Crossing the Boundary Between Design and Painting... 48-Year Archive Exhibition of Professor Moon Cheol

Moon Cheol's 48-Year Journey in Visual Design
From 1976 to 2025
Exhibiting Over 200 Works

Moon Cheol, an honorary professor at Hongik University College of Fine Arts and currently an active painter, is holding an archive exhibition titled "Moon Cheol - 48 Years of Visual Design and Now (1976~2025)" at Exhibition Hall 3 of the Seoul Arts Center Design Museum until June 20.

The exhibition is organized chronologically, starting from Professor Moon's first design work?a piece submitted to the Seoul Arts High School in-school exhibition in 1976?through his university and graduate school years, his time studying abroad, his tenure as a professor, and his current work after retirement. A total of about 200 works are on display. Admission is free, and the exhibition is open to all ages.

This exhibition offers an opportunity to reflect on the trends and evolution of visual design in Korea. It covers a wide range of genres, including actual commissioned works such as posters, advertisements, corporate identity (C.I.), symbol design, book covers, illustrations, cartoons, and card designs, as well as works imbued with painterly sensibility. In addition to award-winning pieces from the Korea Industrial Design Exhibition, visitors can also appreciate Moon's ongoing series of posters honoring veterans, which showcase his pursuit of metaphorical rhetoric and emotional design language.

The most recent works, a set of 30 pencil surrealist drawings from the "B flat" series, are a highlight of the exhibition. This series, created in collaboration with poet Kim Hyeju, is noted for its surreal compositions centered on faces and its meticulous pencil technique.

Jung Yeonsim, a professor in the Department of Art Studies at Hongik University, commented, "Moon Cheol's drawings intersect surrealist imagery and visual unconsciousness, yet they never lose a warm perspective and humor. You can feel his unique psychological tension, enhanced by his design sensibility."

The "B flat" drawing series will also be featured in a solo exhibition at the Walkerhill Bit Gallery from June 12 to 21, following the Seoul Arts Center exhibition.