ZurückMINGJUNG KIM
http://www.minjung-kim.com
Minjung Kim (b. 1962) is a contemporary Korean artist best known for her ink paintings by theirtransparency as well as her subtle formal compositions on layered paper. Committed to reinterpreting traditional Korean aesthetics, Kim employs a process-based organization of her thoughts, problems, and whims in each of her artworks. Through the repetitive work of burning and layering mulberry Hanji paper, she conveys the process of emotional healing and meditation. Often colorful and staccato, the artist describes her calligraphic work in emotional terms: “The movement, the colors, they are so calm and peaceful. They are my state of mind,” she says. Born in 1962 in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, Kim was encouraged by her family to pursue her artistic inclination from an early age, studying under various teachers including famed watercolorist Yeongyun Kang, and between the ages of thirteen and twenty-nine, Oriental calligraphy. This latter study allowed her to understand the fundamental precepts of Asiatic speculative tradition. As Jean-Christophe Ammann describes in his essay, “Oriental (figurative) thought differs markedly from that of the West. If Western art traditionally has always been subject to major changes and sudden breakthroughs, that of the East gives the priority to the constant. The constant bears within it changed perception and its forms of expression without continuity being lost.” (J. C. Ammann, The Light, The Shade, The Depth, 2015). The study of calligraphy did not just endow Minjung with this vision of the world but also taught her to communicate by means of the extremely controlled use of
the brush, which “channels” the energy and directs it onto the paper.
When in 1980 she enrolled in the Hongik University in Seoul, Minjung had already received a very thorough artistic education which was completed through the detailed study of Oriental painting.
Once her university course had been completed in 1985, she took a Master’s degree at the same university with a thesis on the four basic materials in ink painting (mulberry Hanji paper, brush, ink pigment and the pigment grinding stone).
Out of her curiosity about the Italian art which led Renaissance, she decided to move to Milan, Italy and later graduated from the Brera Academy of Fine Art in 1991. Here she studied less the basics of European painting, which she had already tackled at university in Korea, than the analysis of the works of Western artists who, during the 20th century, studied Oriental painting. In particular, certain works by Paul Klee and Franz Kline prompted her to approach a new aesthetic direction that took her progressively away from the figurative tradition of her country of origin towards an investigation of the expressive value of marks and maculas, two stylistic elements that combine perfectly with the “process-based view of the world” and the ability to “channel the energy”, both of which she learned in her study of calligraphy. “Unlike the concept in Korea, there is no distinction between Eastern and Western art. It is more of a matter of differences in materials.” The reason why Kim has chosen mulberry Hanji paper is that it is the best material which she could handle. She began with expressing the musical rhythm through ink, and later went beyond hand-drawing, committing herself to the natural lines created by candle light or incense burn.
Her exploration of the interrelationship between Oriental and Western techniques and conceptions continues outside the Academy. She always executes her pictorial work on the floor, in keeping with Oriental tradition, because both literally and metaphorically the ground is the basic support for
all painting. In her works, since 1998 on overlaid layers of paper, she burnt sections of them to generate an effect of three-dimensionality, to provide the viewer with a chronological dimension, and to indicate layers of time symbolized by the layers of paper. She gives quivering condition that is created by the burnt edges, and that reveals the form as they flourish, change, are overshadowed and then re-emerge from the background, immersed in those resounding spaces
that embraces, contains and connects them all.
This is the key to the great charm of Minjung Kim's work: a devotion to art that transcends itself in a profound contact with life, expression of an innate beauty and ungraspable amazement at incompleteness, at feeling oneself perennially among things. After graduating from school, Kim has lived and worked in Italy, presenting her works throughout the world including Italy, Switzerland, China, England, USA, and Israel for over thirty five years. Kim particularly has gained a remarkable attention at the exhibition ‘The Light, The Shade, The
Depth’ held in Palazzo Caboto during the Venice Biennale in 2015.
She has exhibited at prominent worldwide museums and galleries, such as Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA (2020); Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany (2019); Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea (2018); Musée des Arts Asiatiques, Nice, France (2017); Hermès Foundation, Singapore (2017);
OCI Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea (2015); Palazzo Caboto, Venice, Italy (2015); Oko, New York, USA (2014); Studio d'Arte Raffaelli, Trento, Italy (2014); MACRO (Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma), Rome, Italy (2012); the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, UK (2008); Guanshanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China (2007); Fondazione Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, Italy (2006); and Museo Comunale d’Arte Moderna Ascona, Ascona, Switzerland (2003). She participated in the
Gwangju Biennale (2018, 2004). Her work is represented in numerous international public collections including the British Museum, London, UK; Musée des Arts Asiatiques, Nice, France; Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres, Sapin; Swiss Re Art Collection, Zürich, Switzerland; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, New York, USA; Asia Society Museum, New York,
USA; Fondazione Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, Italy; the Museum Sbygningen, Copenhagen, Denmark; OCI Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea; and UniCredit Art Collection, Milan, Italy.
