[Gallery Walk] The Captivating 'Fusion Oriental Painting' Connecting Tradition and Modernity

Kumho Museum of Art, Hong Ji-yoon Solo Exhibition 'Hong Ji-yoon Style'
Until February 16, 2025

The exhibition "Hong Ji-yoon Style," currently held at Kumho Museum of Art, offers a special opportunity to comprehensively view the unique artistic journey of artist Hong Ji-yoon, who has been modernly reinterpreting traditional Korean Oriental painting over the past 30 years. This exhibition, which covers the artist’s early works to the latest pieces, utilizes the entire Kumho Museum of Art building, presenting each floor with a distinct theme.

Exhibition view of Hong Ji-yoon's solo exhibition 'Hong Ji-yoon Style' at Kumho Museum of Art.
[Photo by Kumho Museum of Art]

This exhibition showcases the essence of 'Fusion Oriental Painting,' a style uniquely created by the artist. His artistic world, which transcends East and West, tradition and modernity, as well as analog and digital, breaks down the boundaries of conventional Oriental painting and opens new artistic possibilities.

One of the most distinctive spaces is the costume room located in the basement of Kumho Museum of Art. Filled with pink floral wallpaper, this space evokes the artist’s childhood memories. It faithfully recreates the shop of his mother, who was a fashion designer in the 1970s, containing the source that inspired him to dream of becoming an artist.

The artist exhibited clothes made by his mother alongside design samples he admired and dreamed of as a child. Various garments such as sewing machines, embroidered fabrics, dresses, and hanbok are not mere objects but symbolic works imbued with the artist’s memories and nostalgia. Added to this are paintings and embroidery works created after Hong Ji-yoon became an artist, conveying the traces of his childhood that shaped 'artist Hong Ji-yoon' directly to the audience.

The most prominent feature in Hong Ji-yoon’s works is the 'flower.' His flowers go beyond simple natural representations, conveying vitality through vivid colors and bold compositions. Especially after returning to Korea from studying in Germany in the early 2000s, he gained attention for works using fluorescent colors. At a time when traditional Oriental painting focused on ink wash, his attempt to combine fluorescent and intense colors surprised the art world.

Exhibition view of Hong Ji-yoon's solo exhibition 'Hong Ji-yoon Style' at Kumho Museum of Art.
[Photo by Kumho Museum of Art]

The artist tried new working methods beyond the boundaries of traditional Oriental painting. He first conceptualized ideas using Photoshop, then printed them on A4 paper to concretize the ideas, and completed the paintings by spreading large canvases on the floor and stepping on them. Although this method was unfamiliar and radical to traditional Oriental painters, he completed a unique painting style through it. This exhibition features large canvas works created by this method, filling the walls and revealing the essence of Hong Ji-yoon style.

Hong Ji-yoon’s works, which break down the boundaries between literature, music, and art, are also famous for their fusion of poetry, music, literature, and art. On his paintings are written musical scores by Schubert, Dante’s overture, and verses by Yun Dong-ju. By adding his own poetry on the works, combining appreciation, recording, and reflection, his work offers audiences a new artistic experience.

This exhibition also includes many works featuring literary motifs. "Standing in the Field of Hibiscus," inspired by the poem Chokgyuhwa by Choi Chi-won, is a representative work that modernly reinterprets the fusion of traditional literature and Oriental painting.

Exhibition view of Hong Ji-yoon's solo exhibition 'Hong Ji-yoon Style' at Kumho Museum of Art.
[Photo by Kumho Museum of Art]

He constantly explores new methods to transcend the media limitations of art. This exhibition also unveils the media facade work presented at Gwanghwamun Square during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. This work is a video combining pictograms symbolizing Olympic sports with flowers, unfolding alongside the music of "Dongbaek Agassi" and "La Traviata," captivating the audience’s senses.

Additionally, he challenged working methods using digital devices. The latest works "Star, Flower, Child," exhibited on the first floor, started as drawings on an iPad and were completed as paintings with analog expression, exploring the coexistence of digital and analog.

Through this exhibition, Hong Ji-yoon has consolidated his unique artistic world under the name "Hong Ji-yoon Style." From the past methods using Photoshop and A4 paper to the present development with the iPad, his works continuously evolve by breaking down the boundaries between technology and art, tradition and modernity.

The artist spoke about the exhibition theme and his work so far: “My paintings and working methods have changed over time, but even this process of change is all part of ‘Hong Ji-yoon Style.’ Through this exhibition, which embraces the past, present, and future, I want to show the audience everything about myself.”

"Hong Ji-yoon Style" offers audiences a new chapter of art where tradition and modernity, digital and analog harmoniously blend, beyond a simple retrospective of the artist. The exhibition runs until February 16, 2025.