Kwon Yeo Hyun, Dream

1991, acrylic on canvas, 191 x 260cm

Born in 1961. B.A. and M.A. in Western Art, the College of Arts and the graduate school of Seoul National University. Awarded the Superior Prize at the Soknam Art Festival, 1986, and at the Choong-ang Art Exhibition. Professor of Western Art, College of Art, Wongwang University.

We do not feel the air we inhale every day. Similarly, we are so absorbed in living our lives that we hardly notice ourselves. But suddenly our egos can rise from the bottom of our hearts, right in front of our eyes, asking innumerable questions.

Kwon has pursued topics such as submerged egos, the restriction of people's abilities, personal freedom, and psychological isolation. His works of art seasoned with a post-modern flavor are receptacles containing very personal viewpoints and messages on such themes.

His canvases are full of symbolic images related with the self, self-portraits, and famous historical figures. This ensemble give us a clue for deciphering the artist's  innermost world of experience. He mixes complicated ingredients on the canvas. On a single canvas he likes to show as many techniques as he can, making it appear packed and sometimes rambling. For the purpose of giving some order and uniformity, he places a huge color field such as a powerful red as the main ingredient. The complicated elements and liberal techniques establish the narrative property which modernist painting has been trying to get rid of.

Kwon considers that arts have to be significant systems and valuable activities for people. Through narrative works the artist perhaps hope to engage in dialogue with a greater number of viewers