The 24th Lee In-sung Art Award winner, artist Kwon O Bong, is showcasing his solo exhibition at Daegu Art Museum from October 22, 2024, to February 2, 2025. This exhibition comprehensively displays Kwon’s 40-year artistic journey, offering a unique opportunity to explore the essence of his artistic world.

Kwon O Bong, born in 1954 in Daegu, is renowned for his unique "scribble painting" style, characterized by free-form, intuitive lines and dynamic strokes. His works are often spontaneous and immediate, showcasing raw energy through thick layers of paint, known as matière. This exhibition will present more than 80 paintings, including his newest oil paintings, as well as a special archive section that traces his creative development.

The exhibition is divided into four thematic sections across the museum’s 2nd and 3rd exhibition halls, as well as the Sunken Garden. Visitors will encounter his large-scale paintings created with wide brushes and bold gestures in one section, while another focuses on his distinctive technique of sanggam (inlaying), a method inspired by traditional Korean ceramics. Kwon’s sanggam paintings involve scraping and layering paint using various tools such as knives, farm implements, and cloth, adding a tactile and textural element to his abstract works.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is Kwon’s 2019 paper series, which explores the combination of coal tar and oil paint on paper. These pieces demonstrate his use of line and texture in a way that differs from his canvas works, offering a fresh perspective on his artistic evolution. The exhibition also includes works that use dots, lines, and surfaces, revealing his exploration of geometric and linear forms.

The final section presents Kwon’s early works from the 1980s to 2000s, where his paintings feature more figurative elements, including symbols, numbers, and images of animals, fish, and mountains. These works, while distinct from his later abstract pieces, provide valuable insight into the foundations of his artistic practice.

Curator Park Boram remarked, “Kwon O Bong has consistently explored the traces of bodily movement through his paintings, rooted in his unrelenting pursuit of free and conflicting forms. This exhibition serves as a key opportunity to appreciate the depth and consistency of his approach to contemporary Korean art.”

The exhibition is part of the Lee In-sung Art Award, established in 1999 to honor the legacy of Lee In-sung, a renowned Korean modernist painter born in Daegu. The award recognizes artists who contribute to the development of Korean contemporary art, offering them the opportunity to present a solo exhibition. Various educational programs, docent tours, and special events will accompany the exhibition throughout its run, details of which can be found on the Daegu Art Museum website.

Sayart / Jason Yim, yimjongho1969@gmail.com