SAF Painters — From Korean Painting to Abstraction

The 40+ painters of SAF 2026, read across six lineages — from Reality and Utterance founders to KAIST-trained painters, Brussels sculpture MFAs, and Goryeo-Buddhist-painting masters.

SAF 2026's painting lineup almost single-handedly covers the breadth of contemporary Korean painting. From core members of the 1980s Reality and Utterance group to a KAIST graduate who picked up a brush; from masters reproducing Goryeo-era Buddhist paintings to MFAs in sculpture from the Royal Academy in Brussels. Forty-plus artists gathered in one room, grouped here into six lineages.

1. Senior and Mid-Career Painting

Min Jeonggi — Founding Member of Reality and Utterance, a Sansu Painter of Yangpyeong

Born 1949. Founding member of Reality and Utterance (1979); after moving to Yangpyeong in 1987, he has recorded Korea's sansu and terrain in oil and silkscreen. → From Reality and Utterance to the Sansu of Yangpyeong: Min Jeonggi's Shade

Lee Hongwon — The Painter Who Painted Dahnjae Shin Chaeho's Portrait

Fine arts at Dongguk University. Selected as a Notable Artist in 1984; 29 solos, 300+ group shows. Song of the Forest and Tiger Who Loved Flowers series. → The Painter Who Painted Dahnjae Shin Chaeho's Portrait: Lee Hongwon's Song of the Forest

Nam Jin Hyun — From Revolutionary to Painter

Student activism at Seoul National University, 8 years in prison with SANOMAENG. Entered painting in earnest in 2008 after release; first solo in 2013; memoir A Painter Who Was a Revolutionary. → From Revolutionary to Painter: Nam Jin Hyun's Faces, the Language of Geometry

2. Korean Painting, Minhwa, East-Asian Painting

Jangcheon Kim Seongtae — Carrying Forward the Spirit of Korean Painting

An artist bringing the orthodox lineage of Korean painting into today. → Jangcheon Kim Seongtae: Carrying Forward the Spirit of Korean Painting

Song Gwangyeon — Depth of Ink, Korean Painting Today

→ Song Gwangyeon: Depth of Ink, Korean Painting Today

Woo Yongmin — Duryun and Jiri, Large Ink Surfaces

Ink artist based in Haenam, South Jeolla. Duryun (198×545 cm, Haengchon Museum) and Banyabong of Jirisan (181×360 cm, Jeonnam Provincial Museum of Art). → Between Duryun and Jiri: Woo Yongmin's Large Ink Surfaces

Lee Munhyeong — Chaekgeori Meets Keith Haring and Dalí

Layering Haring, Matisse, Kusama, and Dalí into the chaekgeori of minhwa. → Chaekgeori Meets Keith Haring and Dalí: Lee Munhyeong's Minhwa Pop

Sin Yeri — From a Hwagak Master's Hand to the Minhwa of Dammong

Ten years as chief designer at Han Chun-seop Hwagak Crafts (Gyeonggi Intangible Cultural Heritage hwagakjang). Founder of the minhwa-crafts studio Dammong. → From a Hwagak Master's Hand to Dammong's Minhwa: Sin Yeri's Night Firefly-Flower-Butterfly

Jo Irak — Carrying Forward Goryeo Buddhist-Painting Line

Dong-A and Pusan National University (Western painting) → MA in Goryeo Buddhist-painting reproduction at Yongin University. Twenty years of Goryeo reproduction; held by National Museum of Korea and Seoul Museum of History. → Carrying the Line of Goryeo Buddhist Painting: Jo Irak's Hanji and Seokchae

Kim Yeongseo — The Afterimage of Punctum, Jangji and Hobun

MA in Oriental painting at Hongik University. Brings Barthes's punctum onto jangji. → The Afterimage of What Brushed Past: Kim Yeongseo's Jangji and Hobun

3. Young Painting

An Eungyeong — What It Means to Leave with an Empty Bag

PhD in Oriental painting at Hongik. Travel-suitcase motif on jangji in mixed media. → What It Means to Leave with an Empty Bag: An Eungyeong's Landscape of Recovery

Lee Yuji — Karmadise, Where Good Karma Gathers

Western painting at Suwon University. Place of Wishes series; held by Gyeomjae Jeong Seon Museum. → Karmadise: Lee Yuji's Place of Wishes

Park Suji — Seeking the Color of the Unconscious

Oil painting at Musashino Art University in Japan. Refresh series; four-city touring invitations. → Seeking the Color of the Unconscious: Park Suji's Refresh

