In chaos and harmony
Left) Park Hyun-wook, “Someone’s Funeral”. 2025, pastel on newspaper,
From December 17, 2024 to January 18, 2025, four artists, Gu Ja-in, Park Hyun-wook, Lee Young-bin, and Lee Hyun-mi, participated in the Lucknow Artist Residency, co-hosted by the Korean Women Artists Association and the Korean Painting Promotion Association. This project was made possible thanks to the efforts of curator Song In-sang to promote exchanges between Korea and India. In this article, I would like to share my thoughts on the journey.
The India I experienced was a place where one could feel strong vitality, where one could find adaptation and harmony even in chaos. From the moment I arrived at the airport until the day I left, we were surrounded by the endless sound of horns and the seemingly chaotic road scenery. Cars moving freely, as if traffic lights and lanes were insignificant, people crossing the street without hesitation—everything was a space where order and chaos coexisted. From the buildings, people, roads, to the cleanliness, this city simultaneously coexisted with the aspects of Korea that it had gone through from the 1960s to the 2000s. In the Ganges River in Varanasi, laundry, bathing, festivals, and funerals took place in one space. This scene symbolically showed a cross-section of India where chaos and harmony are mixed. When I talked about this, the Indians sympathized and seemed interested. Maybe they had already felt the same harmony. The other people in the group also said that coming here stimulated their creative desires after seeing only things that were too organized and clean in Korea.
Our base, KalasrotArtGallery.com, is the center of visual arts in Lucknow and a 19th century European living space.
It was a place that played a role like a long. Lucknow is a city rich in religious sites and historical heritage. It is home to high-quality crops and food, high-quality literary activities, and the Lalit Kala Akademi ( lalitkala.gov.in ), one of only seven national art institutes in India. However, this was the only place where we were familiar with modern and contemporary art galleries. Local artists even said that there was no proper art market in Lucknow. However, the local people had a deep interest in visual art. Collectors, artists, and scholars frequently visited to view and interact with the works, and students also visited to ask questions and have conversations. The gallery also generously provided material and human resources, such as workspaces and materials, to artists with whom we had relationships. Thanks to this, we were able to work comfortably and interact with local artists.
Indian art strongly maintained tradition while also giving a modern impression. Sculptures were strongly modern and varied, ranging from works that dealt with the material properties of materials, abstract forms, and social issues. On the other hand, paintings often dealt with Indian folktales or Hindu mythology, and many works were based on traditional styles such as Madhubani paintings and Gond paintings, so while the traditionality stood out, they used common materials such as oil paints and acrylics. The art world here seemed to be concerned about whether they were emphasizing tradition too much. In interviews at the Kallas Lotte Gallery and in interviews with local media, we were often asked, “Is Indian art too traditional?” and “How modern do you think it is?”
My time in Lucknow was not just a stay. It was an opportunity to ask new questions about my creative world and explore new possibilities. In an environment where chaos and harmony, tradition and modernity, and multi-layered time coexist, I was asked how I would proceed as an artist specializing in Oriental painting. It will take time to tell how this experience will permeate my future work, but for me at least, the process has already begun (8)
Park Hyun-wook (1984-) Master's degree from UCL Slade School of Fine Art, UK, PhD in Oriental Painting from Seoul National University. Exhibited in Korea, Germany, Bulgaria, etc.