She currently lives and works between France and the United States.
EDUCATION
MFA, Brera Academy of Fine Art, Milan, Italy
MFA Oriental Painting, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea
BFA Oriental Painting, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Minjung Kim, Hill Art Foundation, New York, USA
2019
Minjung Kim, Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany
Minjung Kim, Galerie Catherine Issert
Minjung Kim, Galería Cayón, Mahón, Menorca, Spain
2018
Minjung Kim: Mountains, Robilant+Voena Fine Art Gallery, St. Moritz, Switzerland
The Memory of Process, White Cube, London, UK
Making the Void, Filling the Void, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea
2017
Phasing, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London, UK
Cendre & Lumière, Musée des Arts asiatiques, Conseil Départemental 06, Nice, France
Oneness, Hermès Foundation, Singapore
Paper, Ink and Fire: After the Process, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
2016
Phasing, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany
Minjung Kim, Leslie Sacks Gallery, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, USA
2015
Traces, OCI Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
The Light, The Shade, The Depth, Luxembourg & Dayan, Palazzo Caboto, Venice, Italy (curated
by Jean-Christophe Ammann)
2014
Oko, New York, USA (curated by Alison Gingeras)
Minjung Kim: The Sound of Light, Galerie Commeter, Hamburg, Germany
Studio d'Arte Raffaelli, Trento, Italy (catalogue with a text of Gerardo Mosquera)
Art Genève 2014, Luxembourg & Dayan, Artgèneve Salon d’Art, Geneva, Switzerland
2013
Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London, UK
2012
The Sound of Light, Marco (Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma), Testaccio, Rome, Italy
Leslie Sacks Gallery, Brentwood, Los Angeles, USA
Galleria Sahrai, Milan, Italy
2010
Galleria Sant'Angelo, Biella, Italy
2009
Galleria Valeria Bella Stampe, Milan, Italy
Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London, UK
Galleria Ermanno Tedeschi, Rome, Italy
2008
Galleria Ermanno Tedeschi, Turin, Italy
Robilant+Voena Fine Art Gallery, London, UK
Gallerie Mudimadrie, Antwerp, Belgium
2007
Guanshanyue Art Museum, Shenzen, China
Copenhagen Art Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Brentwood, Los Angeles, USA
Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London, UK
Giudecca795 Galleria d’Arte, Venice, Italy
2006
Montecarlo Art Gallery, Milan, Italy
Fondazione Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, Italy
Galleria Valeria Bella Stampe, Milan, Italy
2004
Arte92, Milan, Italy
Ikos, Modena, Italy
2003
Museo Comunale di Ascona, Ascona, Switzerland (catalogue with a text of Roberto Borghi)
Leslie Sacks Gallery, Brentwood, Los Angeles, USA
Galerie Patrick Cramer, Geneva, Switzerland
2002
Galleria Recalcati, Turin, Italy
Copenhagen Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Galleria Cafiso, Milan, Italy
1999
Wickeiser Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Patrick Cramer, Geneva, Switzerland (catalogue with a text of Roberto Borghi)
1998
Galleria Cafiso, Milan, Italy (catalogue with texts of Luciano Caramel and Roberto Borghi)
1997
Cappella di Villa Ruffolo, Ravello, Italy
1996
Galleria Arte Borgogna, Milan, Italy (catalogue with texts of Cristina Cano, Jacqueline Ceresoli and
Gianni Schubert)
Galleria Kontraste, Forte dei Marmi, Italy
1991
Baik Song Gallery, Seoul, Korea (catalogue with text of Suh Seong Rock)
Injae Art Museum, Gwangju, Korea
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
Pushing Paper: Contemporary Drawing from 1970 to Now, The British Museum, London, England
2018
Imagined Borders, The 12th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, Korea
Clouds Stretching For A Thousand Miles: Ink in Asian Art, Asia Society, New York, USA
Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2018, Changwon, Korea
2017
The Mulberry Forest Becoming Ocean, Esther Schipper, Berlin, Germany
Korean: Now and Then, Asia Week New York Contemporary, Kang Contemporary, New York,
USA
Moi & Les Auters, Galerie Catherine Issert, St. Paul de Vence, France
2016
Viewing The Past Thru Modern Eyes, Kang Collection, New York, USA
2015
Happy Modern and Contemporary Korean Paintings, Kang Collection, New York, USA
The Gaze of... Selected Works of the Unicredit Art Collection, Uncredit Pavillon, Milan, Italy
2014
Abstraction: 1911-2014, Leslie Sacks Gallery, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, USA
Maestri antichi, moderni imprenditori, Galleria Valeria Bella Stampe, Milan, Italy
2012
World, Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
TEFAF 2012, Jacobs Fine Art Gallery, Maastricht, Netherlands
New!, Galleria Valeria Bella Stampe, Milan, Italy
Settimana della Corea, Santa Maria della Vita, Bologna, Italy
2011
Galleria E. Tedeschi, Tel Aviv, Israel
Landscape and Memory, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London, UK
2010
