2022. 5. 11 – 6. 17
Kim Whanki

Seojung Art is pleased to announce the retrospective exhibition of Kim Whanki, Kim Whanki: Poetry and Song from May 11 until June 17. The exhibition not only portrays the artistic world of Kim Whanki, who often expressed art using Korean objects as materials, but also highlights his artistic history from the 1950s through his later years.

Kim Whanki frequently used shapes of objects that embody unique Korean sentiments such as pots, plum blossoms, and cultural assets, also Kim embodied forms of nature reminiscent of mountains, the moon, and the sea. His works such as Garden (1957) and Untitled (1958), which he created while feeling homesick during his studies in Paris (1956-1959), show shadows of semi-figuration through a combination of concise lines, forms, and expressions.

Furthermore, Mountain and Moon (1964) and 24-VI-69 #80 (1969), which he created during his New York Years (1963-1974), began to take on the unique lyrical colors that Kim would be known for. This allowed a new appreciation of his exploration of materials and techniques and his immersion as an artist. In particular, the thick textures seen in his early works were gradually replaced by thinner layers of paint.

Aside from this, many of his undated sketches reveal fragments of Kim’s lifelong process of research and experimentation. To be exhibited in a single space, Kim Whanki: Poetry and Song features some of the artist’s best-known works along with his more obscure drawings. This way, the exhibition serves to show how his unique artistic style has evolved over time.

Kim Whanki (1913-1974), one of the pioneers of Korean abstract art, graduated from Japan’s Nihon University in 1936 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, and held his first solo exhibition in Tokyo to launch his illustrious artistic career. He carried on with his studies in Paris and New York and expanded the scope of his work into the fields of figurative art, semi-figurative art, and abstract art. He mostly followed Western modernism in his works but also tried to portray them in a unique Korean manner. This exhibition focuses on Kim as a researcher who endlessly studied the use of materials and paints, and his experimentations where he figuratively expressed dots, lines, and planes. His diverse painting methods give viewers, who love art, a means to forge a bond of sympathy that transcends time and space, enabling them to appreciate Korea’s unique colors and emotions.

SEOJUNGART
3F, 30 Dalmaji-gil (LCT), Haeundae-gu, Busan, Korea
+82 1644 1454

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