Van Gogh Reborn! - Chapter 56
[4,000 visitors waited since early morning for Ko Hun’s first exhibition]
[Praises pour from all over the world for the Genius boy Ko Hun]
[Caroline Streak, “Ko Hun has returned me to my childhood days”]
[Jang Mirae, “Ko Hun’s greatest talent is accepting others without hesitation”]
[Henry Marceau, “Great.”]
[Richard Phillips, “ The young Genius is already a complete painter.”]
[Ko Hun’s reply to a Japanese critic, “Eat this and drop it.”]
Saturday, February 26th.
The first day of Ko Hun’s exhibition titled “Sweet Happiness” was held at the WH Art Museum’s special exhibition hall in Seoul.
The exhibition, organized by chief curator Bang Tae, was like a meeting between the Artist and visitors with the theme where a child choosing snacks at a store.
The Genius painter Ko Hun said, “My heart pounds whenever I see the snacks displayed on the racks of the store. I imagine what it tastes like and what it smells like before buying them and I wanted to share my experience.”
On this day, an unusual number of high-profile figures in the Art world visited the first day of the exhibition.
Henry Marceau, the famous French painter, left a short comment saying that the work was Great, while Pierre Malo, the frame master, admired the paintings until the close of the exhibition.
There was also a small disturbance.
Japanese Art critic Tanaka Hirofumi criticized Ko Hun’s work as childish, saying, “It’s not a work of a painter, but a Chocolatier.”
However, his French pronunciation and intonation were very bad, and in the end, Ko Hun, who couldn’t understand his French, gave Tanaka Hirofumi, a chocolate and showed a mature response to soothe him.
Meanwhile, “Sweet Happiness” exhibition is open until March 4.
Lee Inho (The Korean Express)
⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩
WH Art Museum recorded the highest number of views on New Tube for the live video of the inauguration of “ sweet Happiness”.
It was viewed by more people than the total number of subscribers (90,000) for the WH Art Museum at New Tube.
The center of the topic was also Ko Hun.
The reaction of those who watched the broadcast live was explosive.
It’s crazy?
Is this for real?
Aside from Ko Sooyeol and Jang Mirae, there is Henry Marceau, Richard Phillips, and Caroline?
This is my first time seeing this many celebrities in the Art world gather in a single place
Damn…I like the reply of Ko Hun to the Art critic, “Eat this and drop it”
He really dealt with it like an adult. If he got angry there, it would have turned into a mud fight.
Am I the only one who thinks Ko Hun is cute while he wiggles to take the chocolate from his pocket?
Ohh….He was so cute…I even saw it in real time and wanted to hug him tightly.
It felt great when Prince Henry defend Ko Hun when the Art critic talked about Hun’s dead parents.
Yes..Yes..it was a surprise. I never thought Henry Marceau had such a soft side…
Speaking of surprises….you should have seen the expression of Professor Ko Sooyeol. I always thought of him as a gentle grandfather figure. But yesterday, he felt like a chained Tiger, which would have torn off the Art critic if the chain got loose.
Hahahah…I hope Tanaka Hirofumi returned to Japan safely…
While art lovers were having a heated conversation about the first day of “sweet happiness.” Caroline Streak, a renowned art historian, published an editorial on the theme of a sweet happiness exhibition, in the world-renowned art magazine Artist News.
[Young Chocolatier’s courage]
Last weekend. I visited the exhibition of a young Artist who drew attention with his painting [Sunflower] and [Guest] — Ko Hun, the grandson of Sir Ko Sooyeol, who popularized Korean painting to the West, and the only son of Lee Soojin, Max Studio Art Director.
I didn’t expect much.
This is because individual works and exhibitions were different.
Just because his previous works are well received, there is no chance for an exhibition to be successful.
I felt that a boy who was only 10 years old was too young to handle an exhibition that required him to show his identity as a painter.
The first impression I got, when I entered the exhibition hall was not good either.
The fairytale-like exhibition room for me, who went expecting a young Vincent Van Gogh style, felt somewhat playful beyond unfamiliar.
However, the moment I met [Happiness]. my rejection disappeared completely.
Ko Hun, who expressed the texture of melted chocolate by applying a lot of paint, was a clever Painter.
As if painted at once with a large brush, the chocolate seemed to flow down the throat of the viewer immediately.
My mouth was watering, and I felt like I went back to the days of a Little girl, when I loved eating milk chocolate.
Japanese Art critic Tanaka Hirofumi dismissed it as a childish school performance.
Is that true?
Most of the visitors to “sweet happiness” were adults.
According to a press release submitted by the WH Art Museum, even today, the number of visitors in their 30s and 40s was the highest at 47.1%.