Twilight Zone, Morgen Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2009
Across the Cross (Michelangelo eI contemporanei), Trapani, Italy
La Biennale di Venezia- Sant Elena, Venice, Italy
Galleria La Giarina, Verona, Italy
Galleria E. Tedeschi, Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy
2008
Prospects and Interiors: Sculptors’ Drawings of Inner Space, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, UK
2004
The 5th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangiu, Korea
2002
Mostra collettiva, Galleria Cafiso, Milan, Italy
2001
Paris, New York, Washington D.C. The Odyssey 2001, Korean Republic Embassy, Washington
D.C., USA
Galleria Cophenhagen, Cophenhagen, Denmark
Simboli e simbolismi nell’arte contemporanea, Ticosa Spazio a Shed, Como, Italy
1998
Mostra di incisioni, Sala Grassi, Corbetta, Milan, Italy
Territori di frontiera, Spazio Laboratorio Hajech, Milan, Italy
Ad Imaginem, Spazio Linati, Milan, Italy
1997
Arti visive, Circolo Culturale Bertold Brecht, Milan, Italy
Pittura e scultura del terzo millennio, Casa del Rigoletto, Mantua, Italy
Mostra collettiva, Galleria Borgogna, Milan, Italy
Mostra collettiva, Galleria Cafiso, Milan, Italy
Incisione collettiva, Castello di Galliate, Galliate, Novara, Italy
Mostra collettiva, Galleria Kontraste, Forte dei Marmi, Italy
1996
Mimesis, Galleria della Cassa di Risparmio di Caldaro, Bolzano, Italy
Nel segno della Luna, Rocca Malatestiana, Montefiore Conca, Italy
1995
International Exhibition of Art Colleges Hiroshima ‘95, Hiroshima, Japan
Quali differenze, Galleria Arcadia Nuova, Milan, Italy
Mostra Collettiva, Galleria Cafiso, Milan, Italy
Salon I, Living Art Gallery, Milan, Italy
Mostra collettiva, Galleria Kontraste, Forte dei Marmi, Italy
1994
Brera a Venezia, Liceo Artistico Statale, Venice, Italy
Dove sostano gli Dei, Centro Storico di Saronno, Italy
First Price International Competition, Fanum Fortunae, Fano, Italy
Sequenze d’Arte Contemporanea, Torre di Ligny - Museo della Preistoria, Trapani, Italy
Salon I ‘94, Galleria Arte Borgogna, Milan, Italy
Salon I ‘94, Villa Litta Carini, Milan, Italy
S.B.C. European competition ‘94, Swiss Bank House, London, UK
Mostra collettiva, Galleria Cafiso, Milan, Italy
La Stampa Originale, Civica Biblioteca d’Arte del Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy
1991
Pure Korean Art, National Museum of Modern Art, Gwacheon, Korea
1990
Koreana Painting - Perspective Years ’90, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Night with the Artist, Intercontinental Hotel, Seoul, Korea
1989
Current Seoul, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Korean Painting - 43 Artist Invited, Chosun Press Center Museum, Seoul, Korea
1988
Yiyeon, Kwanhoon Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Consciousness of transition in the Korean modern painting, Kwanhoon Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Chunchu, Osaka International Culture Exchange Center, Osaka, Japan
Plastic Art for Today and Tomorrow - 16 Artists, Dongduk Art Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Yeobaik - 16 Artists, Baegak Art Center, Seoul, Korea
New Plastic Art, Chunbuk Art Center, Seoul, Korea
1987
Chunchu, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Yiyeon, Dongduk Gallery, Seoul, Korea
New-Expressionism Korean Painting, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Korean Painting - 10 Artist Research, Kwanhoon Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Post Art, ‘3 Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Section of Korean Modern Painting, Chunbuk Art Center, Seoul, Korea
1986
Chunchu, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Works of Korean Paintings, Hongik Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Yiyeon, Kwanhoon Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Hanmoim Incisione, Kwanhoon Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Korean Painting. The Differences, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Oriental Painting Hong Ik, Kyung In Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
1985
Modern Korean Visual Art, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Chunchu, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Yiyeon, Kwanhoon Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Red Mountain, Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA
Story, Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres, Spain
The Street, Swiss Re Art Collection, Zürich, Switzerland
Phasing, Asia Society, New York, USA
Mutation, Asia Society, New York, USA
Phasing, The British Museum, London, UK
The Room, The British Museum, London, UK
Mountain, The British Museum, London, UK
Story, Musée des Arts Asiatiques, Nice, France
Pieno di Vuoto, Musée des Arts Asiatiques, Nice, France
Dobae, OCI Museum, Korea
Female, Fondazione Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, Italy
Story, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, New York, USA
Pieno di Vuoto, UniCredit, Milan, Italy