Hyung Koo Kang
[Engrave刻印]
Arario Gallery hosts the solo exhibition of Hyung Koo Kang (b. 1954~), entitled "Engrave” from November 8th to December 20th, 2013. This exhibition is the first solo exhibition since the large-scale retrospective exhibition at Singapore’s Contemporary Art Museum, taking place in Seoul. Exhibited works comprise 13 new pieces and 30 drawings.
The Spirit of the Age Engraved into Portraits
Kang has been known as a portrait artist using photorealistic techniques. But in this exhibition, he is attempting to capture the spirit or essence of the age, engraved in the faces of specific characters in the portraits under the overarching theme of “Engrave.” As the artist himself had noted, that he “intends to represent the social atmosphere of the time through the genre of portraits,” the exhibition consists of various portraits that range from East to West, and past to present. Especially, “The Portrait of Yoon Du-suh,” which is a reinterpretation of the self-portrait of artist Yun Du-Suh from the Joseon period, is the key piece in this exhibition that vividly expresses Kang’s artistic vision.
Changes in Style
Moreover, this exhibition consists of works that accurately showcase his recent style, the focus of which lies in emphasizing specific parts of his existing method while letting other areas look less tense; this “looseness” is in fact a façade, as they take up even more time and effort, the process of which involves employing photorealistic foregrounds and removing other parts.) This change in his style further distinguishes his works from other large portrait artists who also reflect similar trends.
“An established style is a great misfortune for an artist.”
Kang Hyung Koo
Portraits of Yun Du-Suh and Kang Hyung Koo
The center piece of the exhibition, among the 13 new works, is the portrait of artist Yoon Du-Suh fro from the Joseon period. Yoon was a Confucian scholar and artist, and his self-portrait, which is a designated national treasure, had great influence over the field of culture and arts. The self-portrait features a structure and omissions that were revolutionary for his time; the focus zeroes down on the face and his beard, adding an air of exaggeration and distance from reality. The self-portrait, with its high-strung atmosphere (as if he is dueling with his own self), is recognized as the best in the field as a piece of art that compactly presents the life and toils of an artist. To Kang, remediating the portrait of such a historical figure came as a challenge. The result almost looks like another self-portrait of Kang himself. A comparative viewing of Kang’ and Yoon’s portraits will be a signature experience of this exhibition.
100 Drawings Produced during His Trip to the U.S.
The 30 pieces of drawings in the exhibition are selected from a total of 100 pieces Kang produced during his month-long trip to the U.S. Whereas his former caricature-style drawings focus on emphasizing the traits of the character, the new drawings effectively show how Kang’s works effectively convey the sense of “infinity” in one delicate and ephemeral touch. The free-style drawings, describing up to 30 different characters, are connected back to the other works in the exhibition and also allow the viewers to retrace the steps through which a character is personified by an artist.
