이상원

Education​​

1991    B.F.A Hong Ik University (Seoul. Korea)
2000    M.F.A Hong Ik University (Seoul. Korea)

 
Selected Solo Exhibitions 
2023    RTO Artist Project, Culture Station Seoul284, Seoul, Korea

2022    Karma, THE HYUNDAI, Seoul, Korea

2020    Karma, Helen J Gallery, LA,USA

2018    Condensation, Ilwoo Space, Seoul, Korea

2017    Karma, Daishin Finance Center Gallery 343, Seoul, Korea

2015    Karma, Biseon Jae, Seoul, Korea
2013    Karma, Gallery a-cube, Tokyo, Japan
2012    Karma, Art issue projects.Taipei City. Taiwan
2012    Karma, Sun Contemporary. Seoul.Korea
2011    Karma, Versace aki. Seoul. Korea
2010    Karma, Yegam Gallery. New York. NY. USA
2009    Image of memories, ArtGate Gallery. New York. NY. USA
2007    8th Solo Exhibition  (ANNEX Convention Center. Fukuoka. Japan)
2006    7th Solo Exhibition  (ONO Gallery. Tokyo. Japan)
2004    6th Solo Exhibition  (Seoul Art Gallery. Seoul. Korea) etc.
 

Selected Group Exhibitions 

2023    Continuity of change, JJ JoongJung Gallery, Seoul, Korea

2022    Encounter the moon, mM gallery, Busan, Korea

2021    DNA : Dynamic & Alive Korean Art, MMCA, Seoul, Korea

             JAMUNBAK MUSEUM PROJECT Part Ⅱ, Gana Art Center, Seoul, Korea

2018    Art Mining-Seoul: Four Emotions of Contemporary Art, DDP, Seoul, Korea

2017    Visualizing Today, Hongik University Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea

2014    ‘Cultural Code’ (Springs Center of Art, Beijing, China)
2014    ‘K-P.O.P – Process, Otherness, Play’ (Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan)
2013    ‘The Sounds of Korea’ (Embassy of the Republic of Korea in China, Beijing, China)
2012    LOVE,TRACES-STORY OF LIFE (Gallery Maum. N.Y. USA). Etc.

 

Collection
España Monarchy (España), Korea Herald (Seoul.Korea), Luxembourg Monarchy (Luxembourg)                                                        National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (Gwacheon. Korea), MUDO SATIS MAGAZALARI A.S. (ISTANBUL. TURKIYE), NUVICOM (NJ.USA) , Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle.USA),  Korean Air (Seoul.Korea), Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia.USA),LG, U Plus (Seoul.Korea) 

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About

Choi Young-wook, who creates works with the theme of moon jars, is well-known for blending Korean traditional culture with modern expression. His works reinterpret the traditional ceramic moon jar with a contemporary perspective, encapsulating diverse emotions and beauty. Choi Young-wook explores the history and spiritual values of Korea through the form and symbolism of moon jars. His works present a new perspective through the convergence of tradition and modernity, while also aiming to widely promote the beauty of Korean culture. Furthermore, Choi Young-wook maximizes the aesthetic value of moon jars based on unique color schemes and sculptural characteristics. His artworks, which interpret Korean tradition in a modern context, are beloved both domestically and internationally.

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Artist's Note

My work visualises memories into images and it becomes the medium of communication. In the course of trying to 

discover my own 'self', the self becomes aware of the 'relationship' with others, bringing about a sense of 'communication'. People know me as the artist who paints moon-jars. Actually, I am not just painting moon-jars, but I am telling you my own aspiration to want to live like the moon-jars. I have unravelled my own stories inside them and also the general attributes of human beings. The work ‘Karma’ has a focal meaning in the lines of the painting. The lines don’t mean the realistic cracks on the surface of the porcelain but they are the paths upon our life journey. They crack and separate and meet again, they seem alike and different at the same time, but then they unify as one in the end. I blew the memories into them so that they don’t remain as just simple porcelains but they can become the memory of ours. Multiples of lines and traces are encrypted messages beyond time and space and we decipher the codes groping in the dark of the realm of remembrance. Recall one of your own memories while looking at my paintings and lead yourselves into them. We would be encountering inside of them. I painted my own memories but they are also the stories of all of us.