Our Step, Our Hope: Sister Cities: Gwangju to San Antonio

Group Exhibition

Exhibition: Sep 8, 2022 – Jan 1, 2023


Since Gwangju, South Korea and San Antonio, Texas became Sister Cities in 1982, the two communities have forged a friendship that has lasted 40 years. This relationship has particularly blossomed in the arts with the construction of a Sosaewon Garden assembled by Gwangju artisans in Denman Estate Park, participation of Gwangju artists in Luminaria Contemporary Art Festival since 2015, and the installation of a light sculpture by San Antonio artist Cakky Brawley at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju, which continues to shine.  

The two cities signed the Sister City partnership after the Gwangju Uprising on May 18, 1980, a tragic event where many innocent citizens were sacrificed by forces of state power. We thank San Antonio for embracing Gwangju as a friend, offering support and condolences during a catastrophic time.  

Gwangju is in the Jeolla-do Province of South Korea. With a thousand years of a long-standing history, this region, boasts a rich and abundant natural environment as it is surrounded by the Southwestern Sea and Honam Plains. Historically, it was a region where voluntary soldiers protected the country whenever they were invaded. From anti-Japanese movements during the Japanese colonial era to the Gwangju Uprising of 1980, Gwangju has been a city of noble spirits where people united and stood against injustice, protecting themselves and the nation. We call this the ‘Gwangju Spirit,’ which has expanded beyond Korea and is the foundation of the democratic movement in Asia and other developing nations. Today, Gwangju serves as a lighthouse for the future of Korean democracy.  

In 2014, Gwangju was selected as the UNESCO Creative City of Media, emerging as a city representing media art through the creation and production of media artworks and exhibitions, domestic and international exchange, and connection with relevant industries. To embrace the traditional and contemporary diversity of art in Gwangju, this exhibition presents a variety of media. Sister Cities: Gwangju to San Antonio introduces the academic thinking and artistic tradition that stems from the abundant nature of the region and the righteous history that forms the basis of the Gwangju Spirit reinterpreted into contemporary art.  

The works in Sister Cities: Gwangju to San Antonio embody the spirit and history of Gwangju and show our connectedness.  Featured artists include: Haru.K, Seol Park, Namjin Lim, Eunsol Cho, Seonhooi Cheng, Youngsung Hwang, Junggi Lee, Leenam Lee, Jaeghil Woo, and Yonghyun Lim.

Artists

Haru.K

Haru.K wittily captures and expresses modern people’s perception of nature reflected in their gaze towards landscape paintings. In his humorous landscape painting, he depicts some of the symbolic landscapes of the Southern province and Gwangju, replacing its cultural heritage with images of ordinary food.

하루 K는 현대인이 바라보는 산수화에 대한 시선을 포착하여 자연에 대한 현대인의 인식을 그만의 유머러스한 방식으로 표현한다. 평범한 일상 속 음식이라는 소재 역시 문화적 유산의 일부로 치환한 그는 유쾌한 산수화의 형태로 현재의 남도와 광주를 대표하는 여러 풍경을 그려내고 있다.

Haru.K capta la forma en que la gente percibe las pinturas de paisajes y la expresa de manera humorística propiamente suya. El artista, quien trata el tema de la comida cotidiana como un patrimonio cultural, nos proporciona un retrato agradable de varios paisajes que representan a Gwangju y otras regions sureñas

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Seol Park

Seol Park conceives a new form of Korean painting by using the collage technique to create the traditional ink and water landscape painting. The work dyes the traditional material Hwaseonji(traditional rice paper) with ink to bring out the light and shade, tears the paper in the shape of mountains, and layers these pieces one upon another. Seol’s reinterpretation of the tradition is reflected in this new landscape painting that combines traditional material and a modern technique.

설박은 콜라주 기법으로 수묵산수를 표현하여 새로운 형식의 한국화를 시도하고 있다. 전통적 재료인 화선지에 먹으로 농담을 살려 염색한 후 산의 형태로 조각조각 찢고 중첩하여 표현한다. 전통적 재료와 현대적 기법을 결합한 신산수화는 설박 고유의 기법으로 재해석하여 나타난다.

Seol Park intenta crear un nuevo estilo de pintura coreana reproduciendo dibujos de paisaje en tinta china mediante la técnica del collage. Tiñe el material tradicional hwaseonji con tinta china, y luego lo rasga y superpone los pedazos del papel uno encima del otro en formas de montañas. Mediante la técnica y reinterpretación propias, la artista logra crear una nueva pintura de paisaje que combina un material tradicional y un método moderno.

