NYAB Event - Sang Joon Park Exhibition

Sang Joon Park Exhibition

Chelsea West Gallery

This event has ended.

Kips gallery presents an exhibition by Sang Joon Park.

The main concept of his work is…
An ordinary white bowl is placed on the brown base one by one. The work can be transformed into a whole new art work by various arrangements. Anybody can participate in creating art work of their own. He believes that anything, any kind of human activity can turn into a valuable form of art.

20 years ago, He first trained to become a potter under Mr, Na Woon Chae, master potter. He told the artist that “in order to become a potter, you must be able to make at least 30 identical bowls within an hour” After countless days of failures Mr, Na finally said that he became a potter. Since then, he continued on making thousands of bowls and dreamed of becoming a real artist someday. So he decided to go abroad and attended Pratt Institute (M,F,A Ceramic Sculpture)

Robert Zakarian who was a sculpture professor of Pratt taught me about fine art such as abstract, minimal, and conceptual art and pressured me how to express his thought through a new word of art language. At that time, he tried to use different techniques and materials other than wheel and clay and to develop the concept of work. However, he was never satisfied with his new works and unable to find what he really wanted.

It is that failure make good. Through failure, he can find ways to overcome. In failure, he can find new beauty.

Many people search for new joy and happiness but these people do not seem to appreciate what they already have.,

One day, I saw a pile of bowls so sitting on a table in my studio. Those the bowls that I used to make everyday without putting any extra pressure on me. These were the bowls that real art could also be found in my simple and ordinary life and environment. Those bowls already made him an artist a long time ago, but he did not know how to appreciate them. He now appreciate my art works, bowls, simple and ordinary, yet so special to him.

He started working on the piece of bowl series in 2005. Before stating it, he had never thought that bowls could become art, he can make a beautiful looking bowls. However, that is never good enough to express his heart, soul and spit. He believes that a good ceramic artist should know how to explain life, spirit and self through his or her work.

There are two different clays that he used, porcelain(white) is representing his potter attitude – Emphasing on skillful finish, earthware(dark brown) is representing his sculptor attitude- Emphasing on conceptual and rough finish.

His works are influenced by Eastern and Western art, craft, art and potter Na woon Chea and sculptor Robert Zakarian.