Jong Sung JO

Jo Jong Sung is a painter who is navigating a new path in Korean painting. Jo has worked with two-dimensional art, three-dimensional art, and installation art. Yet, recently Jo has been working with ink on Jangji paper to give a new interpretation and use the physical properties of traditional Korean paper and ink. Jo’s most distinctive trait, according to himself, is that he “does not fear change.” Jo’s ambition is to incorporate various techniques and themes into his artworks for a multi-dimensional expression of his artistic perspective.

Having gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Dong-A University, Jo received the Kumho Young Artist Award In 2007. He went on to be chosen as the recipient of the Culture and Arts Promotion Fund. He was also selected for ARKO Art Center’s Workshop for Emerging Artists and Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture Arts Support Program. Since his first solo exhibition in 2004, Jo has held exhibitions at home and abroad, including Johyun Gallery, Kumho Museum of Art, Tokyo’s SH Art Project and more.

Jo has been contemplating the reason of the cultural difference between the East and the West, coming to the conclusion that it is due to different ecological environments. He explains, “Studying what is Asian and what is Korean is what enables me to see our differences from the West, and to understand the cultural difference between the East and the West is to understand the world.” Jo adds, “That is why I draw oriental paintings.”

Jo will be showing his painting series From the Brushstroke in Kiaf SEOUL 2023 HIGHLIGHT. The work features both large brushstrokes and small landscapes. The brushstrokes and the landscape ambiguously intersect with one another, circulating and changing. “There is energy in the process of circulation,” Jo says, “Just as there is energy in the way a flower bud blooms, wilts, then leaves seeds.”

The presentation of Jo’s work will be an unconventional one. It will be displayed alongside the work of Park Seo Bo, a master in Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting). The idea came from Johyun Gallery, with whom Jo has an exclusive contract. The size, width, and installation method will be identical. “I feel pressured that my work will be exhibiting next to a master’s,” Jo confesses, explaining, “Park Seo Bo’s artworks are perfect, with a sense of refinement and restraint. So, putting an energetic painting by a younger artist next to it seemed like a good idea. The empty space between the paintings felt abstract, which also gave me a fresh perspective on space.”

“I wish to recreate Korean painting in a contemporary way, yet also carry on the tradition at the same time,” Jo says. “Tolstoy once said that ‘your understanding of your inner self holds the meaning of your life,’ and I agree. I intend to continue with my art for the rest of my life.”

(Exhibition View)