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Namjin Lim

Borrowing the forms of traditional Gamro-taenghwa(Buddhist folk painting) of the Goryeo Dynasty, Namjin Lim captures the joys and sorrows of contemporary people in his genre paintings. He takes raging waves as a metaphor for the unstable reality, reflecting the hardships of his life and his inner will to overcome them.

임남진은 고려시대 감로탱화 형식을 차용하여 동시대인의 희로애락을 현대적인 풍속화의 방식으로 보여준다. 불안한 현실을 거친 파도로 비유하여 작가 자신이 처한 고단한 상황을 투영하고 이를 헤쳐 나가고자 하는 작가 내면의 목소리와 같은 감정과 고민들을 작품에 담아낸다.

Namjin Lim toma prestado el estilo de la pintura del ritual del néctar de la dinastía Goryeo para representar las diferentes emociones de sus contemporáneos como la alegría, cólera, tristeza y placer, mediante lo que pareciera una versión moderna de pintura de género. Expresando la realidad inquietante mediante olas feroces, la artista proyecta la difícil situación en la que se encuentra y captura en su obra sus variadas emociones y angustias, como la voz interior que la alienta a superarla.

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Eunsol Cho

Through various media and installation works, Eunsol Cho has continuously contemplated human communication and the formation of relationships. Cho reinterprets the meaning of individuals, others, and communities, to explore the aspects of collective relationships in an individual’s existential life. Recently, she has expanded this exploration to reflect on aspects of non-verbal communication that occur between humans, space, and time.

조은솔은 다양한 매체와 설치 작품을 통해 인간의 소통과 그 관계의 형성에 대해 끊임없이 고민하는 작가이다. 개인과 타인, 공동체의 의미를 재해석하여 개인의 실존적인 삶 속 집단적인 관계 양상에 대해 연구한다. 현재는 그 대상을 인간, 공간, 시간 등으로 확장시켜 비언어 커뮤니케이션 양상의 이야기로 담아낸다.

Eunsol Cho es una artista que reflexiona constantemente sobre la comunicación humana y la formación de relaciones a través de diversos medios e instalaciones artísticas. Mediante sus obras, intenta reinterpretar el significado de los individios y la comunidad a fin de explorar los diferentes aspectos de la relacion colectiva dentro de la vida existencial de los individuos. Actualmente, trabaja con temas que conciernen no sólo a los hombres sino támbien al espacio y al tiempo, presentándonos con imágenes de comunicación no verbal.

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Seonhooi Cheng

Seonhooi Cheng combines traditional Korean paper and LED lighting to create a unique landscape of our daily life, delivering the message that the old and the new coexist. Cheng creates a portrait of our times by depicting the ordinary lives of workers working in the mud flats of the Southwestern coast.

한국의 전통적 재료인 한지와 LED 조명의 빛을 이용하여 새로운 풍경을 제시하는 정선휘는 옛것과 새것의 공존이라는 메시지를 일상적 풍경을 통해 제시한다. 서남해안의 갯벌 풍경과 노동하는 서민의 일상을 통해 시대의 자화상을 담아낸다.

Seonhooi Cheng presenta un nuevo estilo de paisaje cotidiano utilizando el papel tradicional coreano anji y la luz de la iluminación LED, mediante lo cual transmite el mensaje de coexistencia de lo antiguo y lo nuevo. Muestra la vida cotidiana de los trabajadores y retrata imágenes propias de aquella época a través de las llanuras de marea de la costa suroeste.

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Youngsung Hwang

Youngsung Hwang has been consistently painting family-related themes for more than half a century. Having lost his family in the war, he turns all the materials and objects he encounters in daily life into nostalgic stories about the family. His family story transcends the artist, allowing the viewer to experience a universal sentiment of love for the family.

황영성은 반세기 동안 꾸준히 가족 이야기를 그려왔다. 전쟁으로 가족을 잃어버린 작가의 그림에서 일상의 모든 소재와 대상들이 가족에 대한 그리움이 된다. 그가 보여주는 가족이야기는 작가 자신뿐 아니라 도시, 나라, 전 세계를 초월한 보편적인 가족애를 경험할 수 있게 한다.

