Namwon Choi Joins Pentimenti Gallery’s Roster of Artists

Pentimenti Gallery has announced its representation of Namwon Choi, a Georgia-based artist whose hyper-photorealistic paintings pivot how we view landscape and memory. Known for her signature ultramarine blue gouache and acrylic compositions, Namwon Choi paints the environment around us, and the emotional and psychological landscapes of contemporary life.

A native of South Korea, Namwon Choi holds both BFA and MFA degrees in Oriental Painting from Hongik University, alongside an MFA in Drawing and Painting from Georgia State University. Her career reflects an ever-expanding trajectory, with exhibitions at premier institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Atlanta, the Moss Arts Center in Virginia, and the Korean Cultural Centers in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

Having first connected in 2021 through a studio visit initiated by Pentimenti director Christine Pfister, Namwon Choi’s relationship quickly evolved into a solo exhibition, Blue Highway in March 2025. That success was followed by a solo exhibition at the NADA New York art fair.

Namwon Choi Paints the Personal Through the Everyday

Namwon Choi’s work represents balance—blending the rigor of traditional Korean painting techniques with the visual language of modern American landscapes. Her primary subjects—highways, skies, intersections—are rendered with a precision that transcends realism. Each painting is layered with personal resonance, transforming what might otherwise be overlooked vistas into lyrical tributes to place, family, and passage.

In choosing bold geometric wooden panels as her surfaces, Choi imbues her works with structure and weight, anchoring their dreamlike quality in tactile form. Her paintings, while intensely personal, resonate broadly: they are visual records of shared experiences, moments spent with loved ones on long drives under open skies. For Choi, each piece becomes an unconventional family portrait—quiet yet intimate declarations of presence and memory.

With the addition of Namwon Choi, Pentimenti Gallery continues its legacy of championing artists whose practices are intellectually and emotionally resonant. Choi’s work aligns with the gallery’s emphasis on innovative process and conceptual rigor. Her vision—rooted in heritage, yet forward-looking—expands the conversation around the future of contemporary painting.