Alluding
to the Kim Jae-Im Exhibition
by
Lee Kyong Sung, an artcritic
Kim
Jae-Im is an artist who is known of the first generation of the Korean
Abstractionists. She has already opened her first one man show at
the Gallery of Information Center (Seoul) in 1960 and continuously
exhibited her works through one man shows and group shows.
The large-scaled and strongly touched works exhibited at her first
one man show in 1960 gave me a deep impression. In those days, the
Korean modern art was promoted by avant-garde artists, who graduates
of the fine art colleges, in their twenties and thirties. And Modern
Painter's Association and 1960 Fine Art Association played an important
role in developing the modern arts.
Under such environment, Kim Jae-Im grew into an artist and was actively
involved in the world of modern fine arts.
Her works are not the traditional small scaled ones but under the
opened large scale, they emit images. Compare to the traditional style
of art, her style bears the vivid traces of so-called Abstract Expressionism
prevailed in Korea after the 50's.
But her Abstract Expressionism is distinct from the American Abstract
Expressionism in the way that the movement of rhythmical lines of
her works creates the oriental images. Kim Jae-Im's use of fast strokes
of brush creates images which turns into the world of calm beauty
through the color scheme or other formative grammars. The realm of
the abstract space, which expands into the infinite space and has
liberalism and lucid lyricism, is exactly the realm of her works.
At her continuous exhibition in 1987, the creative and attractive
space turns into various form with tones and rhythms. Though her general
contemplation is based on the lyric space which she has pursued since
the 1960's, she exerts herself to bring something more concrete in
existence through her recent works. Therefore an artist, Kim Jae-Im's
works express the infinite space in which chaos and cosmos, and reality
and emptiness alternate.