Riverside Gallery presents Ju Ok Kun’s solo exhibition and his retrospective consisting of sunghwa, or pictures of sacred subjects. The exhibition, which celebrates the publication of his book of paintings, will exhibit 50 to 60 artworks.

Ju Ok Kun is a Korean American Christian artist, who was born in 1934 in An-seong county in Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea, and came to America in 1987.

During his time at the Hong-ik University, the artist was a student of Professor Yun Hyojung, Professor Cheongjeon Lee, Sangbeom, Professor Unbo Kim, Gichang and Professor Cheon Kyeong-ja, a renowned artist.

The retrospective has a strong significance for the Korean American Christian and art community, as Ju was a leader among the first-generation Korean Americans, who chaired/participated in various organizations/coalitions (which included the New York chapter of the “Republic of Korea Filial Piety Civic Movement Headquarters,” the Korean American Painting and Calligraphy Association, New Jersey Korean American Evergreen Record, and the New York Korean American Art Association) that allowed immigrant Korean artists to showcase their art to the public. He also helped to establish the Korean Studies at the Rutgers University in 1991 as the co-chair of the supporting foundation.

Ju paints a symbolic world that reflects his Christian faith, including the various stories from the Bible. He also depicted traditional Korean people and culture through a Christian lens. Ju takes a populist tone in his affectionate depiction of the commoners and, among his diverse bodies of works, switches between the figurative, abstract, and symbolic modes of visual language.

Ju obtained his BFA in Oriental Studies in 1959 and MFA in Artistic Crafts in 1972 from the Hong-Ik University.

Links:

Korea Times

Korea Daily