Jiwon Kim b.1961

EDUCATION:

Staatliche Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste, Stadelschule, Frankfurt am Main , Germany; B.F.A., Fine arts education, Inha University, South Korea

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

SOLO - 2005 PKM Gallery, Seoul, South Korea; 2004 Mendrami , Gallery Fish, Seoul, South Korea; 2003 Still Life , Alternative Space Pool, Seoul, South Korea ; 2002 Vinyl Painting , Gallery Fish, Seoul, South Korea

GROUP - 2005 Movement on Silence , Gallery DOS, Seoul, South Korea; 2004 A Praise for Still Life , Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea; Perspective of 2004 - Contemporary Fine Arts , Sejong Center Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea; 2003 Crossings 2003 KOREA/HAWAII , Gallery Iolani, East-West Centre, Hawaii; Art and Playing , Seoul Arts Centre; 2002 Neo Painting ? Korea America Young Paintings , Youngeun Museum, Seoul, South Korea; 2001 Korean Art 2001: The Reinstatement of Painting , National Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea, Kwang Dong Museum, China; 2000 Art-That Energy of Incantation, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea

Like Germany , Korea was divided into two countries by two ideologically opposite superpowers. Unlike Germany however, the Cold war boiled over into a full scale war which lasted three years and left the whole country in ruins, families divided and economy in tatters. And unlike Germany , the country is still divided. As the recent events concerning the nuclear bomb testing shown, North Korea is a presence which can not be ignored. It is not an understatement when one says that this condition of division between North and South Korea has shaped the culture of South Korea as much as the influx of various culture coming in from abroad.

Jiwon Kim explores this condition of division through his large scale paintings. His work shown in this exhibition shows wild flowers growing amongst the overgrown grass field, to the backdrop of something which resembles a wall with an army-camouflage. The painting in fact shows a close-up of small flowers which flourish in the 4km-wide demilitarized zone (DMZ) which separates North and South Korea, where two powerful armies face off each other. The camouflaged walls hide the land behind from view. It is well known that soldiers, spies and refugees traverse this DMZ on a regular basis. The painting seems to force the viewer to see from their point of view, crawling on the ground, hiding amongst the grassland, looking up towards the wall. Does it represent hope? Or despair? Or does it just show the highly focused beauty of the present?

Mendrami (2004)
Oil on canvas 227 x 182 cm

Courtesy of pkm Gallery