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kwonjungho , Cyan Museum of Art
Birth
1944, Chilgok
Genre
Painting, Sculpture, Installation
Homepage
Beyound the time_curated by Hyun-min Kim
kwonjungho is leading contemporary artist in Korea who invites viewers to rethink the essence of man and the means to resolve social problems through his diverse works. He has been well known as a painter in Korea since the 1980s, representing a group of new expressionists addressing the depths of human emotions and attitudes about death. For kwonjungho, death is the common destiny we must all deal with; it is the one thing that is slowly bringing the whole world together. In other words, he sees death as a state of being wherein the yardstick for measuring value in reality becomes meaningless, suggesting that absolute death should present a new vision rather than a complete end. He has recently manifested his theory about death by using a skull to symbolize his object and casting it with mulberry paper, a medium he frequently uses for expression. His act of creation embodies the reality of the matrix world along with a religious meditation on Korean aesthetics. This is just one of many different attempts to revive the spirit of Korean culture in a realistic manner, which has largely been forgotten. kwonjungho manifests his beliefs this extremely specific work process and its endless repetition, creating works which address phenomena such as social oppression, institutional contradiction, and the limits that man faces in modern society?all revealed through diverse artistic attempts based on condensed philosophical reasoning. Now he is garnering greater interest for his extraordinary works created in diverse mediums, among other things.
This exhibition explores the life and death of man, the relations between the individual and society, and between man and religion?all in the context of human nature. The roughly thirty works presented in this exhibition are larger, more elaborate, and of a higher degree of completion, compared with his previous works. Some are very recent. All show reality but are also meant to entertain viewers; that is, to be 'things enjoyable to see' while dealing with subjects which the artist considers very important. By invoking themes like 'social oppression' (manifested by tightly closed teeth and skull), 'story of grief' (depicting clamor through screaming victims and fragmented things), graffiti on smoldered walls, and 'accumulation of time' (which associates a relationship with religion by reminding us of the essence of man), kwonjungho suggests that mankind tends to express voyeuristic pleasure and resolution in the face of tragic reality, rather being shocked and feeling guilt. His works clearly express a feeling of relief due to the fact that their tragic story is about somebody else instead of the immediate self.
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"I produce personal works, but I am not a formalist. I create form within spirit, and do not lose spirit in form, says kwonjungho. “This is my philosophy, my belief, and my confidence." This statement formalizes the artist’s confession and condenses his thinking and accomplishments. His aesthetic flexibility can be understood through the diverse attempts he has made thus far. kwonjungho postulates his objets as images of communication embracing life and death, and expresses them as "a new horizon of the world opens with the cycle of life and death and on the foundation of the accumulation of such cycles."
