Gana Art is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Syng Yoon O who studied Korean nature and traditional culture through painting for a long time. He had tried to modernize the root of Korean spirit from traditional culture like five colors and the then traditional symbols of longevity which the ancestors liked to use for a harmonized life, and developed his own art world. 

Syng Yoon O graduated Hongik University in 1964 and studied at Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris in 1980. He announced his works with traditional colors in Europe and got a good attention. Other Korean artists of the age focused on abstract in terms of a flow of Western art, but he tried to put Korean sentiment in his work which could receive the greater score internationally. 

After returning to Korea, he tried to change of his technique with realistic expression in solid color. He focused on five colors representing Ying-Yang School, and furthermore, expressed more contemporary colors. In addition, he recreated familiar symbols, such as water and fire, sky, and spirit, in an unique way as well as revived traditional images. Newly created 'Wind and Water' series is his representing works which show a harmony of traditional symbols from shaman faith and Taoism, and naturalism. The exhibition shows 40 works from the series, and early still life, nude, and folk paintings. 

*image (left)
Mountain and Village, 2005,
Oil on canvas, 53x72.5cm
courtesy of the artist and Gana Art Center