The Jeonnam Museum of Art (JMA) presents “The Lee Kun-hee Collection Modern and Contemporary Korean Art Special Exhibition 《Encounter》” . The exhibition, part of a regional tour of the Lee Kun-hee Collection at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), is designed to highlight the significance of the donations made by the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee (1942-2020), who was a lover of culture and art. It features about 60 works from the Lee Kun-hee Collection housed at the MMCA, Daegu Art Museum, and JMA. In 2021, Chairman Lee’s family donated more than 23,000 cultural assets and artworks to the National Museum of Korea, MMCA, and other public museums, and the JMA held a special exhibition featuring 19 of the donated works later that year. We open this exhibition with the hope that chairman's beautiful and noble spirit of sharing stemming from his beliefs will have special resonance today.

“The Lee Kun-hee Collection Modern and Contemporary Korean Art Special Exhibition 《Encounter》” follows the flow of themes of paintings and records of words expressed by Korean modern and contemporary artists. Artist Lee Jungseop remarked, “For me, paintings can be nothing else but a means to discuss myself,” and expressed in his paintings, through humorous depictions of children and romantic words, a longing for his family from whom he had been separated. In Kim Whanki’s Art Poem – Verse to Accompany Paintings (1977), Kim Whanki’s wife, Kim Hyang-an, writes, “I feel that the writings he left in this world are indelible traces of him, which is why I collected each one of his poems and compiled them.” As such, traces of records are a valuable resource and legacy for the study of an artist’s work. We can also recall an artist's poetic ideas and artistic inspirations from their essay collections or the artworks they created throughout their life. This exhibition brings together the autobiographical records of artists, including their memories of the past, struggles at the boundaries of life and art, and precious inspirations from nature. The themes of the first, second, and third sections of the exhibition relate to excerpts from the artists' words and records, allowing visitors to feel the artistic romance and spirit through the words presented alongside their works.

In the first section, “Companionship with Nature,” we encounter compositional paintings and sculptures that celebrate nature in their own ways by capturing its visible beauty. In the second section, “Between Life and Art,” visitors can read stories of the artists’ lives in the real world, and in the third, “Toward Transcendence and Creation,” they get to look into the artists’ spiritual realm as they pursue deep thoughts and ideas. Like us, the artists loved, had a taste for beauty, and probably spent their lives in intense contemplation. We hope you will have a meaningful encounter with these 43 masters who have made a resplendent mark on Korean modern and contemporary art history by uniting nature and art, and life and art.

KANG Yobae, KO Younghoon, QUAC Insik, GU Bonung, KWON Okyon, KWON Jinkyu, KIM Gyeong, KIM Kichang, KIM Byungki, KIM Youngjoo, KIM Eunho, KIM Chungsook, KIM Chongyung, KIM Junghyun, KIM Whanki, NO Soohyeon, TO Sangbong, RYU Kyungchai, Moon Hakjin, PARK Kosuk, PARK Daesung, PARK Rehyun, PARK Saengkwang, PARK Sookeun, BANG Haija, BYEON Gwansik, BYUN Chongha, SHIN Hakchul, OH Chiho, YOO Kangyul, YOO Youngkuk, YOON Jungsik, LEE Bongsang, LEE
Sangbeom, LEE Ungno, LEE Insung, LEE Jongsang, LEE Jungseop, IM Jiksoon, CHANG Uc-chin, CHUN Kyungja, HA In-doo, HEO Baekryeon