Rediscovering Kim Whanki through exhibition

The 100-day exhibition "A Dot A Sky Kim Whanki" that opened on May 18 at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin ended on Sunday. The exhibition presented 120 pieces of drawings, paintings, newspaper works and sketches. But did you know that it's been...

Lee Eun-jooThe author is a senior reporter on culture at the JoongAng Ilbo. "I'm still drawing jars. At this rate, I think it's going to be a jar ghost." I smiled when I read this sentence at the exhibition. Can you guess who wrote this? Yes, that's right. It was Kim Whanki (1913–1974). He went to Paris in 1956 and wrote a letter to a friend that he was still drawing jars.

The 100-day exhibition "A Dot A Sky Kim Whanki" that opened on May 18 at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin ended on Sunday. The exhibition presented 120 pieces of drawings, paintings, newspaper works and sketches. But did you know that it's been nearly 40 years since an exhibition of this scale for his work was held? The exhibitions marking one year and ten years after his death in 1975 and in 1985 were held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and this is the biggest in history.

What made this exhibition moving was not the scale but the depth. The paintings and writings were arranged in a refined way to show how the moon and the moon jars transformed into dots. Let's go back to the "jar ghost." Do you wonder why he was so obsessed with jars? He saw the potential of Korean abstract paintings from the light and form of the moon jar and devoted his life to realizing it on his canvas.

"As I always talked with you, how great would it look if you put Joseon pottery in Corbusier's architecture or garden?" In a letter to architect Kim Chung-up (1922–1988), he mentioned architect Le Corbusier (1887–1965), the pioneer of modern architecture and Joseon pottery together. The artist's insight of seeing through the essence of beauty throughout the ages is amazing.

It's fascinating. The more I look at the exhibition, and the more I get to know about the artist, the more I realize that we didn't really know about him and his art. A good exhibition presents the experience of rediscovering the artist. It is well-known that one painting by Kim Whanki was sold for 13.2 billion won in 2019.

However, the exhibition calmly sheds light on his life, as he continued to work in the unfamiliar land of New York when he was over 50 years of age, in despair one day and with confidence in another. This meaningful exhibition will certainly be recorded in Korean art history.

According to the Samsung Foundation of Culture, 150,000 visitors came to see the exhibition. It is three times the number of visitors for "Metallurgy: Great Wisdom" in 2021. If you regret missing this exhibition, how about visiting the Whanki Museum in Buam-dong, Seoul, where "All-over Dots Paintings" is being held until December 3. We are still getting to know Kim Whanki.