Meet the Artist
Stories behind the artists and their works
Behind every artwork is a life of decisions. SAF 2026 brings together 175 Korean artists who chose to put their work into a mutual-aid campaign for fellow artists. Their interviews, studio notes, and reflections give you the context that turns a passing glance into a lasting connection with a piece.
Korean contemporary artist interviews often live behind academic prose. The SAF magazine asks simpler questions in the artists’ own words, so first-time visitors can build a real sense of who made the work — and why.
Every featured artist is a “solidarity artist”: they donated work knowing the proceeds would fund low-interest loans for peers excluded from primary banking (84.9% of Korean artists). Their stories are personal, but they also reveal the structural reality of Korean art-making.
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Stories in this category
Carving an Era with a Blade: Oh Yun 40th Anniversary Special Exhibition
The printmaker Oh Yun died at forty-one in 1986. Forty years later, the dance he carved into wooden blocks has not stopped. Eighteen posthumous prints submitted to SAF 2026 create a paradoxical, beautiful moment — his art reborn as a financial safety net for fellow artists.
From a Factory Floor Mat: Lee Yunyeop's Dispatched Art
His first print, in 1996, was a neighbouring farmer's face. Lee Yunyeop began by carving factory floor matting with a knife, and calls himself a dispatched artist — cutting blocks at Daechuri, Yongsan and the Hope Bus. Nine works at SAF 2026.
Built to Wilt: Park Sohyung's Impermanent Forms
Park Sohyung works across Seoul, Boston and New York, joining discarded byproducts with natural material to build forms that do not last — and carrying the cardboard of her sculpture into the surface of a painting. Three works at SAF 2026.
Artist and Patron: A Dialogue That Started with One Artwork
Buying an artwork is not just a transaction between seller and buyer. Over time, it becomes a relationship between two people. Two years of conversations between an artist and a patron who met through SAF.
Artists Working Outside Seoul: The Regional Art Scene
There's a bias that 90% of Korean art happens in Seoul. But brushes move every day in studios across Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Jeju, and Gangwon. The lives of artists working outside Seoul.
A Roundtable with Five Women Artists
Artists are not born with a gender, but life places gender's weight differently. A roundtable with five women artists who endured the triangle of childcare, livelihood, and creation.
Studio Visit: A Day in the Life of SAF Artists
The deepest path to understanding an artist's work is the studio. We visit the studios of SAF artists and document how their days unfold.
Shin Hak-chul: Five Decades of Painting the People
An artist who has never put down his brush from the 1970s through the 2020s. Fifty years of work that weaves the pain and hope of Korea's modern history through bodies, mountains, and rivers.
Climbing to Photograph: The World of Kang Lea
Climbing mountains and taking photographs — Kang Le-a walks the boundary between mountaineering and contemporary photography. We trace how the narratives of climbing, alpinism, and women climbers become photographic records, and what her work means in art history.
Lee Yun-yop — A "Dispatched Artist," Carving the Texture of Labor in Multi-Color Woodblock
Lee Yun-yop, master of Korean multi-color woodblock. "Dispatched artist" activist, industrial rubber matting medium, farmer/worker motifs, MMCA collection — with 5 curated picks.
Lee Cheol-soo — From Minjung Woodblock to the Woodblock of Zen, One Texture of Korean Printmaking
Lee Cheol-soo (b. 1954), master of Korean woodblock. 30-year evolution from 1980s minjung woodblock to Zen, spirituality, and peace. Farming and woodblock practice in Jecheon — with 5 curated picks.
Park Jae-dong — The Father of Korean Editorial Cartooning, and the World Beyond the Daily Comic
Park Jae-dong (b. 1952), the father of Korean editorial cartooning. Eight years at the Hankyoreh, Reality and Utterance collective, and a practice integrating painting, animation, and teaching — with 5 curated picks.
After Forty — How Oh Yoon Arrives Again, From July 1986 to April 2026
He died at forty in 1986. Ten years later, seven people gathered to issue the first — and only — posthumous print edition of his work. The painter who never priced a single print in his lifetime had his prints marked, signed, and closed by his peers after his death. As 2026 marks the fortieth anniversary, Oh Yoon arrives again. Series 1 of a posthumous-print market analysis.
