Po Kim

Po Kim
Born Kim Po-hyun
1917
Changnyeong, Korea
Died 2014
New York, NY
Residence New York, New York
Nationality American
Known for Painting
Style Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Expressionism
Spouse(s) Sylvia Wald
Korean name
Hangul 김보현
Hanja 金寶鉉
Revised Romanization Gim Bohyeon
McCune–Reischauer Kim Pohyŏn
Website waldandkimgallery.org

Po Kim (1917 – 2014) was a Korean-American visual artist. Born in Changnyeong, Korea, Kim was among the first of a generation of Korean artists who moved to the United States in the 1950s and is one of the earliest-known Korean artists to permanently work and reside in New York City.[1] Having received both Western and Eastern artistic training, he developed his own unique fusion of both traditions and continuously explored various styles throughout his career, from Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s, to realist still-life drawings in the 1970s and large-scale Neo-Expressionistic figurative and allegorical works from the 1980s onward.[2][3]

Biography

Born into difficult circumstances in Korea, Po Kim went to Tokyo, Japan, to study both art and law between 1937 and 1946, and received Western-style academic training at the Pacific Arts School. Afterwards he returned to Korea and established the Department of Fine Arts at Chosun University, where he served as chairman and professor until 1955. Due to his political neutrality, he suffered torture, arrest and surveillance committed by both political sides of the Korean War.[1] In 1955 he was invited to a fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which he accepted, afterwards moving to New York in 1957 and eventually becoming a US citizen. He did not return to Korea for more than 30 years.[4][5]

Arriving in New York during the height of the Abstract Expressionist movement, Kim immersed himself in the period's dynamic avant-garde environment, interacting with many of the New York School artists active in Downtown Manhattan at the time. Within this circle he met his future wife, the artist Sylvia Wald.[2] Together with the artist Lenore Tawney, they purchased a house at 37 East 4th Street, which they renovated with artist studios and gallery.[6] In 1978, Kim and Wald purchased the building at 417 Lafayette Street, where they lived and worked until their deaths. They established the Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Art Gallery, a non-profit art foundation, which is still located there today.[7]

Works from Kim's six-decade career have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in distinguished institutions throughout South Korea, Europe, and the U.S. His works are also held in national and international collections, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, National Museum of Contemporary Art in South Korea, Seoul Art Center, and the Gwangju Museum of Art in South Korea.[8] In 2000, Chosun University awarded Kim an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in honor of his life accomplishments and contributions to the artistic community. In 2002, the Chosun University Art Museum in Gwangju established the Po Kim and Sylvia Wald Art Museum to house their permanent collection of more than 300 works by Kim.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "A Gentle Giant: Po Kim (1917-2014) - artcritical". artcritical. 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  2. 1 2 "A Painter Who Merged Korean Art Traditions with Abstract Expressionism". Hyperallergic. 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  3. ↑ Wechsler, Jeffrey (1997). Wechsler, Jeffrey, ed. Asian Traditions Modern Expressions. From Asian Traditions to Modern Expressions: Abstract Art by Asian Americans, 1945-1970. Harry N. Abrams. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-8109-2682-0.
  4. ↑ Pyun, Kyunghee (2013). Coloring Time: An Exhibition from the Archive of Korean-American Artists Part One (1955-1989). Lulu.com. ISBN 9780989037808.
  5. ↑ "在美화가 金寶鉉씨 40년만에 귀향회고전" [A retrospective exhibition for U.S.-based artist Kim Po-hyun's first homecoming in 40 years]. Kyunghyang Shinmun. 1995-09-18. p. 17. Retrieved 2018-10-03 – via Naver News Library.
  6. ↑ "ACRIS Detailed Document Information". a836-acris.nyc.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  7. ↑ "the sylvia wald + po kim art gallery | non profit foundation". www.waldandkimgallery.org. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  8. 1 2 Rubinstein, Raphael; Yun, Pŏm-mo; Wei, Lilly; Heartney, Eleanor; London, Barbara (2017). Po Kim: Then and Now : a Centennial Exhibition of the Artist's Birth. Sylvia Wald & Po Kim Art Gallery. ISBN 979-11-958797-1-7.
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