구자현 대한민국, 1955
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Overview
Koo Ja Hyun has been researching the essence of flat artwork for over 40 years with a consistent and thorough attitude toward materials and properties. As one of the master craftsmen of Korean printmaking, the artist is discovering his artistic methodology through delicate material research and unique techniques. Koo Ja Hyun is an artist who simultaneously pursues the purity of the medium and its transcendent characteristics, maintaining the tension between the form of art and the attitude towards life. Born in 1955, Koo Ja Hyun graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at Hongik University and has exhibited in cities such as Seoul, Daegu, Busan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, and Nuremberg. He is one of the representative artists of contemporary Korean art, with his works collected in prestigious institutions such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, and the State Bank of Bavaria in Germany.
Koo Ja Hyun’s artworks can be broadly categorized into two types: tableau works, which are painting works using gold leaf and platinum leaf on a flat surface with multiple layers of gesso, and printmaking works utilizing techniques such as lithography, screen printing, and woodcut. In pursuit of a perfectly flat surface, the artist's tableau works begin with an underpainting process that creates a surface of pure white using the tempera technique. Onto this surface, Koo Ja Hyeon applies gold leaf sourced from Kanazawa, Japan, renowned for its gold leaf production. The gold leaf, with a thickness of 0.001mm, is an extremely delicate material sensitive even to minor static electricity, demanding extreme precision in its application. Upon settling onto the surface, the gold leaf quivers with the slightest movement, transcending its physical weight and density. Moreover, gold leaf, being a mineral itself, embodies a diversity perceived visually depending on changes in space or light, adding layers of complexity to the artwork. Koo Ja Hyeon's paintings are simultaneously material and immaterial, seeming worldly yet unworldly, embodying both the material properties and symbolic nature of gold as color and light. This ambivalence and polysemy are unique characteristics of Koo Ja Hyeon's paintings.
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Exhibitions
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구자현
無題 (무제) 3 September - 2 October 2025김리아갤러리는 2025년 9월 3일부터 10월 2일까지 구자현 개인전 《無題》을 개최한다. 40여 년간 회화예술의 본질을 탐구해온 구자현의 작업은 치열한 공정과 엄격한 재료 선택을 바탕으로, 시간의 밀도를 화면에 응축한다. 그는 작업의 9할이 바탕에서 결정된다고 믿는다. 캔버스를 만드는 일부터 먹을 고르고 내광성 실험을 거치는 과정까지, 모든 단계가 오랜 시간의 축적과 손끝의 감각을 요구한다....Read more -
구자현
Selected Works - Tableaux · Printmaking 22 February - 23 March 2023Read more
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Press
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Kiaf SEOUL 2025 성료 …아트페어 넘어 ‘공진’하는 축제로
정유철 기자, K스피릿, September 7, 2025 -
62억원 작품 팔려나가…최대 미술장터 ‘프리즈·키아프’ 개막
곽인숙 기자, 노컷뉴스, September 4, 2025 -
거장의 붓질·신예의 실험 … 서울, 거대한 캔버스가 되다
송경은 기자, 매일경제, August 15, 2025 -
키아프서울2024 , 총 8만 2000여 명 방문 ‘뜨거운 관심’ 입증
정유철 기자, K스피릿, September 7, 2024
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