KIM Whanki (1913-1974), a pioneer of Korean abstract art, transformed the sorrow and solitude of his era into lyrical paintings. Drawing on Korea’s natural and traditional motifs— mountains, trees, moon jars, deer—he reinterpreted traditional aesthetics to create what has been celebrated as ‘poetic forms in art’. His “Sign” series, produced in the 1960s, features abstract signs engraved on coarse, rustic surfaces reminiscent of the earth, evoking natural elements, Korean consonants and vowels, and pictograms. Against subtle sky-blue hues peeking through the earth, he layered nuanced reds and blues to suggest the harmony of yin and yang in the Korean taeguk motif. The divided yet refined compositions evoke a primordial order preceding rational thought rather than mechanical separation, reminiscent of stacking pebbles or skipping stones—a joy found in nature, moments of hope and aspiration. For KIM, abstraction conveyed the essence of nature symbolically and offered a return to the source beyond the chaos and wounds of the times. His canvases, infused with a sensibility where words and images, nature and humanity are one, bear traces of human instinct—a spirit seeking the earth’s embrace.
1913 Born
in Shinan, Jeollanam-do, Korea
1974 Passed
away at the age of 61 in New York, US
Education
1937 Fine
Arts Department of Nihon University (Graduate Program), Tokyo, Japan
1936 Fine
Arts Department of Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan
Selected Solo Exhibition
1974 The 25th Solo Exhibition, Shreveport
Barnwell Art Center, Louisiana, US
1973 The 24th Solo Exhibition,
Poindexter Gallery, New York, US
1972 The 23rd Solo Exhibition,
Poindexter Gallery, New York, US
Silvermine Guild Exhibition, Connecticut, US
1971 The 22nd Solo Exhibiton,
Shinsegae Gallery, Seoul, Korea
The 21st Solo Exhibition, Poindexter
Gallery, New York, US
1970 Solo Exhibition, National Museum of Modern
and Contemporary Art, Gyeongbokgung Museum, Seoul, Korea
1968 The 20th Solo Exhibition,
Gotham Book Mart Gallery, New York, US
1966 The 19th Solo Exhibition, Tasca
Gallery, New York, US
1965 The 18th Solo Exhibition, The 8th
Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1964 The
17th Solo Exhibition, Asia House Gallery, New York, US
1963 The 16th Solo Exhibition, Korean
Information Center, Seoul, Korea
The 7th Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1962 The 15th Solo Exhibition, Korean
Information Center, Seoul, Korea
1961 The 14th Solo Exhibition, Korean
Information Center, Seoul, Korea
1959 The 13rd Solo Exhibition, Bando
Gallery, Seoul, Korea
The 12th
Solo Exhibition, Korean Information Center, Seoul, Korea
1958 The
11st Solo Exhibition, Institut Gallery, Paris, France
1957 The 10th Solo
Exhibition, Cheval de Verre Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
The 9th Solo
Exhibition, Muratore Gallery, Nice, France
The 8th Solo Exhibition, M. Benegite Gallery, Paris, France
The 7th Solo Exhibition, Muratore Gallery, Nice, France
The 6th Solo Exhibition, Cheval de Verre Gallery, Brussels,
Belgium
1956 The 5th Solo Exhibition,
Donghwa Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Solo Exhibition, M. Benezit Gallery (bd.Haussmann),
Paris, France
Solo Exhibition, M. Benezit Gallery (Rue de Seine), Paris, France
1954 The 4th Solo
Exhibition, USIS Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1952 The 3rd Solo
Exhibition, New Seoul Tea Room, Busan, Korea
1940 The 2nd Solo
Exhibition, Jeongjaok Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1936 The 1st Solo
Exhibition, Amagi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Selected Group Exhibition
1972 60
Years of Modern Korea Art, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art,
Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, Korea
1970 The
1st Korea Art Prize Exhibition hosted by The Hankook IIbo, National
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, Korea
1953 The
3rd Sinsasilpa Exhibition, Provisional National Museum of Korea,
Busan, Korea
1949 The
2nd Sinsasilpa Exhibition, Donghwa Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1948 The
1st Sinsasilpa Exhibition, Hwasin Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1935 The
22nd Exhibition of the lgwa Group, Tokyo, Japan
1934~41 Participated in Hakujitsu Fine Art
Association, Kofukai Art Association, Jiyu Bijutsuka Kyokai, Shinjidaiyogaten,
and Ninth Section Group, Tokyo, Japan
Awards
1972 Silvermine
Guild Annual Exhibition – Bytham Award Winner
1970 Grand
Prize Winner at the 1st Korea Art Prize Exhibition
1963 Honorable
Mention in Painting at the 7th Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil
Teaching and Administrative Experience
1963 The
2nd Chairman, Korean Fine Arts Association
1960 President, The National Committee of
Association for International Plastic Arts of UNESCO, Seoul, Korea 1959-63
Professor and Dean, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea
1954-74 Member, The National Academy of Arts of The
Republic of Korea
1952-55 Professor and Dean, Hongik University,
Seoul, Korea
1947
Co-founder of the New Realism Group ‘Sinsasilpa’ with Yoo Youngkuk, Lee
Kyusang, and others
1946-50 Professor, Department of Western Painting,
College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University
1934
Active Member, Avant-Garde Western Art Institute, Tokyo, Japan
Selected Collections
National
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Gwacheon, Korea
Seoul
Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Whanki
Museum, Seoul, Korea
Leeum
Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Hoam
Museum of Art, Yongin, Korea
Fukuoka
Asain Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, US
The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US
Centre
Pompidou, Paris, France
1967
Oil on canvas
45.7x60.9cm
1958
Oil on canvas
62x39cm
1960년대
Mixed media on cotton
90.9x60.6cm