Kim Young-sung

Kim Young-sung, Nothing. Life. Object, 291x182cm, Oil on canvas, 2024

Kim Young-sung’s work expresses the essential thought of awe for all living things from a philosophical perspective.

Kim Young-sung, Nothing. Life. Object, Oil on canvas, 138x138cm, 2023

The artist draws and draws again the mindless hearts that regard small creatures around humans as material, and records them as if writing a diary. He captures memories and emotions of the creatures he encountered in nature during his childhood and the animals he lived with in his work, and critically expresses the bleakness of modern society and the futility of modern people, where life is threatened and many things disappear due to the development of material civilization.

Kim Young-sung, Nothing. Life. Object, Oil on canvas, 162x97cm, 2017

The coexistence of insects, fish, frogs, and other living things that are expressed more realistically than reality and materials such as glass, spoons, cloth, and metal is like watching a beautifully decorated advertisement or a well-directed modern civilization. Just as extreme beauty carries extreme anxiety and extreme perfection sometimes carries discomfort, the cold and seemingly perfect expressions in Kim Young-sung’s works contain the agony of modern people hidden in the perfect and happy life we ​​pursue. The gorgeous colors and beauty of fish go beyond mere decorative elements and suggest the inherent value of life. However, the artificial environment of the glass cup shows a cross-section of how living things are separated from their original natural environment and placed under human control. The small creatures he draws resemble the appearance of modern people. We, living in the modern era, enjoy abundant lives with the benefits of highly developed material civilization, but we also feel a sense of loss from excessive materialism, including environmental pollution, destruction of the ecosystem, and depletion of resources.

Kim Young-sung, Nothing. Life. Object, Oil on canvas, 145x90cm, 2022

The small fish trapped in glass and floating in space, the snail for whom the cold spoon is the whole world, and the frog sitting cramped on the metal make us feel a sense of kinship as if they are ‘me.’ Creatures that look stuffy and dangerous, but have a relaxed expression, whether intentional or not. . . “I am living well.” “I am not afraid.” It is delivered as a message of comfort from me living in the modern world.

Kim Young-sung, Nothing. Life. Object, Oil on canvas, 80x80cm, 2024

Through this exhibition, the artist pictorially expresses how life and material collide and coexist in modern society, and artistically reveals the futility and sense of loss created by civilization, and the crisis facing living things.

Kim Young-sung, Nothing. Life. Object, Oil on canvas, 130x90cm, 2024

His work sharply reflects the glamorous exterior of modern people and the anxiety and futility hidden behind it, and will provide deep thought and emotion to the audience.         -Gallery Now Lee Soon-shim-

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