Hangryul Park

Park Hangryul (b. 1950) provides inner refuge to viewers by creating a quiet, peaceful atmosphere through refined colors and lyrical expression. His early works mainly consisted of geometrical abstraction, but since he publicised a poetry book, he has added figurative elements, such as boys and girls, birds, butterflies and imaginary animals. The specific objects in Park’s works originate from his personal experiences and appear in the picture plane as media that link reality with dreams, heaven or other realms in the world of imagination. The “girl,” one of his favourite subjects, is an image reflecting his sister, cousin or mother. The girl in the picture, with her well-composed forehead, nose, and pretty mouth, stands quietly in harmony with the natural landscape, revealing her sublime figure. Other key motifs, such as butterflies, birds, flowers and imaginary animals from the Goguryeo Dynasty murals, create a fairy-tale-like world through the soft color tones and tranquil portrayals unique to the artist. Park harmonises these subjects in his picture to express his worldview, according to which nature, human beings and objects are all one. This peaceful worldview, portrayed in a quiet and still composition, allows viewers to meditate.