The first impression of his paintings was that the figures in the pictures were strange but vivid. The figures are created through the elaboration of sharply scratching metal surfaces. The figures, distant but lively, seem to identify themselves with viewers by staring at them. His way of working is unique. It is to make textures by scratching and then to repeatedly color or decolor into the textures. Its elaboration makes his figures real.

The mixed feelings of being distant but familiar come from the creativity and elaboration of his approach to objects. It seems that he has reached to a level of maturity in his skills of composing a plane and depicting a figure. The full flowing curly hair and wrinkled skin through sharp but fluid pencil lines on metal surfaces continuously change as viewers move, so the lights also change. But the eyes seem not to move even though they always face the eyes of the viewers moving. They seem to be real. As long as you see them, they will see you back forever. They see each other and understand each other. You may feel that the figures are still staring at your back as you turn around.

Generally highly elaborate representations do not necessarily lead to expressions of objects' internal energies. On the contrary, as representations look more like its objects, it is likely that they fail to reach the meanings of the objects. The will to go beyond representation often ends up expressionist or abstraction paintings. It can be said that modern and contemporary art has been a trial to go beyond the visible. Hyper-real paintings can be said that they are from the will to go beyond the visible through the visible. There is a word that painting is painting the meanings of the objects from a painting theory in the East. Regardless of where it is discussed, it is the same that painting is painting the meanings of the objects. It seems that his work tries to go beyond the diversities of individuals and reach a universality of human beings. Why we feel a vividness from his faces may be his devotion to paintings and our sublime feelings to our lives in addition to his superb skills. It must be the will to reach the meanings of things and to see into himself and human species.

Exquisitely depicted details of his figures are so elaborated that you may doubt that he focuses on skills. You may recall the art market in mid-2000s when a new class of consumers appeared and hyper-realist paintings were prevalent especially in young artists in a form of art markets responding to the new consumers' needs. You may see him in such a stream. But seeing his faces in time, you will find something more than technique. There is a cure for life to which his art is oriented and an affection for people.

Looking at some of his works, I found myself in a similar amazement when I saw the self-portrait by Do-Seo Yoon, a prominent 17th century painter from Joseon Dynasty. When I see the portrait of an old man by Young-Wook Han, I find some similarities with the self-portrait from the 17th century. They both look at somewhere over a horizon and somewhere inside of themselves. They are alike in that there are deep eyes of contemplation for life which can be found only in old men and stubborn faces of belief looking to others and to themselves. They both express a power from inside beyond representation. But they make it possible through representation. They seem to penetrate our minds along the lines from the old men's eyes.

I still remember his 'dying green' on which were fallen faces, empty eyes and hands grabbing fences of the Jewish people at Auschwitz concentration camp. It was when I was 20. It was just an amazement. It was so impressive that I still have the sensation. I think he is essentially an expressionist on his internal disposition. That is where his work begins. I hope that his work will continue to go further and to be meaningful to more people than now along the long way of his career.

A stranger in a picture who seems to live far away stares at me.
I also stare at the eyes in the picture.
At one point, the man in the picture becomes me.
It seems a mirror.

Others' faces to be mine
Kim, Young-Min (Exhibition Manager)