Considering the environment in Korea, where the marriage rate and fertility rate are low, it cannot be said to be a family visit.
After a long period of consideration, I judged that what Ko Hun touched was the memory.
For children, snacks are daily life, not pictures.
Ko Hun’s [Happiness] is a picture for adults who has parted ways with snacks for various reasons such as diet and diseases from a certain point.
Visitors to the exhibition recall the sweet scents and flavors they remembered as a child while encountering Ko Hun’s works, and at the same time recall the time when they enjoyed them.
Even if it was a child’s idea, it would have been comforting to the tired modern people.
Isolation through technological development, infectious diseases, and family disintegration is already a prevalent social phenomenon around the world.
As of 2028, individuals are completely isolated physically and mentally.
The restoration project’s great response over the past decade has also expressed the desire to return to the happiest time, the time when the family composition was maintained.
Ko Hun touched it courageously.
It has been a long time since the current era of painting, in which the work of art demands a high degree of ideological thinking and does not want understanding, has degenerated into an overabundance of abstraction.
The Artist who wishes to convey an idea and communicate with the audience can be counted by hand.
In order to protect their place, critics pretend to understand contemporary art that even the Artist cannot understand.
In such an era, Ko Hun’s exhibition was a courageous leap forward, a painter who conveys the joy and happiness through art.
In that sense, I agree with some of the insulting remarks made by Tanaka Hirofumi.
Ko Hun is a chocolatier — who does not processes chocolate, but happiness.
If you have a chance, I hope you find “sweet happiness” that runs until March 4 at the WH Art Museum in Seoul, Korea.
I recommend [Frost Wheat Field] and [Happiness]
-Caroline Streak
Caroline Streak’s editorial quickly spread across North America.
Caroline Streak, a PhD in art history and a professor of art history at Harvard University in the United States, and author of “Annotated Mona Lisa,” which sold 2 million copies, had a strong influence.
Unlike Asia and Europe, North American art lovers who have not been interested in Ko Hun so far began to look for his paintings, and the media that caught their demands covered and reported the WH Art Museum, which was the epicenter of the cyclone that was hitting the Art world.
“Team leader, shouldn’t we extend it?”
An employee urged curator Bang Tae.
The fourth day of the exhibition.
As the number of visitors per day reached 10, 000, it was too much to handle even for the Korea’s largest art museum.
Due to a flurry of demands to increase the exhibition schedule, it was inevitable to adjust the schedule.
The problem was the exhibition scheduled after that.
Bang Tae, who had been agonizing over it, opened his mouth.
“If we were to move the next exhibition venue, couldn’t we be hurting artist Kim Hyungwoo’s feelings?”
“….”
No one answered.
Even if “sweet happiness” is currently on the way, an exhibition hall with the same specifications as the special exhibition hall could not be prepared.
It was easy to think how miserable and divided the position of having to change the scheduled due to the popularity of other Painters.
As his worries deepened, Bang Tae laughed with a stressed look.
“I expected it, but I didn’t know it would go this well,”
The staff also laughed.
Bang Tae was tired, since he had never experienced this kind of response.
“I’ve never been this busy before, have you?”
“No, I haven’t been this busy in seven years.”
“Assistant manager Sung, have you been working for seven years already?”
Bang Tae realized how long the art world has been stagnant as soon as he recognized that his subordinate’s service was seven years old.
In fact, it has been a long time since even he had an exhibition that made the whole country noisy.
Even the foreign media were in a mess.
There have been 40 media interviews over the past four days, including famous American magazine Artist News and public broadcasting station PBS.
“It seems like not only Artist Ko Hun’s painting, but also his character seems to be great.”
Bang Tae stretched at the words of Sung.
“Yes, of course. If you put the painting for auction, he’ll make billions per piece, but look at the price. He said it’s better for his painting to be bought by many people rather sold to a small group of people for high price”
“He is way too broad minded.”
“ Yes. I was also surprised to see how Hun treated Henry Marceau and Hirofumi.”
“Hahah. I was surprised, too.”
“I wonder what he going to be like when he grows up.”
“I’m sure he’s going to chew up the entire Art world. His popularity would be incomparable to that of present Henry’s popularity.”
“Ha ha. I don’t know if it’s possible for anyone else, but if it’s Hun, I really think he can do it.”
“Really….Hahahah”
After laughing lightly, Bang Tae touched the desk with his hands.
“ Okay. Let’s decide the schedule after meeting with Artist Kim Hyungwoo.”
“Manager Sung will be on-site supervision tomorrow, and Jung-min, please inquire about the other team’s schedule tomorrow and organize it.”
“Let’s see if we can adjust it.”
“Yes. Curator Bang.”
