Over the next three years from 2012, the Artsonje Center will host an exhibition of works by the winner of “The Daum Prize”, a program to support creative artists under the age of 40 who work with photography medium, under the auspices of Geonhi Art Foundation. The first showcase is by Kim Sang Don, the 10th Daum Prize winner.
The Daum Prize program was established by Geonhi Art Foundation in 2002 in an effort to support creative artists and chooses Korea’s emerging photo artists in the annual competition held in May. The winner receives financial sponsorship for one year and presents his works in an exhibition and an art book. Over the past 10 years, the Daum Prize has positioned itself as the gateway to a successful career of Korea’s emerging artists and it is not too much to say that their portfolios help us read the trend and direction of Korea’s photographs every year. Especially, the exhibition will be offered at the Artsonje Center from the 10th round onwards to broaden the sponsorship substantially and raise the status of the Prize.
Kim Sang Don has been using diverse mediums in a flexible way, such as photograph, sculpture, installation, performance, and video, in the context of modern art. His ability goes beyond sharp observation. Originality and imagination mingle together in his gaze, as demonstrated in the series of his works including 'Rose Island'(2009), 'Bulgwang-dong Totem'(2010), 'Stake-Out'(2010), and 'Solveig's Song'(2011), which guides us to a new perspective on a daily life in modern society. The images that he has captured always illustrate ordinary or alienated scenery and subtle tensions that are felt in objects, where we can discover fundamental energy and hidden friction of our society.
 His work 'Healing Water'(2012) to be debuted in this exhibition is about the landscape and energy that are placed in the living environment of his exploration in a strange fashion. In his work, water is the luxury that modern people can enjoy through modern development and purification as well as the symbol of desire and life that are based on deep-rooted indigenousness. His somewhat strange scenery that is generated in daily life and space by the clash between the reality and history holds a bitter satire on society while knocking on the very centre of our heart. Despite the twisted sarcasm that has passed on from previous works, his new work feels all the more profound because it is rooted in the weight of life that is carried by water.