Hong Soun’s discipline in painting is described by a re-contextualization of images of people, objects, and situations based on photographic references, named in his past exhibitions as Sidescape works. His means of understanding how to address his concerns about the medium points towards an analysis of his observations on how photographs and paintings can be viewed, and this includes presenting a visual experience through extracting parts of images he has chosen from newsprint photographs. These are pictures of objects, people, current natural phenomena and socio-political happenings that are then dissected by the artist: he divides the imagery into segments and re-focuses the pictorial merit on the periphery of the scene by painting them individually. As an example, he references a war-related photograph by isolating areas such as the sky, ground, or a fragment from a wall or a person’s clothing. Using these sources, Hong overcomes the attributed functionalities of the objects and landscapes in the respective contexts of the moment they were captured on camera, thereby emphasizing the independence and transcendence of specific and/or implied situations.

Hong Soun was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1959. He graduated from the Busan National University in Korea and continued his studies at the École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. The artist has been awarded nationally and internationally for his work and has participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide. Hong has been invited for solo exhibitions by the following institutions: the Maraya Art Center (Sharjah, AE), the Mimesis Art Museum (Paju, KR), the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Gwacheon, KR) and the Savina Museum of Contemporary Art (Soul, KR). He was part of the Santa Fe International Biennial in 2008 and his works are included in international institutional collections (i.e. Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, KR | Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, USA | Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Gyeonggi-do KR | Ho-Am Art Museum, Seoul, KR).

link to ARTIST'S WEBSITE

Biography

1959  Born in Seoul, Korea
1983  B. F. A. in Art education, Busan National University, Busan, Korea
1989  École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. France

Selected Exhibitions, projects (2000-2019)

2019
Korea: A Land of Hats, Korean Cultural Center New York, (NY)
Sidescape - Objections, 1335MABINI Karrivin Plaza, Makati (PH) (solo)

2018
of the x, y and z, Amado Art Space (KR) (solo)
Noblesse Collection Korea, (KR)
Ordinary Monument, 1335MABINI Karrivin Plaza, Makati (PH) (solo)
The Veiled Landscape SeMA, Buk-Seoul Museum, Seoul, (KR)

2017
La Vie en Rose, Space: Willing N Dealing - The winner of 17th LEE Insung Art Prize (Daegu
Art Museum, Daegu, Korea) (solo)
Ode to Forgetting (SeMA, Nam Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea)
100 Interviews (Goyang Aram Art Museum, Gyeonggi-do, Korea)

2016
We Create Things, Things Create Us, Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2016, South Gyeongsang (KR)
Translateral Landscapes, NON Berlin (DE)
Forget-Me-Not, Galerie Zimmermann Kratochwill, Graz (AT)
Manila. Feb. 2016., 1335MABINI, Manila (PH) (solo)
Made in Seoul, Abbaye St-Andre Centre d'art contemporain, Meymac (FR)
Looking for secret, The Texas project, Seoul (KR)
MV Sewol Memorial Exhibition, April the Eternal Voyage, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Gyeonggi-do (KR)
Reminiscing on past times, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeonggi-do (KR)
Daemon Kim, Hello Museum, Seoul (KR)
Solo exhibition, Jeon Hyuck lim Museum of Art, Yongyeong (KR)

2015
Artist's Portfolio, Savina Museum, Seoul (KR)
Somewhere out There, Korean Cultural Center, Manila (PH)
Momentum: Art/Omi, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul (KR)
Deep grief in the dream-a three color blossom, Zaha Museum, Seoul (KR)
Ordinary Monument, Corner Art Space, Seoul (KR) (solo)
Nolisizak, Hello Museum, Seoul (KR)

2014
Unbearable Lightness of Being, Finale Gallery, Manila (PH)
NEO-SANSU, Daegu Art Museum, Daegu (KR)
The Margins of Spectacle, Mimesis Art Museum, Paju (KR) (solo)
King Sejong the Great Opens the Age of Hangeul Culture, National Hangeul Museum, Seoul, (KR)

2013
Slow art, Art space with Artist, Heyri (KR)
Bingo, Sejong Center, Seoul (KR)
Play, Seoul Art Center, Seoul (KR)
The Future of Museum, Ulsan culture art center, Ulsan (KR)
Scenes vs Scenes, Buk Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul (KR)