Oh Yoon's Song of the Blade (1985) — A Single-Work Reading
32.2x25.5cm. A single woodblock cut one year before his death. What was Oh Yoon's *Song of the Blade* (1985) singing? A 30-minute deep read of a single work — from the Donghak sword dance to the posthumous print market.
Caricature Aimed at Shutting Mouths: The Political Cartoons of Artmandu
Ateumandu makes editorial cartoons and caricatures that layer critique, satire, affection, and humor. *Biteul News*, *The Human Encyclopedia*, NY solo *Biteul News*.
A Flower Falls and Becomes Earth — All Is of the Mind: Jeong Geumhui's Hwarakyito
花落以土 — flowers fall and become earth. Jeong Geumhui's decade-long photographic series built on *ilcheyusimjo* — all things made by mind. Hongik PhD; Busan-based.
The Back of What Brushed Past, the Afterimage of Punctum: Kim Yeongseo's Jangji and Pencil
Kim Yeongseo paints the afterimage of what brushes past. Barthes's punctum translated onto jangji in pencil and conté.
From Food Engineering Student to Geurimmadang Min: The Everyday of Lee Incheol
Lee Incheol graduated in food engineering before opening his first solo at Grimmadang Min in 1989. Hand-colored woodblocks of "Mr. Kim" and "Newlywed Mr. Lee."
A Painter of Warm Color and Wit: Lee Hongwon's Song of the Forest
Lee Hongwon painted Dahnjae Shin Chaeho's official portrait and presidential history paintings for Cheongnamdae. *Song of the Forest* and *Tiger Who Loved Flowers* — 40 years.
Seoul and Pyongyang, Patterns of Two Cities: Kim Taegyun's Ornament
Kim Taegyun's *Ornament* collages Seoul and Pyongyang highway interchanges into one pattern. Six years between Stuttgart and Seoul; held by Seoul MoA and Busan MoCA.
From Painting to AI Design: Park Jihye's Crossing Doctorates
An artist who studied fine arts in France and completed a PhD in painting at Hongik. In 2024, Park Jihye began a second doctorate in AI Design at Kookmin.
Between Quarks and Kairos: Choe Jaeran's Suwon, Photographs of Time
Choe Jaeran's *Time of Quarks* overlays daily-walk natural objects with drawings of invisible time. Photography and public administration, kairos and chronos.
Photography Without a Camera: Lee Sucheol at the Edge of the Photographic
Lee Sucheol asks whether photography requires a camera. Through development alone, image-making without capture — *Nonsynchrony-Jeju*, *Day Dream*, *Memory Journey*.
Duryun and Jiri, a Canvas of Great Ink: Woo Yongmin's Ink Painting
Woo Yongmin paints big ink on hanji. Duryunsan 545 cm wide, Jirisan's Banyabong 360 cm — his SAF works bring the Year of the Red Horse (Byeongo) at intimate 71×36 cm.
Total 65 stories
Frequently asked questions
Q. Who are the SAF artists?
SAF 2026 brings together 110+ Korean contemporary artists across painting, print, photography, sculpture, and digital art — from emerging artists to recognized masters. All voluntarily contributed works to address financial discrimination against fellow artists.
Q. Who conducts the artist interviews?
The SAF magazine editorial team meets each artist directly. We aim to reduce the formal distance of museum catalogs and academic writing, letting the artists describe their practice and daily studio life in their own words.
Q. How can I buy work by a specific artist I read about?
Click the artist name in the interview to reach the artist page. All available works, biography, and other magazine features are gathered there — and any work can be purchased directly. SAF is artist-direct: no gallery markup.
Q. Does the artist actually receive the proceeds?
The majority of sales proceeds go directly to the artist. A portion contributes to the artist mutual-aid fund, providing low-interest loans (5% APR, 95% repayment rate) to artists facing financial discrimination. One purchase supports both an artist and the broader Korean art ecosystem.
Q. How often are new artist interviews published?
New interviews are added at a pace of 1–2 per month. Recent additions appear at the top of the magazine and category pages. RSS and newsletter subscriptions are available.
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