Hwang’s paintings are deeply rooted in artistic freedom and self-expansion. His artistic universe incorporates the boldness and artistic deviation of the informal abstract paintings that he encountered as a fledgling artist, contrasting with the sense of harmony and resonance with nature that is characteristic of the southern regions of Korea. Meanwhile, he also demonstrates an awareness of coexistence between the world at large and all creation as well as the creative free will to be rooted somewhere without being tied down, which are realizations that he attained through the earnest exploration of his own artistic universe.

Hwang’s works from the early era of the 1960s largely consist of Honam Impressionist landscape paintings that express elements of nature through resonant sensibilities and figure paintings that artfully interweave the flow of light and colors onto the canvas. These works focused more on delivering the pictorial atmosphere of an object rather than aiming for a representative depiction. His paintings from this period are deeply influenced by the subjective sensibilities of Yim Jik-soon, his revered mentor at university.

In the 1970s, however, Hwang’s artistic universe underwent a total change of direction to flat grayscale works with Korean traditional subjects. His works from this period often expressed the ambience of traditional life as well as the formative aesthetic of traditional thatched houses in the countryside, which were expressed with monotone mud plaster matière. The motif of thatched houses in his works was eventually extended to depict entire villages and even a perspective overlooking an expansive field in the 1980s. This transition led to the use of green as the dominant shade, capturing the stage where the lives of humans, animals and plants take place within a single canvas.

The 1990s was the time when Hwang Young-Sung widened his view to the outward world. His visits to countries in Europe, the Americas, and Africa, as well as ancient sites of the Incan and Mayan civilizations, helped him to not only explore the world in many different aspects but also discover similarities and dissimilarities between cultures to flesh out his worldview of coexistence.

Using these experiences as a foundation, Hwang’s work in the 2000s unveiled a cohesive universe of coexistence where nature and all things within the world exist in their original forms. The materials and techniques he used in the period extended beyond monotone mosaic canvas paintings, and include paper drawings, repoussé metalwork, arrangements of silicon strips and mirror balls, and polystyrene foam pieces, thereby expanding upon his artistic world to envision the concept of the “Story of the Universe.”

Indeed, Hwang Young-Sung’s lifelong career can be summarized a formative process of sublimating his desire for a world of free, peaceful communities. He endeavored to express his intrinsic yearning for spiritual roots and articulate this desire into an independent pictorial universe that can be expanded through constant variations. This retrospective exhibition reflects 60 years of his painting career and includes his recent works, seeking to calm his hitherto breathless journey of creation. The exhibition will present the opportunity to appreciate the artist’s worldview of coexistence among all living things and the remarkable achievements of his lifelong career.

Hwang Young-Sung (黃榮性, Born in 1941)

1968 MFA, Chosun University, Gwangju, Korea
1966 BFA, Chosun University, Gwangju, Korea

▪ Artistic CV
2011-2014 Director, Gwangju Museum of Art
2002 Operational Advisory Committee Member, MMCA
Advisory Committee Member, Korea Youth Biennale
2000 Operation Committee Member, Grand Art Exhibition of Korea
1999-2001 Vice President, Chosun University
1996 Organizing Committee Member, 2nd Gwangju Biennale
1990 Judge, Grand Art Exhibition of Korea
1980 Organizing Committee Member, Joongang Fine Arts Prize
Recommended Artist, National Art Exhibition of the Republic of Korea
1968 Recommended Artist, Invited Artist and Judge, Jeollanam-do Art Competition