2012
Savina Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul (KR) (solo)
Vers la Lumiere, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art. Gyeonggi-do (KR)
WOORI-The Poetic Intervention - Tina B Prague Contemporary Art Festival, Dominikanska 8 at the St. Giles Dominican Priory, Prague (CZ)
CAGE 100, Festival (Eisenbahn, Leipzig (DE)
DMZ Peace Project, Gyeonggi-do Museum of Art, Gyeonggi-do (KR)

2011
-Up and Comers, Total Art Museum, Seoul (KR)
Breathing-Inhalation & Exhalation, Gallery Being, Seoul (KR)
The new epicenter, Wumin art center, Cheongju (KR)

2010
Close Encounter, Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju-do (KR)
Space CAN, Seoul (KR) (solo)
Let's Imagine, Gallery Bundo, Daegu, (KR)
The more, the better, Sun Gallery, Seoul, (KR)
Him of Gyeonggido, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Gyeonggi-do (KR)
Puzzling (a) Space, Hillyer Art Space, Washington DC (US)

2009
Up and Comers, Total Art Museum, Seoul (KR)
Land Balance, Seo Gallery, Seoul (KR)
Double ACT : 01, Savina Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul (KR)
Layered City, Gallery Artside, Beijing (CN)
Art in Haje, Gallery Bundo, Daegu (KR)
Ssamzie Space. Seoul (KR) (solo)
Gallery Dot, Ulsan (KR) (solo)

2008
Santa Fe international Biennial, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe (US)
Busan International Biennale, Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan (KR)
The World of Expression, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul (KR)
Meme Trackers, Songzhuang Art Center. Beijing (CN)
Reconstructed, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Gyeonggi-do (KR)

2007
Seo Gallery, Seoul (KR) (solo)
Future is Haje, Neuer Kunstverein, Aschaffenburg (DE)
Reminiscing the medium-a 'post-' syndrome, MoA, Seoul (KR)
Les Amis de la Cinematheque, Gallery Artside, Seoul (KR)
The Shopping Fete for Collector, Gallery Bow, Ulsan (KR)

2006
Sensuous Panorama, Lounge Gallery, London (UK)
Wake up Andy Warhol (Gallery Ssamzie, Seoul (KR)
SEO + LOVE + MEMORY, Seo Gallery, Seoul (KR)

2005
Le Droit de Reve, Hyundai Department Store, Seoul (KR)
Kulaydiwa Gallery, Manila (PH) (solo)
Contempong Pinas, Kulaydiwa Gallery, Manila (PH)

2004
3rd MAPP, Space-T, Hyunjacso, Seoul (KR)
Over the Rainbow, Space C, Seoul (KR)
Heyri Festival, Heyri, Gyeonggi-do (KR)
Gallery Ssamzie, Seoul (KR) (solo)
Stillness & Movement, Seoul Olympic Art Museum, Seoul (KR)
Center & Composition (Seoul Arts Center, Seoul (KR)

2003
-REAL-SCAPE Revisited, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon (KR)
Mindscape, Gallery Hyundai plus, Seoul (KR)

2002
WATER walks, Ise cultural Foundation, New York (US)
Korean Air France, Glass box, Paris (FR)
Korean Air France, Ssamzie Space, Seoul (KR)
Our house, Daring Art Foundation, Seoul (KR)
Borders and Change, Nakatsue YMCA, Nakatsue (JP)
Gwangju Biennale, Namgwangju Station, Gwangju (KR)
Neo Painting, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art. Gyeonggi-do, Korea)

2001
The 1980's Realism and The Age, Gana art center, Seoul (KR)
Art and Life, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul (KR)
Work 2001-su, mok, geum, to, seng, Insa Art Center, Seoul (KR)

2000
Leaving the Island-PICAF, Busan Museum of Art, Busan (KR)
Art Museum in Image, Fine Art Center, Seoul (KR)
Sculpture Amusement Park, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul (KR)
The Web of Life, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul (KR)
The Factory Art Festival-Blind Love, Sampyo Factory, Seoul (KR)