Landscape, Mind, and Art.

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The current exhibition entitled Buncheong Landscape is meaningfully devoted to the celebration of the grand opening of Soluna Fine Art in Hong Kong. Buncheong is a grayish ceramic from the 15th -16th century during Joseon dynasty in Korea, and Lee Kang-Hyo has spent more than 30 years to reinterpret Buncheong Ceramics to contemporary objects.

 

Born in 1961, Lee Kang-Hyo grew up intimately close with the nature allowing him to see and feel the beauty of the changing seasons in life. His life-long relationship with nature inspires him to create the surface of his works depicting the landscape of four different seasons in Korea. “Nature is the fundamental source of my work and it makes my mind ‘new’ as the sky of today is different from yesterday’s.”

 

Lee studied ceramics at Hongik University, one of the most prestigious schools in Korea, and was trained as ‘Onggi’ (Earthen pot without glaze) master in Gyeongsangnam-do for 4 years after graduation. He uses the same onggi technique to create ceramics. His works are composed of rough strokes and fine brushing, essentially using the surface as a white-slipped-canvas. His works express his mind that is taking its course of natural feeling and thinking about the present rather than searching for an answer about the future. With no initial sketch, Lee Kang-Hyo uses his body and movement as a mode of expression to create the abstract “expression of his energy at the moment of creation”.

 

In his studio, located far away from the city, he works on his creation in solitude. His first calligraphic performance was at ‘International Potters Festival’ in Britain, 1999 when he was representing Korea with ‘Samulnori’ (Percussion Instrumental Quartet Music of Korea that is normally played without notes). Since then his ‘dance’ became one of the most prominent performances of contemporary abstract expressionism in Britain.

 

This inaugural exhibition seeks to demonstrate how Korean contemporary art is rooted in the tradition and showcases Lee Kang-Hyo’s use of traditional techniques to create contemporary objects. It is hoped that Lee Kang-Hyo, represented by Soluna Fine Art, will provide an opportunity to revitalize Eastern aesthetics through contemporary works to the art aficionados of Hong Kong.