Shining Brightly
Solo Exhibition by Soonik Kwon
29 May – 29 June 2019
“Between the past and future there is a chink for eternity, which is the present”
MIAJA Gallery proudly presents the first solo exhibition by Korean artist Soonik Kwon in Singapore. ‘Shining Brightly’ features a selection of twelve mixed media paintings that beautifully reflect the artist’s inner and outside vision of the world. The established Seoul based painter comes to Singapore to showcase his large mixed media canvases and the new addition to the exhibition at Miaja Gallery will be works from his new series entitled ‘Pile Up & Rub – Chink’. ‘Shining Brighlty’ will present paintings from his previous series ‘Absense of Ego’ with signature features of colors and shapes of numerous circles. In this series, his works consist of smaller circles that are embedded in larger ones. Sometimes circles are arranged within other geometric shapes such as squares and triangles. Kwon plays with color and texture; the light interferes with the canvas creating a feeling of movement and waves. The main medium used by Kwon is graphite. Kwon has gained his status as one of the leading contemporary artists in Korea by adapting a technique that requires a considerable amount of time and patience. This method was a deliberate choice for the Artist to practice inner training and thoughts. A few words should be shared about his unique technique: the artist starts with a rough sketch of grids on the canvas with a pencil. After applying the ground-color, he draws the circles with paints of various tones. Then, he mixes fine sand-like materials with the paints and applies them on the circles in order to create a relief-looking image. Next, he repeatedly rubs and paints the surface with his pencil lead. This long and grueling process continues until he achieves a rough but warm texture, as well as the shining metallic surface produced by the graphite.
Soonik Kwon is a Korean artist, born in 1959, in Seoul, South Korea. He is a graduate of Fine Arts Department at the Sejong University. Soonik has exhibited his works in numerous exhibitions locally and internationally, mainly in North and South America, but also in Europe. His mixed mixed media paintings and installations were exhibited more than 30 times in solo exhibitions and more than 50 times in group exhibitions all over the world. In 2008 he also participated in residency program in Spain and Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea. The artist’s oeuvre is in collections of i.e. Museo Nacional de Arte Contemporaneo (MAC) in Venezuela, Sungnam Art Center, Cosmo Art Gallery in Spain and Museo de Arte del Tolima in Colombia as well as numerous private collections in China, Singapore, Venezuela and Europe.