Kim Whanki was among the first modernist and abstract painters of South Korea. Kim Whanki was born on a small island called Anjwado, South Korea in the year 1913. He worked in both realism and abstract styles. A favorite subject matter were ancient Chinese vases.
His father was a wealthy land owner and farmer. Kim was one of four children, but the only male child.
During the Korean War, Kim Whan Ki lived in a refugee camp for three years.
The artist also a college professor and eventually became president at Hongjik Art University located in Seoul.
Kim Whanki passed away in 1974.
Here we view a great selection of works by Kim Whan Ki. The artist had a great sense of color but often portrayed subjects as flat objects on work, very similar to the Cubist movement:
A museum for Kim Whan Ki was opened in Seoul, South Korea in the year 1992.
Hoon Kwak is a contemporary artist born in the year 1941 on Dageau, Korea, now known as South Korea. For his collegiate education Kwak attended Seoul University and earned a bachelors of fine arts degree. Kwak moved to the United States for post graduate studies at both the University of California at Long Beach. Kwak is associated with the modernism movement.
Kwak works with sculpture, installations, painting, and calligraphy. A recurring theme in the artist’s work is Buddhism.
Hoon Kwak has exhibited his art at the National Art Museum of China.
The artist participated in the Venice Biennale in 1995.
Lee Seung-hee was born in Cheongju, South Korea in the year 1963. Lee Seung-hee is renowned for turning vases into two dimensional art. His art is a blend of ceramic and ceramic glaze on top of paper.
For his artistic education Seung-hee attended the Craft Design Department at Cheongju University.
The artist is now based out of Beijing, China. The artist is gaining much attention in the region for his art.
What a unique and new way to portray a classical part of the Chinese culture.
Park Seo-Bo is a contemporary artist born in Ye-Cheon, Kyung-Book, South Korea in the year 1931. Park Seo-Bo uses a specific type of Korean paper in her art. For his artistic education the artist attended Hong-Ik University located in Seoul, Korea. Park Seo-Bo is a modernist painter who enjoys dealing with the ideas of nature and space. That nature and man are indeed one body.
Some critics claim he is an action painter. It seems as if he is certainly trying to create tension by using so many varieties of medium, but each is used subtly, nothing is overdone. The main theme through this action painter it seems is to create his vision, to leave his energy on the canvas.
Price range information: $10,000 to $150,000.
In this clip we visit a show from 2010. The artist is great at varying surface texture:
Spent a year in the early 1960s living in Paris, France.
In the past has served as vice president and president of the Korean Fine Arts Association.
Served as Dean of the College of Hong-Ik University.
Do Ho Suh is an internationally renown sculptor born in Seoul, South Korea in the year 1962. His father is a highly acclaimed regional painter. For his artistic education Do Ho Suh attended Seoul National University earning both a bachelors and masters degree in painting. The artist would relocate to the United States and attend the Rhode Island School of Design and then Yale University.
In some works the artist is not only producing a great work of art, but has great thoughts and insight behind his work, similar to Mel Chin. If you look at the table in the gallery, you can see its being held up by hundreds of people! The work that looks like a long steel coat is made from military identification tags.
This artist is super smart having earned both a bachelors and masters degree on two different continents! In the states he earned his bachelors at Rhode Island and his masters from Yale.
Do Ho Suh is renown for his very large sculpture work and installations.
In this clip we view a work titled “Gate” from the Seattle Art Museum.
The artist splits his time between New York City and Seoul, South Korea.
Do Ho Suh is included in many prominent museum collections including the Whitney Museum in New York City, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Guggenheim Museum.
In this clip a brief interview with Do Ho Suh and the Tate Modern.
price range information: Works range from $5,000 to $850,000.
Ran Hwang was born in South Korea in the year 1960 and is an awesome contemporary artist who uses items including, sequins, buttons, beads , and pins. Her process is quite simple. She finds an image she likes, projects it onto the wall, traces it, then fills in the shapes with thousands of pins or buttons or whatever she chooses for her medium. Her work tries to get the viewer to look at the many thousands of people that make up a mass movement, from the bead that signifies one person, to a mass of beads symbolizing a movement.
A link to a gallery specializing in the work of Ran Hwang:
Hwang really enjoys the meditation part of the process, that of filling in the outline a given medium.
Ran Hwang found her artistic style after seeing the events of 911 in the United States. She uses thousands of whatever medium she chooses to represent people in her society.
For her artistic education she attended the School of Visual Arts located in New York city. For her masters degree she went back to South Korea and attended the Graduate School of Arts Chung-Ang University Seoul, Korea.
