Contemplation; the Art of Play 50-1, mixed media on cotton cloth, 91x91cm, 2025
OMAE Gallery is honored to host the solo exhibition of Ha-kyung Park, the recipient of the 4th Monthly Minhwa Awards ‘Artist of Today’ (2024), from December 2 to December 13, 2025. OMAE Gallery, which seeks to find contemporary art that communicates globally while rooted in Korean tradition, proudly sponsors this exhibition for the ‘Artist of Today’ award winner, an artist who has played a central role in the development of contemporary Korean Minhwa (Korean Folk Painting). We cordially invite you to Contemplation; the Art of Play, a unique showcase of works that bridges the expressive freedom of traditional Minhwa with the bold experimentation of contemporary Korean painting.
Ha-kyung Park describes her work as “Paintings that Bring Happiness,” aiming to express happiness, joy, and pleasure. She notes, “What I seek to express in my paintings is happiness, joy, and delight. Hope and the blessing it brings are linked to joy through the power of positivity.” Her canvases are filled with brightly colored, free-spirited compositions where birds and fish are often anthropomorphized to represent family, expressing the fundamental desire for their health and prosperity. The vibrant colors and freely wandering lines are traces of joy, with even a single leaf seemingly to dance. Her process, “Meditation (Contemplation), which begins as a prayer of wish, becomes joy and is expressed as play (Yoohee),” captures this spirit, moving from strong, decisive lines at the start to fine, gentle lines—like a quiet smile—at the finish.
A defining feature of Ha-kyung Park’s work is the aesthetic of Gojolham—a beauty found in the seemingly unsophisticated, awkward, or pre-modern, which evokes simple, comforting delight. Critics highlight Ha-kyung Park as the foremost contemporary Minhwa artist to successfully reinterpret this Gojolham for a modern sensibility. Her subjects, seemingly drawn with the untutored hand of ancient folk painters—crooked, spontaneous, and imperfect—are simultaneously rendered with brilliant, clear colors and witty composition, revealing the skillful hand of a master. This paradox—the spontaneous beauty of Gojolham translated into a highly refined, contemporary visual language—is what makes her work unique. Her recent pieces show a tendency towards abstraction through increasing simplicity and conciseness, demonstrating a courageous and sharp spirit of experimentation rarely seen even amid the diverse and experimental trends of modern Minhwa.
The works in Contemplation; the Art of Play, while situated in the realm of contemporary Minhwa, resonate strongly with the lineage of modern Korean painting (Hangukhwa)—including masters like Park Saeng-gwang, Hwang Chang-bae, and Kim Sun-doo—characterized by the Powerful Freedom of Line, Rich Korean Coloring, and a Sense of Space and Rhythm. We invite you to experience the exhibition and consider for yourself how Ha-kyung Park’s playful expression of joy and hope connects the deep tradition of Minhwa with the dynamic future of Korean contemporary art.
