The exhibition, "Artist of the Year" at National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea has been annually organized by selecting an artist who has shown the most outstanding activity in the Korean art world.
This year, the sculptor, Chung Hyun has been selected for the exhibition.
In the world of contemporary art where new genres and new media constantly come into fashion, Chung Hyun is searching for significance and esthetic sense of his works through the traditional subject of human body.
Although rough and crude as if unfinished, his works contain serious reflections on life and human.
The artist's interpretation of sculpture is "power" and "energy". In other words, they contain the image of human as an individual being, that is, as a being that recognizes its own essence. While expressing power through human forms, the artist discovers the forces of' freshness detected in the trivial, liveliness of the raw, unpredictable images, abruptness and primitive violence, etc. 'from material properties of fragments and fortuity in the courses of creation. He brings life to the materials far distant from being the traditional materials of sculpture, such as railroad ties for railways, asphalt concrete, rough stones and coal, etc., which can be regarded as the remnants of civilization.
The exhibition offers us a glimpse of Chung's art world from past to present. It features 60 sculptures and 60 drawings from five different time periods, showing us the changes in form and material. I believe this exhibition will provide the public the precious opportunities of experiencing the inner world of this sincerely trying sculptor who have been continuously substantiating his existence through artworks.
With sincere gratitude to the artist who have unsparingly dedicated effort for this exhibition, I would like to thank collectors who have offered the precious art pieces for the exhibition and also to thank staffs for their hardworking.