NUNG SAENG PARK
Professor Neung-Saeng Park interprets in a modern way, the landscape painting tradition of the Joseon period in the 18th century , through his experiences of everyday life, and the landscapes he observes both around downtown Seoul, and in famous locations in Europe.
Neung Saeng Park is one of Korea's most prominent landscape painters. Based on the "true" classical landscape painting dating back to the Joseon period in the 18th century, his work reflects the pictorial traditions, reminiscent of the Korean representation of perspective: The artist breaks free from linear perspective familiar to us. Unlike Western painting, the rendering of perspective of the 3 vanishing points introduced by Bruneleschi in the 15th century, it depicts the atmosphere of the place in a panoramic and playful way while respecting the tradition of the so-called "Eastern" or even "Korean" perspective. », simultaneously superimposing 3 points of view: Top, middle and bottom. Park mainly applies the 5 traditional colors of the Obangsaek, Red, Yellow, Blue, White and Black, and their green and orange derivations.
Park is an artist turned towards the world. His skills are rooted in the “Oriental” school of painting, but he seeks inspiration from all over the world. His landscapes are the result of intensive explorations of sites during his travels. The sketches he makes on site are the basis of his work. Nourished by drawn impressions, it unfolds a familiar landscape that is both strange and surreal. Park is interested in the life of people in nature or in the city: In his latest paintings, he represents people in a park or a place and the trace left by recent absentees, or hidden behind an obstacle, in this series " Park & travelers” 2023, the background of the Hanji paper is coated by the traditional ink, impregnated from hind side of the paper , so the background of the work is only the resurgence of ancient Korean art forms, while the characters painted in a Westerners cross this faded background, absorbed in their activities or conversations.
In our exhibition, Park presents works from the years 2017 to 2023, reflecting the mountain he walked around Seoul, and his travels through Spain, and India. His materials come from nature: a red and green glaze based on natural powder, fine ink, earth, branches. Instead of brushes, he often uses bamboo stalks with disintegrated ends to produce these abrupt lines more evocative of mineral chaos, even of plants. The figures are either real, colored as part of the landscape they permeate, and from which they become imbued, or as characters drawn without coloring, or engraved in wood, all equipped, and contrasting with the rock and the color of the ink, which absorbs them.
Artist Neung-Saeng Park by himself:
City (都市) - Past, present and future coexist. A demolished city on the hillside, rebuilt apartment complexes, blue and yellow water tanks on top of the building, modernized office buildings and old brick houses coexist in my expressionless mind. Around the Han River, Seoul's landscape especially consists of numerous bridges and various dynamic modernized skyscrapers as well as a huge urban forest. As I climb, walk, run, observe and breathe, I do my best to sketch the current events (實境) of the city in my mind. My Mind (精神) depicts the landscape of the present and the past and shows real objects and surrounding circumstances through eyes and body.
Nature (自然) - While climbing the mountain, I notice the significant difference between the mountain ridge and the height of the skyscrapers. When I survey the man-made high altitude of the building, I realize how meaningless having such lofty desires in life is. Throughout history, the mountain has brought a lot to man. As a spiritual idol and basis of our daily life, the mountain has given us a universal experience. The mountain is a sacred space of generic origin, a pure space filled with various sounds of creatures and a natural space all around. For me, representing the mountain is about unveiling the origin of nature through personal experiences and discovering my spirit (精神).
Rather than an image in perspective, I prefer an image in synesthesia. It is neither illusion nor perspective representation. It describes what I feel through my body and my eyes. It is not just the simple reproduction of an object. Rather, it is the manifestation of a sensuous landscape that brings together the eyes and the mind that pursue all of the real landscape down to the smallest detail. It is a kind of pictorial book and a recreation of visible reality in the form of a panorama.
Biography
Neung Saeng Park was born in 1973. He lives and works in Seoul and Changwon. Near Busan, He studied fine arts at National Chungnam University (BFA and MFA) and Shungshin University (Ph.D.). He is currently a professor in the Fine Arts Department of National Changwon University. His works are part of about twenty collections, including 10 museums in Korea and China, 4 universities, banks, cultural centers, companies.