Kim Uju — Unnamed Wildflowers Around Childhood Fields

Completed PhD coursework in painting at Hongik. WildFlower Collage series. → Kim Uju's Wildflower Collage

Kim Juhui — To Draw Comes from To Miss

Sungshin Women's University and Hongik graduate school. 36 solos. Held by MMCA. Overlay technique. → To Draw Comes from To Miss: Kim Juhui's Overlap

Other Young Painters

Kang Seoktae (Little Prince), Jung Mi-jung, Jung Seo-on, Choi Yun Jung, Lee Eun Hwa, Lee Ho Chul, Seo Geum-aeng, Kim Lacy, Kim Dong-seok, Kim Gyuhak, Hong Jin-hee — each story continues in the magazine.

4. Minjung Art, Realism

Chilmoe Kim Gu — From Night Alleys to Wasteland

From the 1982 Dong-A Art Festival through 2025 — 40 years. Also participated in SAF's first 2023 exhibition. → From Night Alleys to Wasteland: Chilmoe Kim Gu's 40 Years

Lee Incheol — From Food Engineering to Grimmadang Min

Born 1955, Busan. Food engineering at Busan National Fisheries University → solo at Grimmadang Min, 1989. Hand-colored woodblock. → From Food Engineering to Grimmadang Min: Lee Incheol's Our Everyday

Park Seongwan — Looking at Mudeung From the Jeonil Building

Western painting at Chonnam National University. Gwangju-based. Jeonil Building 5.18 series; Grand Prize at Eodeung Art Festival. → Looking at Mudeung From the Jeonil Building: Park Seongwan's Gwangju

Also Senior Figures

Joo Jaehwan (The Painter Who Bought Paint Instead of Tuition), Park Jaedong (Solidarity with the Brush), Oh Yun (The Artist Who Carved the Era with a Blade), Park Saenggwang (Obangsaek Revolution), Min Byungsan (Philosopher of the Street).

5. Abstract, Mixed Media, Digital

Sim Moby — A Painter Who Paints Purgatory

Megabyte's erosion and cycle. Mixed media crossing digital and physical. → A Painter Who Paints Purgatory: Sim Moby

Lee Hyeonjeong — When Kimchi Becomes a Self-Portrait

A kimchi series that began with a 2018 performance of chili powder on a frozen river. Fukuoka Art Award, Excellence. → When Kimchi Becomes a Self-Portrait: Lee Hyeonjeong's Fermenting Time

Lee Jieun — Hollowed Colors, Emptying Color

Meisterschüler at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Empties color with the brush as if carving with a chisel. → Between Seoul and Düsseldorf: Lee Jieun's Hollowed Colors

Park Jihye — From Painting to AI Design

Le Havre–Rouen BA (France) → PhD in painting at Hongik → PhD coursework in AI Design Lab at Kookmin. → From Painting to AI Design: Park Jihye's Crossing PhDs

Sin Yeonjin — Collages of Magazines and Hanji

Painting at Hongik. Mixed media with magazine as primary material. Re-accelerated 23 years after her first Kwanhoon Gallery solo in 2002. → Collages of Magazines and Hanji: Sin Yeonjin's Everyday Things

6. Special Routes

Lee Gwangsu — A Photography Critic's 回 Series

Emeritus professor at Busan University of Foreign Studies; photography critic. Own practice: the painting (acrylic) 回 series. → Return: Six Paintings by Photography Critic Lee Gwangsu

Yemikim — A KAIST Engineer's Painting

Graduated KAIST in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Industrial Engineering. From engineering to painting. 2024 Seoul Youth Biennale, Art Critic's Prize. → A KAIST Engineer Painting the Flamingo's Dream: Yemikim's Paintings of Life

Ateumandu — The Edges of Editorial Cartooning

Printmaking at Hongik. Editorial cartooning and caricature. 2019 Brandlaureate Personal Artist award (Singapore). → Caricature Aiming at Bang-gu: Ateumandu's Editorial Cartoon

Cross-Links for Buyers and Viewers

One Landscape, Gathered in One Place

84.9% of Korean artists are excluded from institutional finance. Sales of works by SAF-exhibiting artists cycle into a mutual-aid fund, returning as low-interest loans to fellow artists.

Over 40 painters standing in one show at once is rare. Korean-painting ink and Brussels-trained minimalism; the hand-colored woodblock of Grimmadang Min four decades ago and the oil painting of a KAIST engineer — all inside the same catalog. SAF is the place that gathers that unlike landscape under a single word — solidarity.