Keun-Joong KIM

Biography

Born in 1955 in South Korea.

After majoring in Oriental painting at Hongik University and its graduate school in South Korea, he earned a master’s degree in art history from Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. Going beyond the traditional frameworks of ink and color painting, he has continually explored the possibilities of Oriental painting as contemporary art since the late 1980s. For many years, he taught as a professor in the College of Art and Design at Gachon University (formerly Kyungwon University), contributing to the cultivation of the next generation of artists.

Deconstruction of Traditional and Contemporary Art

While using traditional Oriental painting materials and spatial awareness as a starting point, he actively incorporated Western materials such as canvas and acrylic paint. By repeatedly applying and scraping away layers of earth and pigment, he creates a unique matière (texture) reminiscent of ancient murals or frescoes.

Reinterpretation of the Peony

In recent years, his signature motif has become the peony, a symbol of wealth and prosperity. He paints the peonies found in traditional folk paintings with intense, pop-like colors—close to fluorescent and primary colors—and uninhibited brushwork, multiplying them across the canvas. In doing so, he elevates a classical motif to the realm of contemporary pop art and abstract expressionism.

Inquiry into “Natural Being”

Many of his works share the consistent theme of “Natural Being” (the state of existing exactly as one is). The transition from his early heavy, meditative abstract paintings characterized by dark browns and monochromes to his later series of brilliantly colored flowers bursting with vitality traces his exploration of philosophical questions: “What is existence?” and “What is the fundamental energy of nature?”

Artworks

• Natural Being (Flower / Peony) Series
  His representative works developed since the mid-2000s. These paintings feature peonies in vivid, bold colors that fill the canvas, evoking a sense of raw life energy and the cosmic cycle, alongside their visual splendor.
• Early to Mid-Career Abstract Paintings (Mural-like Abstraction)
  A series of highly spiritual, minimalist abstract works created from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Applying thick layers of earth and pigment, these works evoke traces of ancient symbols, letters, and weathered walls.

Public Collections

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Korea
Seoul Museum of Art, Korea
Ho-Am Art Museum, Korea
Kumho Museum of Art, Korea (among others)

Natural Being, 1993
Plaster, pigment, copper plate on panel
162 x 130 cm, ref. N99-4

Natural Being, 1995
Plaster, pigment, straw on panel
162 x 130 cm, ref. N99-6

Natural Being, 1997
Mixed media on canvas (copper, acrylic, pigment, etc.)
162 x 130 cm, ref. N99-8

Keun-Joong KIM Exhibition
Installation view at Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo / 2000