Youngsung Hwang ha dibujado constantemente escenas familiares durante medio siglo. Para el artista, uien perdió a su familia en la guerra, todos los temas y objetos cotidianos de su pintura se transforman en un anhelo por su familia. La historia familiar contenida en sus obras nos permite experimentar un amor familiar universal que trasciende no sólo al propio artista, sino también a ciudades, países, y el mundo.

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Junggi Lee

Junggi Lee creates a real sculpture out of a fictional relic that does not exist in reality, transforming a three dimensional fictitious sculpture into a two-dimensional plane. Through the faces of the crowd living in the present, this work captures the historicality and sociality of our times.

이정기는 실재하지 않는 유물적같은 가상의 흉상을 실체적 유물로 구성하여 3차원적인 허구의 입체를 2차원의 평면으로 치환한다. 이를 통해 현재를 살아가는 군중의 얼굴들을 통해 시대성과 역사성, 사회성을 작품에 담아내고자 한다.

Junggi Lee translada objetos imaginarios tridimensionales sobre una superficie bidimensional mediante la recreación de bustos inexistentes en forma de objetos reales y tangibles. A través de los rostros de la gente que vive en el presente, intenta reflejar en su obra los aspectos característicos de la época, historia y sociedad.

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Leenam Lee

Gwangju’s leading media artist Leenam Lee captures the memories of his childhood emotions in forms of light, projecting them onto the Korean impressionist painter Jiho Oh’s work Home to the South and Uijae Baek-ryun Huh’s Landscape Paintings. In this work, light travels from the south where the sun rises to the rich landscapes; this journey is accompanied by a protagonist and a little dog that deliver the warmth of light.

광주를 대표하는 미디어아트 작가인 이이남은 작가는 유년 시절의 감정과 기억을 한국의 인상주의 화가 오지호 화백의 ‘남향집’과 의재 허백련의 ‘산수화’를 통해 빛으로 담아낸다. 이 빛은 해가 뜨는 남향에서 시작하여 산수에 이르기까지 작품 속 인물과 강아지가 동행하며 그 온기를 전달한다.

Leenam Lee, uno de los artistas del arte mediático más importantes de Gwangju, expresa mediante la luz los recuerdos de su infancia en base a “La casa orientada al sur” del pintor impresionista coreano Jiho Oh y “Sansuhwa(pintura de paisaje)” de Baekryeon Heo. Esta luz comienza en el sur, donde sale el sol, y se extiende hasta el paisaje de montañas y agua, acompañando y transmitiendo su calidez a los personajes y perros de la obra.

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Jaeghil Woo

Jaeghil Woo is often referred to as the “painter of the light.” His unique abstract paintings use the shape of light to create various figurative languages. Having explored light as an artistic material for over 40 years, Woo continues to expand his oeuvre, consistently finding new mediums and languages in this subject matter.

‘빛의 화가’로 불리는 우제길은 빛의 형상을 통해 다양한 조형 언어로 그만의 독창적인 추상회화를 보여준다. 40년이 넘게 빛을 주제로 천착한 그는 그 속에서 다양한 매체와 조형 언어로 끊임없이 그의 작품세계를 확장해 나가고 있다.

Jaeghil Woo, conocido como el “pintor de la luz” crea pinturas abstractas muy originales mediante diversos lenguajes plásticos basados en la forma de la luz. Habiéndose dedicado al tema de la luz durante más de 40 años, aún contínua expandiendo su mundo artístico a través de diversos medios y lenguajes plásticos.

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Yonghyun Lim

Yonghyun Lim continues to explore the characteristics of contemporary media through his media artworks. Tik Tok speaks of the current environment where media is continuously consumed and produced. Today, social media platforms are no longer mere sites of leisure but motors that turn the cogwheel of endless consumption.

임용현은 미디어아트를 통해 미디어라는 매체의 속성에 대해서 지속적으로 연구하는 작가이다. <Tik ToK>은 현대사회가 미디어라는 매체를 소비하고 생산하는 순환고리 속에서 소셜 플랫폼은 단순한 여가를 넘어 톱니바퀴 속 멈출 수 없는 소비행위라는 현실을 보여준다.

Yonghyun Lim es un artista que estudia continuamente las propiedades de los medios de comunicación a través del arte mediático. “TIk Tok” es una obra que representa la realidad en la que la plataforma social ha dejado de ser un mero entretenimiento para convertirse en el objeto de un acto imparable de consumo, dentro de un ambiente en el que el ciclo de la producción y consumo de medios se repite sin fin.

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