Jeonnam Museum of Art unveils Song Phil-Yong: Narratives of Water as its 2023 invitational exhibition of mid-career artists. A native of Goheung, Jeollanam-do, Song Phil-Yong (1959- ) has consistently represented the grand flow of history through the motif of 'water,' stemming from his fundamental contemplation of our past. This exhibition showcases a total of 100 works, encompassing his early pieces against the backdrop of historical hardships in the 1980s, alongside new paintings and drawings that seek to heal both historical and personal wounds. It is also intended to shed light on his new artistic endeavors through his series Flow of the Abyss (2023).

The exhibition consists of three sections with different themes. The first section ‘The History of the Land’ brings together his works that realistically portray tragedies in the turbulent contemporary history of the 1980s but convey hopeful narratives, based on a noble sense of history. The second section, 'The Flow of History,' showcases works that symbolize the unyielding consciousness represented by a stream of water, despite the pains and wounds within our convoluted history. The last section ‘Flow of the Abyss, Passage of Healing’ displays his new pieces in which a stream of water completed by engraving lines and dots purifies and heals individual wounds.

Song Phil-Yong’s ‘water’ has transformed from a macroscopic narrative capturing the enormous stream of history to a microscopic narrative capturing individual lives. Personal narratives like tiny drops of water come together to form the torrential stream of history. In the end, one’s life becomes a reflection of the times. Although each individual's life is different, those who live in the same era bear similar wounds. It is hoped that Song's flowing stream of water becomes a passage that heals and washes away the wounds of those living in the same era.

Song Phil-Yong