{"id":32999,"date":"2023-08-03T15:30:51","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T06:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/omg.kiaf.org\/?post_type=highlight&p=32999"},"modified":"2024-07-16T11:34:13","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T02:34:13","slug":"myoungjin-kim-whimsical-characters-conveying-happiness-and-hope","status":"publish","type":"archive","link":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/archive\/32999","title":{"rendered":"Myoungjin KIM | Whimsical Characters Conveying Happiness and Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kim Myoung Jin studied Oriental painting at Daegu Arts University before dropping out in 1998. Over the following 15 years, he worked as a storybook illustrator, tattooist and painter. In 2013, after his first and last exhibition at rented space, he considered giving up painting. But soon after his encounter with Galerie Gaia located in Seoul\u2019s Jongno district, he has been creating art ever since. Kim\u2019s unique background is reflected in his whimsical characters and the black and white landscape-like spaces that make them stand out.<\/p>\n

He described his artistic perspective as \u201cthe act of expressing the reverie which expands our lives.\u201d He went on stating, \u201cIn the past, I created a drawing piece called Edgewalker<\/em> (a person who walks on the edge, facing challenges courageously and always being the first to encounter new things). For that piece, I expressed myself in this intense explosion of imagination. Recently, I\u2019ve been making drawings under the theme \u2018A Space Odyssey,\u2019 for which I\u2019ve been using various techniques, including mati\u00e8re, doodles, and drawing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s characters are based on motifs from things like whales, sausages, and gummies. These characters reflect Kim\u2019s personal philosophy that art is always close to our lives and should impart happiness and hope. Kim also merges art history into his pieces. He explains that his black and white stone-like backgrounds harken back to stone age cave paintings, and his detailed pen and ink drawings evoke the illustration technique that emerged with the invention of printing technology in the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n

The pieces he is putting forward for this Kiaf SEOUL 2023 HIGHLIGHT are under the theme of \u2018Edgewalker-A space Odyssey\u2019. In these pieces, he has taken his vast array of characters, such as Jellyman, Candygirl, and Wizard, with the big Whale at the center, and used various painting techniques to transfer their diverse narratives to a thick canvas layered with paint. Kim stated, \u201cthese pieces tell the story of the protagonists departing on a journey in search of hope. They also embody the message that we are all precious protagonists of our own lives and my wish for us all to be happy on our journeys through life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edgewalker-A Space Odyssey, 91x117cm, mixed media on canvas, 2023<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim lost his father and faced hardships at an early age. He enjoyed painting from a young age, but without the money to attend professional art education, he had to study on his own. However, he continued to paint while doing various part-time jobs. Ups and downs marked Kim\u2019s life, but his pieces are overflowing with humor. He stated, \u201cI\u2019ve had a rich imagination from a young age, and I felt like the things in my everyday life were part of a fun little story,\u201d adding on, \u201cWhat I do is to express my own unique whimsical narratives onto canvas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dedicated my whole life to painting. My goal is to bring happiness and joy to my viewers, and I aim to continue working diligently on my art.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Myoungjin KIM Solo Exhibition View<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","categories":[103,97,62],"class_list":["post-32999","archive","type-archive","status-publish","hentry","category-highlights","category-2023-year","category-year"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archive\/32999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archive"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/archive"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}