[INTERVIEW] Kwon Nyung-ho's journey toward abstraction as Paris-based Korean painter

Artist Kwon Nyung-ho poses with his painting after his interview with The Korea Times at his scenic riverside studio in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, May 23. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Park Han-sol

It was 1981 when a 25-year-old Kwon Nyung-ho, filled with a pocketful of dreams and desires to see the celebrated works of Old Masters in person, set foot on European soil for the very first time in his life.

The budding artist's trip came at a time when Korea still enforced heavy restrictions on overseas travel ― as a result of governmental concerns about foreign currency depletion and people's possible "exposure to communist ideologies." So with a temporary passport valid for just six months, Kwon added as many cities as he could to his itinerary, including London, Brussels, Rome and Zurich.

Everything was going according to plan ― until a fateful encounter with the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

"It was like a door to heaven for me," the painter recalled during his recent interview with The Korea Times at his scenic riverside atelier in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province.

His original plan involved staying in the French capital for only one wintry month. But when he learned of the prestigious art school's entrance exam that was set to take place in the coming spring, he knew he had to drop everything. Without a prepared portfolio in hand, he spent the next few months drawing endlessly, while stuffing his mouth with the cheapest baguettes he could buy to keep himself going.

And in the spring of 1981, after passing the competitive exam that included an on-site "dessin" (drawing) test, Kwon became one of the few Korean students enrolled at the Beaux-Arts.

Artist Kwon Nyung-ho readies himself to paint after his interview with The Korea Times at his atelier in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, May 23. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

While he was already starting to gain recognition within art circles in his home country through a series of wins at competitions and a solo exhibition at the then-reputable Baeksang Memorial Hall in Seoul, he chose to start afresh in Paris.

"In France, I wanted to forget everything I was doing up until then and explore a whole new world (on canvas)," the artist said.

He became the first and only Korean student to study under the renowned Belgian painter Pierre Alechinsky, who served as a professor of painting at the Beaux-Arts from 1983 to 1987. Alechinsky is best-known as a leading member of CoBrA, a short-lived yet influential post-World War II avant-garde movement, in which Northern European creators found inspiration from primitivism and children's drawings for their highly expressionist, spontaneous style of art.

It was during his time at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris that painter Kwon Nyung-ho became a founding member and the first president of the Association des Jeunes Artistes Coreens (AJAC). Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

But Paris turned out to be more than a nurturing ground for Kwon's own art.

"As years went by, the Korean government started easing restrictions on international travel, and the French capital began to attract more and more young creatives from Korea," the painter explained. "Against this backdrop, we felt the need to form an organization that can foster exchanges among us."

Hence, the Association des Jeunes Artistes Coreens (AJAC) was born. Founded in 1983 by young Korean art students in France, the collective consists of members aged between 25 and 40 who are studying or working in the field of painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video and performance.

Installation view of "Exhibition Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of AJAC," which ran from May 3 to June 10 at Space Sazic in central Seoul / Courtesy of Space Sazic

Installation view of "Exhibition Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of AJAC" at Space Sazic in central Seoul / Courtesy of Space Sazic

"As its founding member and first president, I tried to establish this association as a platform that can help the junior creatives find exhibition venues and exchange information about art schools and state-approved organizations like La Maison des Artistes," he said.

Since its launch, AJAC has held annual group shows at the Korean Cultural Center in Paris. And in celebration of its 40th anniversary this year as the oldest surviving organization of Korean artists based overseas, it hosted its very first exhibition in Korea at Space Sazic in central Seoul last May.

Following its month-long Seoul run, the survey of 61 works produced by 49 former and current group members, including Kwon's "Untitled" (2020) awash with infinitely profound hues of blue, will travel to Paris later this year.

For painter Kwon Nyung-ho, the two decades spent in Paris from 1981 to the early 2000s have been a free-flowing journey toward lyrical abstraction. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

For Kwon, the two decades spent in Paris ― from 1981 to the early 2000s ― as a full-time artist and faculty member of the Paris American Academy have been a free-flowing journey toward lyrical abstraction.

Whereas the painter's earlier works in the 1980s focused on figurative depictions of human forms ― alone or in a large crowd ― his contemplation about his own identity as an Asian creator in the Western art world opened his eyes to traditional Korean aesthetics in the next decade. He began to embrace icons found in "minhwa," or Korean folk art, such as flowers, clouds and the sun.

And starting from the 2000s, upon his return to Korea, his images moved closer to simplified abstractions ― with a stronger emphasis on vibrancy of colors and materiality.

"What I realized in this journey is that today's art must be contemporary, but it also needs to hold onto a certain identity at its core ― in my case, an element of Koreanness," he said.

Artist Kwon Nyung-ho, right, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his riverside atelier in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, May 23. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Nearing the age of 70, Kwon still burns with the same passion that fueled him 40 years ago.

He is at the last stage of his preparation to unveil his latest pieces at a series of exhibitions in New York, London and Amsterdam, as well as Art Busan next year.

"2024 will be a new phase of explosive creativity for me. All I'm doing right now in Korea is making myself ready for it," the painter noted.