K-Sculpture 4(영문판) (세계로 가는 K-조각의 미래 3)

고충환

미술평론가

Kho Chunghwan / Art critic
Kho Chunghwan graduated from the Department of Painting at Yeungnam University and received his master’s degree in Aesthetics from the Graduate School of Hongik University. In 1996, he launched his career as an art critic after winning the Chosun Ilbo New Year's Literary Awards with his piece Beyond the Phenomenology of Kitsch: Reading Kitsch in the Art of a New Generation. His work has since been recognized with the Sunggok Art Award (2001) and an Encouragement Prize in the Academic category of the Monthly Art Award, (2006). As a curator, he has organized Representation of Representation at the Sunggok Art Museum, The Contested Points of Criticism at the POSCO Art Museum, The Shell of Skin of Sculpture at the Moran Museum of Art, and Drawing Sculpture: A Castle in the Air at the Seoul Olympic Museum of Art (SOMA). He is the author of the book A Fearsome Depth and a Beautiful Surface (2006), and co-author of Korean Art Through the Lens of Criticism (2001).

Table of Contents

Preface: Shaping the Future in Sculpture

A World of Illusion Mediated by Light: Jeong Jeongju
Kim Sungho / Art critic, visiting & General Director of the 2026 Geumgang Nature Art Biennale

The Poetics of Movement, Shaped by Unadorned Human Touch: Ahn Soojin
Park Choonho / Chief Curator, The Kim Chong Yung Museum

Forms That Sustain the Burden of Existence: Bae Hyungkyung
Gim Jonggil / Art critic

Sculpting the Sweet Happiness: Noh Jun
Jung Hayoon / Art critic

The New Relationship Between Sculpture and Space: Park Choongheum
Jung Youngmok / Art critic

EQUINOX: The Moment of Equilibrium: Park Wonjoo
Kim Jungrak / Art critic

A Subversion of Vision that Embraces Anxiety: Im Suniy
Lim Seonghoon / Aesthetician & Art critic

A New Paradigm Beyond the Realm of Art: Kim Eull
Ryu Byounghak / Art critic

A Sculptural Poem without Precedent, where Matter and Spirit Intersect: Na Jeomsoo
Kho Chunghwan / Art critic

Black Sculptures of Construction and Deconstruction: Sim Seungwook
Lee Sunyoung / Art critic

Tranquil, and Distinctly Korean in Spirit: Kim Jooho
Kim Jinha / Art critic & Director of Namu Art Gallery

Sculpture That Reaches the Real: Shin Jonghun
Chae Gilwon / Art critic

A Roundtable on the Future of K-Sculpture

The Future of K-Sculpture, Through the Lens of Sculpture

Where is Korean sculpture today, and where should it go from here? This question lies at the heart of K-SCULPTURE IV: The Future of K-Sculpture Expanding Globally 3. Twelve sculptors who embody the current landscape of Korean sculpture engage in dialogue with twelve leading art critics, together tracing the formative ideas woven into their works, the questions of our time that they confront, and the possibilities that await.

The sculptors featured in this volume-Jeong Jeongju, Ahn Soojin, Bae Hyungkyung, Noh Jun, Park Choongheum, Park Wonjoo, Lim Sunyi, Kim Eull, Na Jeomsoo, Sim Seungwook, Kim Jooho, and Shin Jonghun-have each developed a distinctive sculptural universe through their own materials, forms, themes, and methodologies. Light and space, body and being, matter and spirit, memory and anxiety, deconstruction and construction, Korean sensibility and contemporary experience-their works reveal the remarkable breadth of sculpture today, expanding its language into a multiplicity of voices and possibilities.

What distinguishes this book is that it goes beyond simply presenting the works. Each critic delves deeply into the artist’s world, exploring what sculpture seeks to express and how it engages with its audience. Artist interviews are woven throughout the book, offering readers direct access to the ideas, experiences, and creative processes behind each work-insights that the works themselves cannot fully reveal. The accompanying video interviews and audiobook further enrich the experience, inviting readers to encounter sculpture in a more immersive and multidimensional manner,

The K-SCULPTURE series has never been limited to raising awareness of the value of Korean sculpture at home; it has continually sought to develop a sculptural language capable of speaking to the world. Its fourth publication, K-SCULPTURE IV: The Future of K-Sculpture Expanding Globally 3, carries that vision forward. By bringing together artists with distinct identities and sculptural languages, the book offers a panoramic view of Korean sculpture today while considering, from within that broader perspective, the possibilities that K-Sculpture holds on the global art stage.

Sculpture is the art of shaping the sensibility of an era into matter. K-SCULPTURE IV: The Future of K-Sculpture Expanding Globally 3 records the present moment of Korean sculpture, drawing out the discourse within it to prepare for what lies ahead. May this book, forged jointly by twelve sculptors and twelve critics, serve as a fresh point of departure - for understanding where Korean sculpture stands today, and for envisioning where K-Sculpture might yet go.