NYAB Event - Kwun Sun-Cheol Exhibition

Kwun Sun-Cheol Exhibition

Gana Art Gallery

This event has ended.

Gana Art presents the exhibition of Korean artist, Kwun Sun-Cheol. The show will be comprised of a selection of oil on canvas works. This will be the artist's first solo exhibition in the U.S.

Born in 1944, Kwun Sun-Cheol draws from over 40 years of close observation of human suffering, capturing anonymous faces of fellow Koreans who reflect the extreme hardship and deprivation of the nation's early modern history as it underwent Japanese occupation, World War II and the Korean War. He is especially drawn to the faces of older people on the streets of Korea, many of whom had fled from the North and experienced multiple tragedies --loss of loved ones, homes, and even their sense of identity. Kwun discovered a profound connection between these furrowed faces and an emotionally and spiritually transformative pain: "As Koreans who experienced the war, their souls are in pain. Even when looking at mountains in Korea, we can sense this pain emanating from them. In my country, the soul is heavy."

Kwun's images combine the representational with the abstract. Despite an explosive and violent surface tension expressed in bold brushstrokes, a quiet strength and formal beauty prevail. Influenced by Art Informel as an art student at Seoul National University, Kwun's expressionistic calligraphic strokes are executed with rich colors and thick, multi-layers of oil paint that create an impression of necessity more than contingency. As described by art critic Françoise Monnin: "The draughtsman's rationality is progressively submerged in an orgy of color. Finely shaded oranges and greens are ultimately consumed by deeper tones of blue, whose role is to bring out a dramatic structure that is both nocturnal and celestial."

As we closely observe Kwun's subjects, their roughly painted outlines seem to gradually fade away, leaving behind only their expressions. Kwun--influenced by great modern European masters such as Cezanne and Modigliani, who pushed the boundaries of expression--remains a closer student of El Greco and his quest to capture the essence of the individual soul. Reminiscent of the bark of an old pine tree or a moss-grown rock, Kwun's subjects reflect the arduousness of life, but also a luminosity that stems from the spirit. His portraits are scenes of recognition in an aesthetic realm where tragedy and beauty consent to meet.