우리가 요즈음 보고 즐기는 파아란 가을 하늘을 그렸다면 그것이 구상인가 ? 나에게 있어서는 구상, 비구상 등을 생각할 때 처음에 아주작은 차이가 차차 커지면서 어느정도 다른 것처럼 보이나, 우리 한국에서 일부 보이는 것처럼 너무 다르게 생각함이 그다지 뜻있는 일이 되지 않는 것 같다.
구태여 규정지어 놓은 구상, 비구상 등의 의미를 생각하며 이야기를 끌어보면 나는 내 마음의 충동에 따라 구상을 할 때가 있고 추상을 할 때도 있으며, 시간과 여유만 있다면 여러 다른 재료와 방법으로 무언가 새로운 형상을 만들어 보고 싶다.
학창 시절에는 구상도 했지만 주로 비구상적인 추상 작업에 매료되어 있었던 것 같고, 졸업한 후 70년대 초부터 새롭게 우리 한국의 산이나 물, 얼굴 모습 등에 많은 비중을 두어 조금씩 그리기 시작하여 아직까지 계속 중이며 추상작업도 조금씩은 같이 병행하고 있다. 그러나 나의 구상이나 추상작업에서 학창 시절부터 지금까지 바탕이 된 어떤 정신은 한국이라는 것이다.
예술이나 문화의 역할이 인간생활을 보다 풍요롭게 함이라면, 개인이나 민족의 다양한 자기표현을 인정하고 고양 시켜야 할 것이라 생각된다. 이런 의미에서 작가가 어떤 작업을 하든 일단 인정해 주되, 그 작업의 성실성이나 완숙된 정도는 보고 느끼고 즐길지언정 무슨 제한을 준다든가 너무 유형지어 버림은 그 작가에게도 짐이 되고 예술 발전을 경직시키는 결과가 될 것 같다.
오늘의 작가라면 과거나 현재도 깊이 생각해야 하나, 또한 미래의 인류생활이나 문화의 향방에 대해 ‘이렇게 될것이다’라든가 ‘이렇게 되어야 한다’는 가정 아래, 다가오는 미래에 대한 예술 정신을 통한 준비가 있어야 할 것이다. 또한 피 흘리는 한국의 현실에 대한 깊은 통찰 아래 인류의 고통을 형상화 해야할 것이다. 작가들이나 평론가들, 대중들이 치열하면서도 부드러워야 되지 않을까 싶다.
공간 82년 11월호 ‘한국의 구상화가 12인’ 중에서
Kwun Sun-Cheol (1944 -)
1944 Born in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province
Education
1971 BFA in Painting, Seoul National University, Seoul
1984 MFA in Painting, Seoul National University, Seoul
Prizes
1992 4th Lee Jong Sup art prize award
2013 17th KBS expatriate awards in culture and art category
Solo Exhibitions
2025 만고풍상(萬古風霜), KUH Gallery, Daejun, South Korea
2024 KWUN Sun-Cheol, Shah Gallery, Changwon, South Korea
2021 <Cheol> Changsungdong, Seoul, South Korea
2020 <Trace> Gana art, Seoul, South Korea
2019 Galerie Son, Berlin
2016 Daegu Art Museum, Daegu
2015 Bongsan Cultural Center, Daegu
2012 Ara Art Center, Seoul
2012 Gana Art Center, Seoul
2012 Galerie Son, Berlin
2010 Gana Art New York, New York
2007 Gana Art Busan, Busan
2004 Gana Art Center, Seoul
2003 Doosan Gallery, Daegu
2003 Musée d’art moderne de Troyes, Troyes, France
2001 Galerie Gana Beaubourg, Paris
2001 Galerie Hongik, New York
2000 Galerie Gana Beaubourg, Paris
2000 Insa Art Center, Seoul
1998 Gana Gallery, Seoul
1997 Galerie Gana Beaucourg, Paris
1996 Gana Gallery, Seoul
1993 the 4th Lee Jung Seop Art Prize prize winner exhibition, Chosun Ilbo Art Museum, Seoul
1992 Frank Hanel Gallery, Frankfurt, Germany
1991 Gana Gallery, Seoul
1991 Galerie Bateau-Lavoir, Paris
1990 Forum, Dusserldorf, Germany
1988 Stockholm Art Exhibition, Stockholm, Sweden
1988 Gana Gallery, Seoul
1986 Seoul Art Exhibition, Seoul
1986 Seoul Art Museum, Seoul
1981 Seoul Art Museum, Seoul
1981 Fine Arts Center, Seoul
1978 Grorich Gallery, Seoul
Selected Group exhibition
2024 Sonamou, Espace 24, Paris, France
2024 <Dual perspective: Humanité & Nature>, Paris, France
2024 Art Karlsruhe, Galerie Son, Karlsruhe, Germany
2023 Sonamou exhibition, Galerie 5, Paris, France
2023 <Inhale, Exhale>, Kki Gallery, Paju, South Kore
2023 <Kwun Sun Cheol – Kim Sun Doo>, Wolha Art, Seoul. South Korea
2023 <Five lights> , TTE art gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2023, <Urban reality>, Seoul museum of art, Seoul, South Korea
2023 <Colorful Korean Painting : From Harmony to Purification>, Art space3, Seoul, South Korea
