Viewing the Front Page Artwork of the Newsletter (22) Kong Sung-Hun, Gray Hairs and Smoke
2017-10-10 l Hit 1204
Viewing the Front Page Artwork of the Newsletter (22)
Kong Sung-Hun, Gray Hairs and Smoke
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Nature gives comfort and rest to people, but sometimes it becomes an object of fear that can devour them. Artist Kong Sung-Hun's nature is closer to the latter; choppy waves remind viewers of the powerful wind, and dark clouds seem likely to stir up thunderstorms. In this month's newsletter, we introduce 'Gray Hairs and Smoke' by artist Kong Sung-Hun, which depicts a white-haired person on a dimly lit sea.
Artist Kong Sung-Hun's 'Gray Hairs and Smoke' is so vivid that it seems real, even though it is a painting. There is a wisp of smoke that seems to be scattered into the atmosphere over the backdrop of a foggy ocean and a sky that does not show any indication of the time of day, with the hair fluttering through the cold air in the rough wind.
 Gray Hairs, 2013, Oil on canvas, 227.3 x 181.8cm |
This work was inspired by the second "IPAP SEA OF PEACE," which was organized by INCHEON ART PLATFORM in 2011 and 2012. He was one of the artists who participated in the event and they visited Baengnyeongdo, Daecheongdo, and Yeonpyeongdo for the project which followed the themes of peace, sea, and division. The artist said that he was inspired by the back of somebody looking at the ocean from Baekryeong Island.
He explained, "Baengnyeongdo is located in the northernmost part of the west sea. My father was a refugee and now is an old man. After I visited the site, I once again realized that he could not visit his hometown after the country was divided and now the years only flow away. The white smoke in front of the person in the work is the smoke from a cigarette, and I personally think that it resembles the form of a sigh. The shape of the smoke seemed like a sigh.“
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One interesting thing about the artwork is that there is no information about the person with the gray hair. It is not clear whether the person is a man or a woman, or the person's age. The artist said he wanted this person to be seen as a tragic figure who suffered many of the tragedies that took place over the years of South Korea's modernization.
This gray hair work was completed with a total of three pieces. This proves how much the artist appreciated the subject. The first acrylic piece, made in 2012, is based on the back of the person, and the oil painting produced in 2013 expressed the figure as if he or she is being spotlighted. In the newsletter, we deal with the last piece of the work, made in 2014. It depicts the enormity of nature in a fog, which can be commonly seen in artist Kong Sung-Hun's work.
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Artist Kong Sung-Hun said that his view of the world is not optimistic. For him, nature is in flux; we cannot know where it comes from, it cannot be measured, it is incomprehensible, insecure, and even mysterious. The dimly lit sea and sky, and the natural scenery filled with a certain energy repeatedly appear in his work, and they all originate from the artist's perception of the world.
The tumultuous kind of nature that the artist puts forth raises vague anxieties in the viewer. "Most people live with anxieties that cannot be resolved as they expected. In that sense, anxiety about the future is a universal emotion for human beings," the artist explained. However, he does not forget that people also stand against those anxieties, like the people who throw stones into the sea where the rough waves swell. The artist expressed his desire to share these feelings with contemporaries who have experienced the same things in the same era.
Korean Artist Project Team
2017. 10. 11. ⓒKorean Artist Project
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