Yobae Kang

KANG Yo Bae is one of the first generation artists of Minjung art and a member of the group ‘Reality and Utterance’ since early 1980s. He is highly regarded for suggesting new aspects of realism and historical subject in painting. The a rtist represents natural landscape of Jeju Island not as subjects with an objective view, but as an active subject that looks at innate changes of itself. Kang has once stated that the landscapes of life are like warm day, peaceful day, stormy day or rainy day, where each day should have its own unique emotions. Kang was born in Jeju, Korea, 1952. During Jeju 4·3 Uprising, his father witnessed that many people with common names were wrongly executed due to misunderstanding. Therefore, he thought he should give his son a unique name: Yo ( 堯 ) Bae ( 培 ). After graduating BFA in Painting from Seoul National University in 1979, Kang also received his Master’s Degree from the same university in 1982. In 1981, he became a member of “Reality and Utterance,” the Minjung Art association. Kang developed the artistic practice, which mainly reflects the social reality of his times. From 1988, Kang painted The History of Jeju Uprising series for 3 years, which depicts the history of significant uprisings in Jeju from the Goryeo Dynasty until the April 3 incident in 1948. It served as a momentum to firmly connect the artist and account of Jeju. In 1992, Kang held an exhibition entitled The History of Jeju Uprising at Hakgojae Gallery, presenting 50 works from the series. The exhibition was evaluated as an attempt to make Jeju Uprising known to the global world and also to open a new prospect for historical painting. Since then, Kang has constantly been painting under the theme of Jeju’s nature and history. Kang won the 27th Lee Jung-seob Award in 2015 and became recognized as a represented artist in the contemporary art scene of Korea. In 2018, the government conferred the Okgwan Medal on him for credit for his influence. In 2020, Kang was awarded the 21 st Lee In Sung Art Prize.