SEOUL — The energy inside COEX was electric as Kiaf Seoul 2025 opened its doors this week, but one booth in particular drew waves of attention and hushed awe. Khalifa Gallery’s solo presentation of Hyunae Kang (also known as Hyun Ae Kang) became an instant sensation, with more than ten large-scale works sold within just two days of the fair’s opening.
Gallery director Kyonglan Sohn was on hand to personally welcome collectors, alongside Kang herself, whose luminous canvases seemed to radiate both meditative calm and transcendental force. The booth even drew the visit of Reverend Oh Jung-Hyun of Sarang Community Church, who paused to admire the works and offer words of encouragement to the artist.
Born in 1959 in Seosan, Korea, Kang has long been recognized as a “painter of meditation.” After training in sculpture at Ewha Womans University, she moved to the United States, shifting to painting and making her debut with a solo exhibition at Gallery Hyundai in 1991. Over the decades, she has developed a distinctive language that fuses geometric modernism with organic abstraction, realized through labor-intensive impasto techniques. Layer upon layer of thick pigment creates a surface that vibrates with spiritual resonance, often prompting viewers to tears.
Her recurring motifs — horizons, dawn light, lunar halos — evoke cosmic energy and the divine. Into the paint she folds materials such as sand, gold dust, and crystal, amplifying the sense of vitality on the canvas. These are not modest works: most span from 100 to 200 “ho,” demanding weeks, months, or even years of dedication. Today, her paintings can be found in the collections of institutions such as the Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in California, the Brae Museum, and the Seoul Museum of Art.
For Khalifa Gallery, the Kiaf presentation was more than a commercial success; it was a mission statement. “We aim to maintain the highest aesthetic standards while championing Korean artists on the global stage,” said Sohn, who has positioned the gallery as a commissioner at the Asia Contemporary Art Show in Hong Kong and the Singapore Contemporary Art Show. “By supporting visionary talents like Hyunae Kang, we hope to strengthen Korea’s voice in the international art market.”
As collectors continued to gather at Booth A21, it was clear that Kang’s luminous abstractions had become one of the defining stories of Kiaf Seoul 2025 — works that transcend materiality to touch the soul, and a gallery determined to project Korean contemporary art onto the world stage.
Sayart / Jason Yim yimjongho1969@gmail.com
