There is an artist who calls herself “Korean Rose Wiley.” She is the Painter Park Yoonhie.
She was born in 1945, when Korea was escaping from Japanese colonial rule, and was called "Haebangdongi". In other words, her life shared the entire process of an independent poor country becoming a developed country.
She is only now active as an artist in her late 70s. However, she went to Gyeonggi Girls' High School, a prestigious school in Korea, and majored in Western painting at Seoul National University. She is just "A rough Diamond".
 |
| ▲ Korean Rose Wiley, Painter Park Yoonhie, Photo by Lee Sung Bong |
Her artistic talent was recognized by her father as a child. “When I was a freshman in middle school, I drew lilies in art class. I cut out a cross section of the flower and painted it. When my father saw my painting, he praised it, saying, ‘You take after Picasso.’” She said.
Since then, she has devoted her entire life to painting. However, she refrained from activities that were loudly exposed to the outside world.
 |
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
Actually, She has focused on her group exhibitions where she can hide her body rather than her solo exhibitions. She was shown at Seoul National University's 1963 classmate art exhibition or through the ‘Hanulhoe’, a women's alumni association at Seoul National University College of Art.
Her first solo exhibition was held in 2008. Friends and artists who studied art together and worked together gave various advice for her first solo exhibition.
 |
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
Among them, the first advice was, “We want you to exhibit works with a unified theme.” However, Her first solo exhibition was filled with works painted on various themes. "It's not that I ignored my friends advices, it's that I've drawn works of various types and characteristics because I'm curious," she said.
Her curiosity starts centered on humans. For example, various situations that humans experience, spiritual relaxation, and space and time related to humans.
 |
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
'Chandelier of Harlem' and 'Sandstone Temple', which are open to the audience for the first time, is also paintings of her curiosity. These works depict on her canvas the thoughts she felt while traveling in Türkiye (Turkey) with her husband.
She said, 2015 was particularly memorable for her. “That year, I set up an independent studio and was able to immerse myself in my work. I am perhaps like Rose Wiley of England, who started painting at the age of 76 and continues to work passionately at the age of 87. My friends of the same age are slowly completing their social and artistic activities, but now I am actively working as a painter. I still have over 20 years left. These days are the centenarians" she said with a smile.
 |
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
Recently, she is in her best heyday. On the 16th, a solo exhibition is held at the Bichae Art Museum in Bangbae-dong, Seoul, and on the same day, at the Hyehwa Art Center in Hyehwa-dong, Seoul, a group exhibition with the class 63 classmates of Seoul National University (Painting and Sculpture) is held. The Jinburyeong Museum of Art, which starts at the end of July and runs until the end of this month, is also holding a special invitation exhibition. Her exhibition is being held simultaneously in three different places.
Inside her work, the modern history of Korea that she experienced is fully permeated. “Even now, when I see cars passing by in a row at night, I often feel like the lights and bullets from the war. Those experiences naturally permeated into my work as a longing for peace and reconciliation, The 'Image of Koreans' (2022) introduced in this exhibition reflects these thoughts.”
 |
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
It is similar to Hermann Hesse in how she sublimates her war trauma into her artwork. That's why she's been interested in Hermann Hesse lately. She told a reporter for a long time about Hesse's major work<
Das Glasperlenspiel, 1943·1946 Nobel Prize for Literature>. Park said, “Through his writings, I could feel how much Hermann Hesse was concerned about the war and the issues of polarity. And I thought that he would have overcome this pain on his own while painting,” she said.
The reason we should pay attention to her work is that her work is not only to overcome negative things such as war and various pains that have taken root in her, but also to sublimate it into positive messages such as harmony, peace, and communication.
Her solo exhibition "Connected" will be held until September 29 at the Bichae Art Museum in Bangbae-dong, Seoul.
Sayart.net
Jason Yim yimjongho1969@gmail.com
Korean Rose Wiley, Painter Park Yoonhie
Park's Solo Invitational Exhibition 'Connected' until 29
There is an artist who calls herself “Korean Rose Wiley.” She is the Painter Park Yoonhie.
