Contemporary Korean printmaking, read through five artists at SAF 2026 — from Lee Cheolsu's woodblock Zen to Kim Jonghwan's broken-printer sculptures.
In Korean art, printmaking has long been called the "people's art". In the 1980s Grimmadang Min era, a single print was the most direct medium: it could be distributed in a plaza and hung on a home wall. Forty years on, that lineage continues. The five printmakers at SAF 2026 each represent different techniques and generations, yet seated together they form a lineage of contemporary Korean printmaking.
Five Lineages
Lee Cheolsu — From Resistance to Zen
Born 1954, woodblock artist. The most public face of 1980s minjung art, who later shifted toward a Zen-Buddhist worldview through the Heart Sutra series. His SAF work , a 96×64 cm large print, shows the depth of his recent practice.
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Kim Jun Kwon — Carving Korea's Landscape into Wood
A mid-career artist who has long carved Korean nature and landscape into woodblock. The blade's passage itself becomes "the skeleton of the landscape."
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Lee Yun Yeop — People Carved into Woodblocks
Born 1969. Building on the minjung print lineage, he carves today's workers, citizens, and everyday faces into wood. Rough lines with a warm gaze. His SAF work is representative.
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