Kim Whanki
Kim Whanki (1913-1974, pen name Suhwa) was born in Sinan, Jeollanamdo, and his family origin was from Gimhae. He studied at the Department of Fine Arts at Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan from 1933 to 1936. He joined the Avant-Garde Western Art Institute in 1934 and submitted his work to Avant-Garde art associations, such as the Second Division Exhibition Nikaten (Nika Art Exhibition) and the Exhibition of the Free Artists Association (Jiyu Bijutsuka Kyokai). After independence, he organized the New Realism Group and worked as a professor in the Department of Fine Art at Seoul National University (1946-1950) and Hongik University (1952-55). He lived in Paris from 1956 to 1959, and after his return, he became a professor and later the Dean of the Fine Art College at Hongik University (1959-1963). He participated in the seventh Sao Paulo Biennale and won an honorary award, and then moved to New York. He abruptly passed away while having a solo exhibition at Poindexter Gallery, New York, ironically when his career in the US was at its peak. As a pioneer of Korean abstract art, he started by working in geometric abstraction and moved on to semi-abstract work that featured natural motifs such as the mountain, the moon, and the river. After moving to the U.S., he returned to abstraction with his so-called "dot paintings." His painting 16-Ⅳ-70 #166 Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again? (1970), was awarded a grand prize at the Korean Art Grand Award Exhibition and has inspired many contemporary Korean artists. His work Rondo (1938) was selected as No. 535 within the national Registered Cultural Properties.
Korean Artists Association
An artist association formed in 1955. The core of the association comprised faculty members of the Seoul National University College of Fine Arts. The election of Ko Huidong as the chairman of the Great Korean Art Association (Daehan misul hyeophoe) despite his failure to win the majority vote led the supporters of Chang Louis Pal to leave the association and form the Korea Artists Association. Chang Louis Pal, the first chair, created the photography division, which was absent from the Great Korean Art Association Exhibition, and the architecture division. He also reinstituted the calligraphy division, which had been closed. At the time of establishment, the stated ideology of the association was four-fold: to develop and improve national culture through progressive ideology; to maintain purity of attitude toward the creation and the presentation of art; to actively support the work of new generations; and to achieve, without delay international partnerships with other artists groups and organizations around the world. In 1961, the association was merged into the Korean Fine Arts Association alongside the Great Korean Art Association due to the government policy of consolidating art organizations.
Venice Biennale Korean Pavilion
The Venice Biennale is an international art festival that began in 1895, and the Korean Pavilion opened in 1995 as the 26th national pavilion. The establishment of the Korean Pavilion was the result of government-level support, corporate donations, and the activism of artists after Paik Nam June’s work was exhibited in the German Pavilion and won the Golden Lion Award. The Pavilion was allocated space in Castello between the German and Japanese Pavilions. It was built primarily of glass and metal and based on the design of architect Kim Seokchul.