▪Solo Exhibitions
2021 Mugaksa Lotus Gallery, Gwangju, Korea
2020 Gallery H Invitational Exhibition, Seoul, Korea
2018 Hyundai Hwarang, Seoul, Korea
2017 The Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, Korea
2016 Shinsegae Gallery Invitational Exhibition, Gwangju, Korea
2015 Himalayas Art Museum Invitational Exhibition, Shanghai, China
Gallery Shchukin, New York, USA
2013 Rostock Art Gallery, Rostock, Germany
2012 Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Gallery Schrade-Schloss Mochental Invitational Exhibition, Ehingen, Germany
Gallery Tanit Invitational Exhibition, Munich, Germany
2010 Gallery Hyundai Invitational Exhibition, Seoul, Korea
Mugaksa Lotus Gallery, Gwangju, Korea
2009 Ujong Museum of Art Invitational Exhibition, Boseong, Korea
Gallery Hyundai Invitational Exhibition, Seoul, Korea
2007 MAMC Invitational Exhibition, Saint-Etienne, France
Gallery H Invitational Exhibition, Seoul, Korea
2006 Dresden Academy of Fine Arts Invitational Exhibition, Dresden, Germany
Palazzo Crispi Invitational Exhibition, Naples, Italy
Gallery Hyundai Invitational Exhibition, Seoul, Korea
2005 LEEINSUNG Arts Prize Recipient Exhibition, Daegu, Korea
2004 Hyundai Arts Center Invitational Exhibition, Ulsan, Korea
Shinsegae Gallery Invitational Exhibition, Gwangju, Korea
2002 Parsons School Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Bhak, Seoul, Korea
2001 Gallery Covalenco, Geldrop, Netherlands
Museum of Contemporary Art U.L.B, Brussels, Belgium
2000 Musée Estrine - Présence Van Gogh Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France
Hyundai Hwarang, Seoul, Korea
1998 Hyundai Hwarang, Seoul, Korea
Galerie Bhak, Seoul, Korea
1997 Musée de l’Hôtel-Dieu Invitational Exhibition, Mantes-la-jolie, France
Musée Fesch Invitational Exhibition, Ajaccio, France
Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
1996 Palais des Congress, Paris, France
Gwangju Museum of Art Invitational Exhibition, Gwangju, Korea
1995 Gallery Francois Mitaine, Paris, France
1992 Gallery Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, France
1991 L’Atelier, Angers, France

▪Group Exhibitions
2021 Shinsegae Gallery Invitational Exhibition, Gwangju, Korea
2020 20th Anniversary LEEINSUNG Art Prize Exhibition, Daegu, Korea
2016 Kang Yeon-Gyun‧Hwang Young-Sung Exhibition, Art Gwangju16, Gwangju
2013 Yanglim-dong of Artists Invitational Exhibition, 515Gallery, Gwangju
2011 Art Beijing, Beijing, China
Art Gwangju, Gwangju, Korea
2010 Suncheon Bay International Nature and Environment Art Festival, Suncheon, Korea
Dream in Dream, Uijeongbu Arts Center, Uijeongbu, Korea
2009 10th Anniversary LEEINSUNG Art Prize Recipient Exhibition, Daegu, Korea
2008 Representative Korean Artists, DaXiang Art Space, Taiwan
Gwangju & Istanbul Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition, Gallery Isık Istanbul, Istanbul
2005 Beijing International Art Biennale, Beijing, China
Gwangju Contemporary Art Exhibition, Gwangju Museum of Art‧Guangzhou Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea and Guangzhou, China
Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts, Taiwan
Invitation Exhibition of Mid-career and Master Artists, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2004 Korea-Japan Interchange Exhibition in Tokyo, Contemporary Art Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
2001 Sharjah International Art Biennale, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
1999 FIAC Art Fair, Paris, France
Basel Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland
Chicago Art Fair, Illinois, USA
Brussel Art Fair, Brussel, Belgium
Miami Art Fair, Florida, USA
1998 Asian Arts Museum Invitational Exhibition, Nice, France
Cologne Art Fair, Cologne, Germany
New York Art Fair, New York, USA
Chicago Art Fair, Illinois, USA
1996 FIAC Art Fair, Paris, France
1991 25th Monte-Carlo International Arts Festival, Monaco

▪Awards
2006 The Order of Service Merit (Yellow Stripes)
2004 LEEINSUNG Art Prize Awards
1993 Kumho Art Award
1991 Special Prize, 25th Monte-Carlo International Arts Festival
1981 Jeollanam-do Cultural Award
1973 Minister of Culture and Information Award, 22nd National Art Exhibition
1965-79 Accepted Artist, National Art Exhibition (seven occasions: 15th, 17th, 18th, 21nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th)
Special Prize, National Exhibition (six occasions: 1967, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1979)
1965-67 Grand Prize (1967) and Special Prize, Jeollanam-do Art Exhibition