2022 -2023 <Georges Rouault & Korean arts, resonance of eyes>, Jeonnam museum of art, Jeonnam, South Korea
2022 <A Dream – Enchantment, KWUN Sun-Cheol & LEE Kang-So>, Changsungdong, Seoul, South Korea
2021 <Shinjayeon declaration 28th anniversary> ALLME gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2021 <Shinjayeon Art movement, the RHIZOMES ENTANGLED with the INTRA NET>, Jeonbuk Museum of Art, Jeonju, South Korea
2019 <Yangju-Palgye>, Jang Wookjin museum, Jangheung, South Korea
2019 Face, Galerie Son, Seoul
2019 ‘Scenery, face’ Kwun Sun-Cheol, Seo Yong-Sun, Joo Taek-Ho, Wow Gallery, Seoul
2019 PAF, Bastille Design Center, Paris
2019 TEFAF, The European Fine Art Fair, Maastricht, Netherland
2018 ‘30th anniversary retrospective’ Chosun Ilbo Art museum, Seoul
2018 ‘Kwun Sun-Cheol, Kwak Soo-Young, Lee Bae’, Donghwa Gallery, Daegu
2018 Luxembourg Art Fair – Hong Hyun-Joo, Hong Jae-Hyun, Choi Sang-Sook, Kwun Sun-Cheol, Luxembourg
2018 ‘Comfort women without comfort’, Berlin
2017-2018 ‘Cracks in the Concrete from the MMCA Collection’ National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon
2017 ‘Sonamou’, Bastille Design Center, Paris
2017 ‘Cracks’, The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
2017 ‘Matters and Life – Kwun Sun-Cheol, Choi Tae-Woon exhibition’, Joongang Art Center, Seoul
2017 ‘Visages Pluriels, Kwun Sun-Cheol et Alain Soreil’, Korean Cultural Center, Paris
2017 ‘Construction Time Again’, Bastille Design Center, Paris
2016 ‘Gana Art Center 35th Anniversary exhibition’, Gana Art, Seoul
2016 ‘Sonamou exhibition’, Los Angeles Joongang Art Center, Los Angeles
2016 ‘One, Two, Three and … 7’, France and South Korea diplomatic relations 130th Anniversary, Rouen
2015 Daegu Art Fair, EXCO, Daegu
2015 ‘Seoul – Paris – Seoul = Figurations Coréennes’, 8th district City Hall, Paris
2015 ‘Portrait of Memory, Korea’s 70th Anniversary of Liberation Special Exhibition’, Gyeongnam Museum of Art, Gyeongnam
2014 ‘Form as Thinking, Rediscovery of Drawing’, Museum San, Wonju
2014 ‘The Fine Tree, Where Is Its Soul’, Cite Internationale des Arts Gallery, Paris, France
2014 ‘Moment’, Gallery Space Um, New York, USA
2014 ‘Korea, Korea’, Galerie Son, Berlin, Germany
2014 Association des Artistes SONAMOU Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, LA, USA
2013 OCI Museum of Art 60th Anniversary of Ceasefire Special Exhibition, OCI Museum of Art, Seoul
2013 Gana Art Center 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Gana Art Center, Seoul
2013 Association des Artistes SONAMOU Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, LA, USA
2013 ‘Space Moving Celebratory Exhibition’, Gallery Space Um, New York, USA
2012 Association des Artistes SONAMOU Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center, New York, New York, USA
2012 ‘Here Are People, Korean Art Special Exhibition’, Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon
2012 ‘Contemporary Korean Art-Grand Narrative’, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Gwacheon
