Solo Exhibitions (Brief)

Kim Jipyeong had her first exhibition at Kyungin Museum (Seoul, Korea) in 2001. From 2001 to 2012, she worked under the name of Kim Jihye, during which time she mainly presented her works that reconstructed folktale styles such as book roads and characters, and the decorativeness of dancheong to fit her era. In 2013, she started paying attention to interpreting materials and theories of oriental painting from a new perspective with her exhibition of Brilliant Texture (Gana Art Contemporary, Seoul, Korea).

Since then, 《Pyeongan-Do 平安圖》 (2015, Art Company, Seoul, Korea), 《Jaenyo Duk Go 才女德高》 (2017, Hapjungjigu, Seoul, Korea), 《Giam Yeoljeon 奇巖列傳》 (2019, Gallery Meme, Seoul, Korea), etc., and presented works interpreted from the artist’s point of view on various topics such as family history, division, and women.

Group Exhibitions (Brief)

Kim Jipyeong has been part of numerous group exhibitions, including at the Seoul Museum of Art(Seoul, Korea), Artspace POOL(Seoul, Korea), Fengxian Museum(Shanghai, China), LeeUngNo Museum (Daejeon, Korea) and Indipress Gallery(Seoul, Korea).

Awards (Selected)

Kim Jipyeong was one of the 20 artists in the 21st SongEun ArtAward(SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation, Korea).

Collections (Selected)

Kim Jipyeong’s work is part of the collection of the Seoul Museum of Art(Seoul, Korea), MMCA ArtBank(Gwacheon, Korea), Gana Art Gallery(Gwacheon, Korea), Hana Bank(Seoul, Korea), Amore Pacific Museum(Seoul, Korea) and Hankook Chinaware(Chungju, Korea).

Originality & Identity

The artist Kim Jipyeong has talked about the modern worldview through the techniques and styles of oriental Korean painting. She doubts “the old inertia of contemporary art to translate oriental painting into ‘modernization of tradition’ and excessive emphasis on the concept of ‘contemporaneous’ era.” She instead carries out an ‘intentional anachronism’ that reverts to the past.

The artist borrowed features and materials from traditional art but also renewed the meaning latent in traditions in her own differentiated way. Also, new meanings are created by combining things that have been excluded from the historical and social history of art.

The artist Kim Jipyeong continued her art activities under the name ‘Ji-Hye KIM’ from 2001 to 2012. At this time, she mainly developed the work of reconstructing the style of folktales, such as book maps, character paintings, bird and flower paintings, or the decorativeness of ‘dancheong’ (A Korean traditional painting pattern used for wooden buildings), from a modern perspective.

This was an expression of her great attention to the interplay between folk art elements and contemporary art, and her interest in ‘traditional-modern culture,’ namely, her hybridity had brought earlier.

In 2013, he started to present works that newly interpret the narration and materials of oriental painting, taking the opportunities of her solo exhibition 《Brilliant Texture (찬란한 결)》 (Gana Art Contemporary, Seoul).

This change is the result of a series of ‘Michaesansu’ in which today’s Korean realities (military facilities or apartment buildings) are adopted into the conceptual landscapes shown in the 2007 solo exhibition 《The Border Life》 (Insa Art Centre, 2007). Moreover, the oriental myths around 2010, the tales, and the trials to bring the narratives of history into works have already shown foreboding.

“The state of not belonging to anything has a connection to the infinite possibilities of having belongings everywhere.”

Since then, through solo exhibitions 《Pyeongando》 (2015, Art Company Geek, Seoul), 《Jaenyeo Deokgo》 (2017, Hapjeong-go district, Seoul), 《Giam Yeoljeon》(2019, Gallery Meme, Seoul) and numerous group exhibitions, the artist’s popularity began by connecting her works into one ‘storytelling’ and each exhibition creates an independent literary space with infinite possibilities. She extensively researches and references folk tales and ancient literature, and brings traditions such as amulets, shaman paintings, and Buddhist paintings that were excluded from mainstream art history to the center of her art.

Additionally, the issue of ‘the female and the alienation and exclusion of the female perspective’ which has been a major theme since the artist’s early works, is more actively addressed in these solo exhibitions. Recently, in her solo exhibition, 《Friends from far aways》 (2020, Boan Inn, Seoul), a woman who has risen to the position of the subject of desire and pleasure in the artist’s previous work is more important as a medium expanding the imagination of our past and art at the same time.

She showed a wide range of artistic horizons by showing the artist’s interest in art history, the nature view of East Asian visual culture, and post-colonial imagination as well.

Style & Contents

Kim Jipyeong is prone to avoiding unconditional transformation of the past and modernization of tradition. Rather, she pays attention to reflecting on modernity through an intentional anachronism by examining the present through the eyes of the past and returning to the older.’ The artist’s thematic characteristics are also revealed in the method or medium she has been looking for.

The artist, Kim Jipyeong, draws a picture of gold teeth that had not been done before in 《Pyeongando》 and in 《Giam Yeoljeon》, paying attention to the smallest unit of landscape painting, a strange stone, uses various materials such as charcoal, ink, stone carving, and cinnabar, etc. In 《Jaenyeodeokgo》 and 《Friends from far aways》, the artist actively experiments with the physical conditions of the oriental painting by focusing on the long-winded forms that she has continued to experiment with, such as scrolls, rolls of paper, and folding screens, which have been considered secondary in the oriental painting tradition.

She also exhibits video works and objects collected during the research process in a number of group exhibitions, including solo exhibitions, to enrich the appreciation context. She diversifies the ‘physical’ conditions that the audience operates in viewing the work, namely, the arrangement of expressions, the perspective, and the frame.

Likewise, Kim Jipyeong seeks to think freely, breaking away from the conventional way of thinking about traditional topics like the East and Asia. This is because her work cannot be reduced to the modernization of tradition.

Constancy & Continuity

The mid-2000s were a period when young artists who developed their works by borrowing traditional painting styles received attention from galleries, art journalism, and alternative spaces. Since then, until about 2008, young artists’ interest in traditional culture increased and modern paintings borrowing traditional styles became popular in the art market.

This development led to a popular trend, spreading folktale classes, and folktales, especially book maps (‘Chaeggado’), were considered a genre painting both in and outside the art world. At that time, the artist with the working name ‘Ji-Hye KIM’ made herself a ‘Chaeggado artist’ and held a large-scale solo exhibition at Insa Art Centre in 2007 focusing on the book maps (‘Chaeggado’), drawing over 500 arts. This spurred the artist’s popularity and her international profile.

Despite the popularity of her previous work, Kim Jipyeong continued her artwork and still sought a change in her work in 2013. This shows that she has a serious artistic attitude and an in-depth examination of her work. She was an artist who was frequently invited to contemporary art exhibitions with the theme of ‘traditional’ or ‘oriental painting’ after making a name for herself with Book maps (Chaggado) and flower and bird paintings (Hwajo-do).

After she expanded and deepened the subject and form of her work, she continued to work on 《Landscape: Repressed Nature》 (2019, Ungno Lee Museum of Art, Daejeon), 《Sugar and Salt》 (2021, Sake Center, Seoul), 《Songeun Art Grand Prize》 (2021, Song Eun Art Space). These are showing a wider range of activities, including participating in various special exhibitions on some topics such as East Asian culture and art, epic narratives, religion, and women.