The First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

From fall to winter 1991-92 Oil on canvas, steel, bronze Canvas: 228x364cm Object: 86x35x35cm Collection: The artist Kwan-Wook Park was born in 1950 in Seoul, South Korea. After obtaining a degree in painting from Seoul National University in 1974 he went to New York University, and in 1984 gained a Master of Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute in New York. His first solo exhibition was held in the Higgins Hall Gallery of the Pratt Institute in that year. The artist first participated in a group exhibition in 1970, 'Art Colleague (Yae Woo)', Press Center Gallery, Seoul. From 1983 to 1990 he participated regularly in group exhibitions in and around New York, includ- ing 'Current Korean-American Sensibility', Korean Culture Center Gallery, New York, 1983 and 'Six Artists Now', Art Center Gallery, Northern New Jersey, 1987. Since 1991, the artist has exhibited frequently in Seoul, most recently in 'December Show, After 10 Years', Gallery Duk-Won, Seoul, 1993. Kwan-Wo.ok Park's work is represented in the National Museum of Contemporary Arts, Seoul, the Pratt Institute, New York and in the collection of the Whanki Foundation. Kwan-Wook Park has made the following statements on his art: Rocks on a mountain, and comedy in human society; I deal with both kinds. I want to make a stomach-painting which has a similar character to our real stomach, in which SOUTH KOREA KWAN-WOOK PARK our nervous system and muscle movement work together. Mythology excites the fancy while the Parthe- non merely shows the stones. The eyes of an artist are like the fists of a boxer. For a boxer, the throwing of a punch is the final function for the game, and yet it is effective only when the muscles of the shoulder, the waist, and both legs support the action of the fist. A certain room, whatever it is for, has its own life breath when it is empty. Letters are beautiful to look at, even more so when there are no significant meanings. A dead leaf is a physical noun for the earth- dictionary, especially in autumn. A dead leaf appears more vividly beautiful when it is among dead leaves: here, the meaning of quantity and quality are inseparable for a certain beauty. Perhaps the recognition of pure 'red' for the first time in human history might have occurred from seeing blood, whether it was human blood or the blood of an animal. And, also, the recognition of 'blue' from the sky. That may be the reason I use these colours sparingly. In a certain day, from morning to midnight, there might be a very formalistic moment, expres- 86 sionistic moment, realistic moment, conceptual moment, abstract moment, romantic moment, and surrealistic moment for a certain ordinary man, whether he recognises it or not. Yet art usually deals with one moment. Everything comes from nature, yet I want my art to have its own antenna towards the outside of nature and the art world. Biographical data supplied by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea