Kim Sanggu
Kim Sanggu was born in Seoul in 1945 and graduated from Hongik University's Department of Western Pa...
About Kim Sanggu
Kim Sanggu was born in Seoul in 1945 and graduated from Hongik University's Department of Western Painting and the same university's graduate school. He is a rare artist who persists in the seemingly anachronistic craft of woodblock printing and thoroughly manual processes in an era of mechanization in modern industrial society. Wood carving art is rooted in an Eastern artisan spirit and common sensibility, characterized by straightforwardness and simplicity rather than dazzling sophistication. In this sense, his woodblock printing is one of the most humane domains of artistic work, understood as something akin to the poetry of daily life that adds warmth to our society. His woodblock world can be summarized as 'the rustic over the splendid, the simplicity that permeates like an earthen wall rather than complexity, the flat over the three-dimensional, the contrast of black and white, and the beauty of empty space over fullness.' Since the late 1970s, the artist has continued to exhibit, and his recent works are woven through multi-color woodblock prints. Through the multi-color process, which demands meticulous labor, he broadens his expressive range while steadily pursuing works of consistency and depth.
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