Kim Jung-kwon

Just before studying in Germany, a fire in the studio destroyed every work Kim Jung-kwon had made, including those from the university years, and the photographs of the works were lost as well. Kim struggled alone even during the studies in Germany and returned to Korea after about two years. Through this process Kim turned attention to the relationship between stones and a life’s journey of being struck, broken, and becoming hard again. The essence of a stone, which is nature itself, does not change even under natural weathering. In Kim’s works the stones float in the air; as they try to avoid forces such as the interference, intrusion or outside pressure of others, the stones drift as if flying. In this way, the stones in the works are matter formed by internal and external laws of nature within space and time, and Kim recognized a similarity with human beings in the process by which their form changes. The main material is charcoal: wood, which has the vitality of nature, first loses the meaning of being alive when it reacts to strong external heat, and when it moves from its primary form as wood onto the picture surface it turns into tiny particles of charcoal, yet the essence of wood still remains. This is the reasoning behind the choice.

Biography

• Graduated in Western painting, Department of Art Education, Kyungnam University

Solo exhibitions

• 2018 Kim Jung-kwon Invitational, United Gallery, Seoul
• 2016 The Essence of Matter, Gallery 41, Seoul

Group exhibitions

• 2021 G.ART FAIR ULSAN 21, G Art Gallery, Seoul
• 2021 K Auction, K Auction, Seoul
• 2021 Two-Person Invitational, U.H.M Gallery, Seoul
• 2014 Dangwi Exhibition , Ijo Gallery, Masan, and others