She was born in 1945, when Korea was escaping from Japanese colonial rule, and was called "Haebangdongi". In other words, her life shared the entire process of an independent poor country becoming a developed country.
She is only now active as an artist in her late 70s. However, she went to Gyeonggi Girls' High School, a prestigious school in Korea, and majored in Western painting at Seoul National University. She is just "A rough Diamond".
|
| ▲ Korean Rose Wiley, Painter Park Yoonhie, Photo by Lee Sung Bong |
Her artistic talent was recognized by her father as a child. “When I was a freshman in middle school, I drew lilies in art class. I cut out a cross section of the flower and painted it. When my father saw my painting, he praised it, saying, ‘You take after Picasso.’” She said.
Since then, she has devoted her entire life to painting. However, she refrained from activities that were loudly exposed to the outside world.
|
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
Actually, She has focused on her group exhibitions where she can hide her body rather than her solo exhibitions. She was shown at Seoul National University's 1963 classmate art exhibition or through the ‘Hanulhoe’, a women's alumni association at Seoul National University College of Art.
Her first solo exhibition was held in 2008. Friends and artists who studied art together and worked together gave various advice for her first solo exhibition.
|
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
Among them, the first advice was, “We want you to exhibit works with a unified theme.” However, Her first solo exhibition was filled with works painted on various themes. "It's not that I ignored my friends advices, it's that I've drawn works of various types and characteristics because I'm curious," she said.
Her curiosity starts centered on humans. For example, various situations that humans experience, spiritual relaxation, and space and time related to humans.
|
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
'Chandelier of Harlem' and 'Sandstone Temple', which are open to the audience for the first time, is also paintings of her curiosity. These works depict on her canvas the thoughts she felt while traveling in Türkiye (Turkey) with her husband.
She said, 2015 was particularly memorable for her. “That year, I set up an independent studio and was able to immerse myself in my work. I am perhaps like Rose Wiley of England, who started painting at the age of 76 and continues to work passionately at the age of 87. My friends of the same age are slowly completing their social and artistic activities, but now I am actively working as a painter. I still have over 20 years left. These days are the centenarians" she said with a smile.
|
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
Recently, she is in her best heyday. On the 16th, a solo exhibition is held at the Bichae Art Museum in Bangbae-dong, Seoul, and on the same day, at the Hyehwa Art Center in Hyehwa-dong, Seoul, a group exhibition with the class 63 classmates of Seoul National University (Painting and Sculpture) is held. The Jinburyeong Museum of Art, which starts at the end of July and runs until the end of this month, is also holding a special invitation exhibition. Her exhibition is being held simultaneously in three different places.
Inside her work, the modern history of Korea that she experienced is fully permeated. “Even now, when I see cars passing by in a row at night, I often feel like the lights and bullets from the war. Those experiences naturally permeated into my work as a longing for peace and reconciliation, The 'Image of Koreans' (2022) introduced in this exhibition reflects these thoughts.”
|
| ▲ Park Yoonhie, courtesy of Bichae Art Museum |
It is similar to Hermann Hesse in how she sublimates her war trauma into her artwork. That's why she's been interested in Hermann Hesse lately. She told a reporter for a long time about Hesse's major work<
Das Glasperlenspiel, 1943·1946 Nobel Prize for Literature>. Park said, “Through his writings, I could feel how much Hermann Hesse was concerned about the war and the issues of polarity. And I thought that he would have overcome this pain on his own while painting,” she said.
The reason we should pay attention to her work is that her work is not only to overcome negative things such as war and various pains that have taken root in her, but also to sublimate it into positive messages such as harmony, peace, and communication.
Her solo exhibition "Connected" will be held until September 29 at the Bichae Art Museum in Bangbae-dong, Seoul.
Sayart.net
Jason Yim yimjongho1969@gmail.com
