Artist Ji-won Kim Holds Solo Exhibition 'LEMON' at PKM Gallery
40 Years of Artistic Career, Nearly 20 Years Devoted to Cockscomb Flowers
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] ‘Celosia Artist’ Kim Ji-won (61, Professor at Korea National University of Arts) has come to meet the audience with a new theme. PKM Gallery in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul is hosting Kim Ji-won's solo exhibition ‘LEMON’ until May 26.
The artist, who has been devoted to ‘painting’ by continuously observing and exploring canvases, reinterpreted the fresh and tangy sensation of the fruit lemon into fresh images through this solo exhibition.
Over 40 years of his artistic career, the artist has drawn out the hidden essence through an active process of narrowing and widening the distance with the subject beyond mere representation. In this exhibition, the artist boldly introduces his sculptural journey by presenting over 50 paintings on five themes, including celosia and lemon, which he has worked on for the past five years.
The lemon, as seen by the artist, is an image of scattered pellets, inspiring our dulled senses in the lethargic modern society to burst like juice. That freshness disinfects the atmosphere, tautly touches sagging emotions, and then floats throughout the exhibition space.
Also, celosia, which represents the artist’s artistic world, is taxidermied with the intense desire of flowers expressed by painting, scraping, erasing, and rubbing on the canvas. The intensity of celosia, which the artist felt with his whole body to the extent that he said, “Although it is a plant, it has an animal-like texture,” grows through diluted pigments, their residues, and scattered oil droplets, then soon disappears.
The ‘scenery’ he wanted to express repeats the same landscape every year, but the essence of the objects pursued by the artist’s gaze and the journey of exploration offer new emotions to the audience through work faithful to the essence of painting.
Kim Ji-won graduated from Inha University and the State Academy of Fine Arts Frankfurt. He received the 15th Lee In-sung Art Award in 2014. Currently, he serves as the Dean of the School of Fine Arts at Korea National University of Arts. His works are permanently collected by Samsung Museum of Art Leeum, Art Sonje Center, SOMA Museum of Art, JTBC, and others.
The exhibition runs until May 26.
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