For Kim Kyu-gang, the local situation in northern North Korea is clear. Therefore, from his works, we can always feel the creative confidence that comes from hand: as if in his mind, there is a precious and delicate 3D map, which is fine to every country road that turns thousands of times, every wave of wind and water, every spot of light that has been quiet for many years, and every dust that is flying.
As scholar/curator Bao Guitao put it: "Jin Kuigang's landscape oil painting creation has a very clear intention. He does not express the rural life as a landscape, but in the way of the landscape, he restores the situation of the countryside, which is not to be viewed as a landscape, but as a local to "live". It is not aesthetic for the sake of "habitability", but to construct context to conceal daily life. In this way, it returns to the original intention of his work. Almost all of Kim Kyu-gang's oil paintings come from or are related to the native North Korea. In the history of contemporary Korean art, no painter has completely taken care of the geomorphological and phenological characteristics of the northern part of the Korean Peninsula like Kim Kyu-gang. Even, you can make any cut on the picture of his landscape oil painting, or re-select the scene and composition on his picture at will, and you will find that there is no problem. “
Construction begins with confession.
Jin Kuigang places his confession of the local situation on the "humanities" itself, so that the viewer unconsciously falls into the "secondary creation" of the work: what kind of people live in the house at the end of the field? What song is the laundry woman by the river humming? What vegetables are grown in the courtyard? This confession is obscure and great, depicting the everyday, but conveying life; looking at a painting is actually a story.
Regarding the confession, there is such a beautiful statement: after seeing the scenery together, we can reach the heart. This is probably one of the reasons why Jin Kuigang's later works began to construct local situations -- the warmth he received in the countryside and the emotions engraved in his heart were integrated into the works and poured into the arms of the viewer; the tasteful life was condensed into the details of the seasons, crops or houses. Looking at Jin Kuigang's paintings, it is more like exploring the daily life of a nostalgic life, and he silently recombines the beautiful scenery in his mind to achieve a heart-warming work.
The local situation constructed by Jin Kuigang carries the hearts of thousands of naked children who are soaked in human fireworks. For some people, this situation is a precious memory that never returns, and for some people, this situation is an ideal life to live and travel. This situation became an extension of Kim Kyu-gang's confession to the countryside.
Source of content (Imagasai Museum of Art)