In this clip we go to see an Art Basel Miami 2010 to see an entry in this exhibit by Ran Hwang:
In this clip we view another show by Ran Hwang, this one took place in 2012:
Rhee Ki-Bong is a wonderful contemporary artist born in 1957 in what is now South Korea. The artist renown for his work with trees painted on resin. In addition to paintings the artist also enjoys installation work.
For his work the artist tries to show an equal focus on both the fleeting moments we have in our daily lives that are beautiful and serene with a alongside what is already beautiful, such as the shape of a tree. He does a great job at capturing emotion with his works.
For his artistic education the Ki-Bong attended Seoul National University earning both a bachelors and masters diploma.
Has been a professor at Korea University in the Fine Arts Department.
In this clip we visit an installation in which a book of philosophy made of leather is thrown into an aquarium. From the Singapore Biennale in 2008.
I enjoy his work with trees that are often painted on resin the most. The absence of color lets the viewer picture themselves in the environment, very similar to the photographer Ansel Adams. If you like this moody and atmospheric works make sure and check out artist Robert Kipniss, a master print maker who enjoys using tones to make spectacular renditions of middle town America at times when the setting is quiet and serene. Below an example of the style of Robert Kipniss.
Kim Kang Yong is a contemporary artist born in Jung-Eup, Korea in the year 1950. For his collegiate studies the artist earned a bachelors of fine arts from the College of Fine Art located in Seoul, South Korea. Kim Kang Yong also earned a masters degree from the same institution.
price range information: Works range from $2,000 to $30,000.
The artist tends to work with only shade of color, for instance blue.
He likes to think of his work as a mixture of Eastern and Western painting ideals. The artist loves exploring ideas of space, emptiness, and illusion of depth. The use of depth and perspective is a great tribute to the Renaissance era. The time it takes to comprehend and imagine how the brick shaped figures coexist without falling, or for that matter just thinking of the composition is an eastern idea.
The way the artist creates space and depth by using the same repeating motif of squares reminds of the other Korean painter who is known for his replication of droplets of water, Kim Tschang- Yeul. The amount of detail and preciseness in both artists work show that you must know your subject matter inside and out to make really great paintings. Both artists are great examples of mastering a subject matter or genre. Here is a wonderful example of Kim Tschang-Yeul’s water drops.
Kwon Kyungyup was born in Seoul, South Korea in the year 1975 and is a wonderful painter known for her work with the female figure. She is most happy when she introduces herself as a painter. For her collegiate education the artist attended Sejong University (also in Seoul) majoring in painting
The artist tries to portray her people as damaged either physically or emotional and many times they appear wrapped in bandages.
In this clip we see a montage of works that deal with the damaged and emotionally distraught female portraits.
Price range information: The artist works with both acrylics and oils. Works range between $2,000 and $6,000.
The artist draws from Western themes, Japanimation, and modern and contemporary in her artwork. Two painters idolized by Kwon would be Caravaggio and Gustav Klimt.
I love the emotion expressed in Kwon Kyungyup’s females. The character’s are very emotional and seem to relate their troubles and insecurities to viewer. If I was to compare the artist to another painter Ali Cavanaugh comes to mind. Cavanaugh has appeared in national magazines for her paintings of the female figure. I enjoy the way Cavanaugh’s portraits play with patterns and designs in their clothes and her simple designs. Below a wonderful example of Cavanaugh’s style. Cavanaugh uses the arms as a way of communicating ideas to the viewer such as solitude, shyness, and fear.
The artist is best known for painting one item, water droplets.
The artist comes was born on December 24th, 1929 in South Korea. For his education Tschang-Yeul went to the School of Fine Arts at Seoul National University. He finished in college in 1950 and remained in Korea. In 1969 he left Korea and moved to Paris, France. He remains living in Paris and has won numerous awards for his art.
Tschang-Yeul has works the Musuem of Modern Art in Tokyo, Japan , the Korean National Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Had a one man show at the National Museum of China.
A clip showing a few works by the artist. No interviews or anything to serious, but after looking at an artists work I enjoy to see live pictures of them. It helps me to create a better memory of their work.
High price range: Oil painting from 2008 of waterdrops that went for $541,000. Acrylics record is $108,000.
Low price range: Smaller works of his famous water drops sized close to 10 by 8 inches starting around $5,000 in oils. Aquatints start at less than $1,000. Acrylics starting around $20,000.
The artist works in many mediums including oils, acrylics, aquatints, and lithographs. More than 90% of his output has been in oils.
This artist is great in that he still makes subtle changes to his work via the color and lighting to keep it looking fresh. I only wish he might try painting a flower petal or pepsi can with the same kind of effect. Other artsits that paint great droplets of water are Alyssa Monks, Hilo Chen, and Eric Wert.
Try painting water droplets that you see on a cold beer of soda when you are watching a sporting event.
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