[2024 Access Bangkok]

Lee Bae (b. 1956) 

Lee Bae focuses on the expressive potential of charcoal as a medium. Over the course of three decades, Lee has dedicated himself to creating a diverse range of iterations of Korean painting through his use of charcoal and abstract forms that are self-sufficient and rich in spiritual and energetic qualities. By exploring immanent notions such as yielding, respiring, and circulation, which are embodied by charcoal as a material, Lee's work resonates with themes of life and death, absence and presence, light and shadow, form, and emptiness. Lee's oeuvre spans a wide range of mediums and forms, from drawings to canvas-based works, as well as installations, with each new work serving to expand upon his unique vision and approach. Lee’s works have been featured at museums and institutions worldwide including: Phi Foundation, Montreal, Canada; Indang Museum, Daegu; Wilmotte Foundation, Venice; Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Vannes; and Musée Guimet, Paris. Among many others, Lee’s work is in the permanent collections of museums including the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon; Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul; Leeum-Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence; Musée Guimet, Paris; Baruj Foundation, Barcelona, and Privada Allegro Foundation, Madrid.

Jung Kwang Ho (b.1959)

Jung Kwang Ho, who aims to weave between painting and sculpture, desires to explore the essence and interpretation of sculpture in particular. A sculpture is a tangible representation of an image manifested by the sculptor using materials, techniques, and tools to create a specific object in a particular way. Jung oxymoronically refers to his works as "non-sculptural sculptures," as he works with non-sculptural properties to create essentially sculptural works. The paradoxical expression is part of how he explores the essence of sculpture. The artist made no distinction between inside and outside, instead exposing the surface and penetrating through to suggest that surfaces are merely the superficial layer of sculptural essence and the surface of reality.

Jung presented solo exhibitions in various museums worldwide, including the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Art Sonje Museum in Gyeongju, Kumho Art Museum in Seoul, Gallery Thomas in Munich, Lumen Gallery in Paris, and Canvas International Art Gallery in Amsterdam. He also participated in significant group exhibitions at institutions such as the Seoul Museum of Art, Samsung Museum of Art Leeum, Singapore Art Museum, and Gyeonggi Museum of Art. His works are held in various collections, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Daejeon Museum of Art, Hanlim Museum of Art, Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, and Ho-Am Art Museum.

Lee Kwang Ho (b. 1967) 

Lee Kwang Ho is a representative figure in realism paintings. He takes daily subject matters and takes the reproduction of their forms into a unique language of his own. Although realism seems like quite a laborious task and sometimes compulsive as well, through the pictorial depiction of Lee Kwang Ho, we see the reconstructed reality fabricated by his intentions. Subjects that are expressed both vigorously and dramatically expose the desires of their subconscious, and also stimulates the tactility of those that behold them. In his wetland series, he experiments with techniques like scratching and tapping on the canvas. Upon closer inspection, the depicted subjects dissolve, leaving behind a layer of paint with precise brushstrokes and meticulous knife work, which emphasizes the exploration of the fundamental question of painting - the act of painting itself.

Lee has held solo exhibitions in various venues, including Johyun Gallery, Busan; Kukje Gallery, Seoul; and Chang dong Studio Gallery, Seoul; and has participated in group exhibitions at Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul; Busan Museum of Art, Busan; Gana Art Center, Seoul; and Saatchi Gallery, London. His works are included in prestigious collections such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul; the Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul; the Gyeonggi Museum of Art, Ansan and the Jeju Museum of Art.

Bosco Sodi (b. 1970)

Bosco Sodi is an artist working globally, known for his densely textured paintings and objects with rich and vivid colors. His paintings are crystallized forms of arduous physical application; a constant cultivation of removing any hint of his own intent in the painting and populating the surface with the essence of material and fortuitous development. The artist works with the canvas laid down horizontally, applying a viscous mixture of soil, sawdust, glue and pigment to aggregate and then left to solidify over time. This process is a performance of sorts. That performance may last up to several months, with each accumulated strata of material testimony to the artist’s actions. Eventually, in that process, the layers cleft, and that is when the performance ends. From then on, all is left to time and nature’s forces. Cracks appear naturally on the surface and traces of material transforming from the material to the substrate to the whole of the artwork - a strikingly formal experiment in painting. Sodi’s works are included in various public and private collections, such as Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Kanazawa; Harvard Art Museums, MA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar; and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

Kang Kang Hoon (b. 1979) 

Kang Kang Hoon's portrait series not only captures external features but also delves into the deeper emotional essence of each subject, inviting viewers to confront their true selves. His daughter, a recurring motif, serves as both the focal point of the artwork and a reflection of Kang himself. In a recent oil painting series, Kang incorporates symbolic object cotton, inspired by a yearning for his recently deceased mother. The contrast between withered branches and bloomed cotton subtly conflicts and harmonizes, contemplating intergenerational connections. Employing cotton as a metaphor for the enduring connections within humanity, Kang explores broad themes of the past and future on the delicate realm between figuration and abstraction.

Major exhibitions featuring his works include the Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju; Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeongju; Clayarch Gimhae Museum, Gimhae; Gyeonggi Provincial Museum, Ansan; Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju; Gyeongnam Art Museum, Changwon, and Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul. His works are in the collection of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. He has been featured and sold out at numerous art fairs worldwide, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai, and he continues to remain active internationally as one of the most recognizable, leading artists in Korean contemporary art today.