more grounded in her practice. This renewed engagement is not a departure but a return, part of the circular logic that defines the work itself. Her process remains unchanged: standing above the canvas, she spins and pours ink in meditative gestures that balance intention with surrender. These new works do not seek to outdo the earlier ones, but to echo and expand them—an ongoing cycle of inquiry through material and space. Several works in this exhibition take on a monumental scale, cascading across walls and bending onto the floor. These vast black forms—made from ink created through carbonized ash and animal glue—do not assert themselves, but absorb. They overwhelm not with loudness, but with quiet force, offering an atmosphere of stillness and depth. Like a field of darkness vibrating with potential, they suggest a void that is not empty but alive.

Inspired by the metaphysics of Zen and the paradoxes of modern physics, Ahn’s work explores how meaning shifts depending on where we stand. What may seem fragmented or uncertain can reveal a quiet coherence when approached from the right place—reminding us that perception is not fixed, but always in motion.

Ahn’s practice is rooted in Korean ink painting and informed by her academic background—she holds MFAs from both Seoul National University and the Maryland Institute College of Art. 

Her work has been shown at institutions including the Brooklyn Museum (2024), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul), Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Hudson River

Museum, and Hello Museum (Seoul), and is held in major collections such as MMCA Korea, Princeton University Art Museum, and Hudson River Museum. She has received awards from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, CUE Art Foundation, and AHL Foundation, among others. With a practice that bridges tradition, science, and philosophy, Ahn creates not objects, but environments —spaces of awareness where viewers become participants in a living, perceptual field.