three's Seoul exhibition runs until November 29: anime figurines cut, melted and reassembled

Japanese artist collective three presents its first solo exhibition in Korea, three is a magic number 23, at Whitestone Gallery Seoul from October 17 to November 29, 2026. Anime, manga and popular-culture figurines become materials for cutting, melting and reassembly into new flat and three-dimensional structures. For visitors interested in toys, character design or contemporary art, the show offers an entry from collecting an object to looking at what it is made of.

Recognising a character, then losing it

Based in Fukushima, Japan, three comprises three artists and has worked with everyday objects including figurines and fish-shaped soy-sauce containers. Figurines are central to the Seoul exhibition: some faces, clothing and poses remain recognisable after disassembly, while others recede into colour and texture. Finding a familiar fragment and then stepping back to see its place in the composition can make recognition and its disappearance part of the viewing experience.

Multiplicity becomes more than a count. Characters that could once stand separately are pressed and connected within a shared object, where individual stories and the overall form may cooperate or conflict. The gallery relates these gatherings to converging thoughts and images online. Visitors need not settle on one interpretation; noticing which fragments they recognise or overlook provides another way to consider how a collective changes individual visibility.

V and TRANS give screen boundaries physical depth

The V series takes dimensions from familiar screens, including televisions and iPhones, turning an image-displaying boundary into a physical object made from figurines. New TRANS works cut the surface repeatedly and offset sections equally, varying their front-to-back depth. The folded-looking structure in the gallery image draws attention to both its frontal image and its thickness, making viewing angle part of the work rather than treating a screen only as a graphic motif.

The 2026 work 77V type 18.85kg TRANS uses aluminium, PVC, figurines and wood and measures 258 × 72 × 80cm. Another 2026 work, 6344g, uses PVC, figurines and wood and measures 52 × 52 × 120cm. Numbers within these formal titles should not automatically be treated as independently verified weight statements. Comparing the stated dimensions instead helps place the photographed objects within an imagined physical space.

In the circular work 3234g, varying how extensively figurines are melted changes the cross-sections across its surface. Three separate viewing questions emerge: how much character identity survives, how a surface becomes fields of colour, and how cuts or offsets produce depth. Following these questions makes the different methods easier to distinguish than grouping every piece under a general impression of piled-up toys.

Dates, closure day and visitor information

Whitestone Gallery Seoul is at 70 Sowol-ro, Yongsan-gu. Published opening hours are 11:00–19:00, closed Mondays; telephone +82-2-318-1012. The October 17 afternoon opening reception has ended. The artist's attendance at that event is not a standing promise throughout the exhibition. Confirm arrangements for a specific day or work with the gallery, and do not assume an unlisted ticket price, journey time or guided-tour service.

The official exhibition page provides dates and work descriptions, while the collective's profile outlines its practice. Images are gallery-supplied artwork and exhibition publicity material, not photographs from a TIDEZINE visit. Comparing fragments with the whole reveals how character forms become new surfaces, opening a different viewing distance onto familiar collectibles.