The Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) announced on June 9 that it is holding a large-scale solo exhibition by Choi Inseon, a leading figure in contemporary Korean art and a professor in the Department of Painting at Hongik University, at Oryong Art Hall until June 25.
The subtitle of this exhibition is "Confession of Painting," and it is centered around large-scale abstract paintings, each sized at 200-ho, offering an overwhelming visual experience.
Choi first gained attention in the early 1990s by winning top prizes at the Grand Art Exhibition of Korea, the JoongAng Fine Arts Prize, and the Hankook Ilbo Young Artists Invitational. After a dazzling debut, her minimalist abstract works stirred the Korean art scene in the 1990s. Her piece "White Produced in Winter" is part of the collection at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, recognized as a representative work of Korean minimal art.
Since the mid-2000s, her work has evolved beyond monochromatic minimalist abstraction, passing through the "Era of Color Fields" and expanding into the "Museum Interior" series, which features vibrant colors and elements of modern Cubism.
Her works have been sold at Sotheby's in New York and Christie's in Hong Kong, helping her gain international recognition. Through powerful brushstrokes and vivid colors and forms, Choi Inseon presents passionate works, freely traversing between figurative and abstract art, as if constantly testing the boundaries of her own artistic practice.
Her dynamic artistic spectrum, grounded in "vitality," is continually generating new worlds through creative acts that pursue novelty and create differences from the past.
This invitational exhibition at Oryong Art Hall features a total of 27 works. While continuing the tradition of minimalist painting centered on monochrome from the late 1990s, the exhibition also highlights the expanded possibilities of abstract painting newly developed on top of that foundation.
Through "Confession of Painting," the artist persistently raises the question, "What is painting?" At the same time, she creates moments of deep reflection through painting as a medium. From visible subjects such as objects, events, people, and environments, to intangible states like thoughts and feelings, she approaches the essence of painting through a continuous process of interpretation, judgment, and discovery. For Choi Inseon, painting is an act of exploring ideas and sculpting thought itself.
In addition to her artistic pursuits, she founded the non-profit Incarnation Cultural Arts Foundation in 2018. Each year, the foundation selects around seven young artists to receive art awards and provides art scholarships and creative grants of 10 million won per recipient. To date, she has contributed approximately 1.7 billion won of her own funds to support medical expenses for children and the elderly, demonstrating her positive influence in society.
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