Full description from the venue
As a figurative painter and arts administrator, Park, Kwang-jin has left an indelible mark on the Korean art scene. After receiving an award at the National Art Exhibition (Kukjeon) in 1957 while still a university student, he navigated the institutional framework of the Kukjeon, progressing from recommended artist to invited artist and eventually serving as a juror. As an advocate for artistic initiatives, he also contributed to the formation of artist communities, founding Mokwoohoe (1957) and the Korean Sunday Painters’ Association (1965).
Park also achieved significant milestones in the areas of institutional frameworks and public policies for art. He participated in major national projects, including the National Documentary Painting Project (1967), the Vietnam War Documentary Painting Project (1972), and the Saemaul Movement Documentary Painting Project (1973), producing works for each initiative. During his tenure as President of the Korean Fine Arts Association (1992-1995), he was instrumental in institutionalizing the so-called “1% Law” (Article 9 of the Culture and Arts Promotion Act). His leadership extended to serving as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Seoul International Contemporary Art Festival (1994), Executive Chair of the Organizing Committee for the Year of Art 1995, and President of the Organizing Committee for Korea as the Guest Country of Honor at ARCO, Spain (2002-2007). Through these influential roles, he lent his support to the establishment of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and the inauguration of the Gwangju Biennale. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Arts, Republic of Korea.
While Park, Kwang-jin has built a multifaceted career as a painter, educator, and arts administrator, this exhibition focuses specifically on his figurative painting practice, which constitutes a pillar of Korean figurative art. Centering on works produced prior to his well-known Sound of Nature landscape series, the exhibition traces the trajectory of his early practice and formal explorations.
As noted by the critic Lee Kyung-sung, these works are essential to understanding the artist’s formal principles. Revisiting Park, Kwang-jin’s extensive career—spanning decades to the present day as he enters his nineties—this exhibition goes beyond a mere survey of an artist’s early work; it provides a vantage point to observe how Korean figurative painting was formed and expanded. The planes and proportions that constitute his canvases, along with his attitude toward nature and subjects, illuminate how the soil of figurative painting was solidified within the Korean art scene, offering indispensable clues for understanding contemporary art.