2012 ‘Korean Art of the 1970s and 1980s’, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
2012 ‘Trends today after Humanity Exhibition of the 1980s’, Chungmunkyu Museum, Ansan
2011 ‘Nature, Life, Human’, Daegu Art Museum Inaugural Special Exhibition, Daegu Art Museum, Daegu
2011 ‘Humanity’, Gallery Space Um, New York, USA
2010 ‘Crossing the Yellow Line’, Kyunghyang Gallery, Seoul
2010 ‘Polyptyque’, French Museum of Playing Cards, Issy les Moulineaux, France
2010 Association des Artistes SONAMOU Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center, Warsaw, Poland
2010 ‘My Room, My Atelier’, Gana Atelier Resident Artist Report Exhibition, Gana Art Center, Seoul
2009 A Flame of the Holy Spirit, Galerie Lumen, Paris, France
2009 ‘Nostalgia’, Rio Rancho Conference Center, Rio Rancho, USA
2009 ‘Paris-LA-NY’, Korean Cultural Center LA, LA, USA
2009 Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2009 Lee Jung Seop Art Prize Prize Winner Exhibition, Chosun Ilbo Art Museum, Seoul
2009 Hyungsunghoe Artist Group Exhibition, Seoul
2008 ‘The Bridge’, Gana Art Center 25 th Anniversary Exhibition, Gana Art Center,Seoul
2008 Asian Art Fair, New York, USA
2007 ‘Les Passages NY’, Hutchins Gallery, New York, USA
2007 ‘Kwun Sun-Cheol & Bae Bein-U Two-man Exhibition’, Galerie Gana Beaubourg, Paris, France
2006 Kwun Sun-Cheol & Kwak Su-Young Two-man Exhibition, 2×13 Gallery, New York, USA
2006 ‘The Border Line, Association des Artistes SONAMOU Exhibition’, Musée du Montparnasse, Paris, France
2004 ‘Declaration for Peace 100 Artists Exhibition’, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Gwacheon
2004 Gyeongnam Museum of Art Inaugural Exhibition, Gyoengnam Museum of Art, Changwon
2004 ‘The Gaze of Contemporary Art’, Sejong Center Art Museum, Seoul
2003 Expression of the Faces, Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon
2003 Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2003 Beijing Biennale, Beijing, China
2002 ‘30 Korean and Chinese Artists Exhibition’, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul
2001 ‘Odyssey’, Washington DC Korean Cultural Center, Washington DC
2000 ‘Our Faces’, Sejong Center Art Museum, Seoul
1999 Lee Jung Seop Art Prize Prize Winner Exhibition, Chosun Ilbo Art Museum, Seoul
1999 ‘Portraits of Korea’, Ho-Am Art Museum, Seoul
1999 ‘JAALA’, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
1998 ‘Spring Through Painting’ Hanlim Art Museum, Seoul
1998 Gana Art Center Opening Exhibition, Gana Art Center, Seoul
1997 ‘97’s Korean Art’, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon
1995 ‘Kwun Sun-Cheol And Kim Sun-Nam’, Arsenal Gallery, Paris
1992 ‘Portrait of an Artist’, Arsenal Gallery, Paris
1991 FIAC, Grand Palais, Paris
1981 – 1987 ‘Contemporary Art special Exhibition’, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon
1979 – 1988 Korea National Art Association exhibition
1983 – 1989 ‘L’Homme’ group exhibition, Seoul
1972 – 2002 ‘Hyungsung’ group exhibition, Seoul
1972 – 1977 ‘Shin Che Je’ group exhibition, Seoul