From monumental sculptures to flowing abstract paintings, Kim Young-won can do it all

Kim Young-won, a veteran sculptor best known to the public for the huge statue of King Sejong the Great (1397-1450) that sits in Gwanghwamun Plaza, central Seoul, now presents quite different works from the monumental sculpture in his ongoing..

Kim Young-won's painting ″Qiosmosis D21-6″ [CHUNG JARK GALLERY]

Kim Young-won, a veteran sculptor best known to the public for the huge statue of King Sejong the Great (1397-1450) that sits in Gwanghwamun Plaza, central Seoul, now presents quite different works from the monumental sculpture in his ongoing solo show.

The exhibition titled “Art of Qiosmosis,” which runs through Oct. 10 at Chung Jark Gallery in southern Seoul features the 75-year-old artist’s new abstract paintings that show the flow of qi, or vital force believed to form part of any living entity in traditional East Asian medicine.

“I studied qigong since 1990 when my health deteriorated seriously as I worked on my ‘Gravity Nongravity’ sculpture series,” Kim told the press last week at the gallery. Qigong is the practice of cultivating and balancing qi through body movement, breathing and meditation. “I applied qigong to my art for the first time at the 1994 São Paulo Art Biennial.”

Artist Kim Young-won explain about his works at Chung Jark Gallery in southern Seoul last Monday. [MOON SO-YOUNG]

In a performance in the biennial, the artist danced around a pillar covered with mud, while letting himself fall into a flow of his qi. When he almost went into a trance, he scratched the pillar to make a kind of sculpture. The performance was a great sensation during the biennial, according to the artist.

Encouraged by the response, the artist has tested paintings which he makes with one stroke of a brush, while letting his movement fall into the flow of qi. Still he continued to focus on sculptures for decades and it was since 2018 that he began to focus on qi paintings.

"My works express the energy and vitality that I bring out through my whole body when my body falls in a state closest to nature," the artist said.

BY MOON SO-YOUNG [moon.soyoung@joongang.co.kr]