우리 한인 커뮤니티의 대표적인 화가인 주종근 교수와 레인보우 정현주 원장이 오는 28일(일) 어스틴에 소재한 First Evangelical Free Church(FEFC) 내에 마련된 갤러리를 통해 전시회를 갖는다. 이번 전시회는 UT Austin 미대교수이자 FEFC 갤러리 큐레이터로 활동하고 있는 Timothy High 교수의 초청으로 이루어지는 행사로 같은 날 FEFC에서 개최 예정인 INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS FAIR와 MISSIONS BANQUET의 서막을 장식하는 자리여서 그 의미가 남다르다고 하겠다.

우리 지역 내에서 한인 문화권 출신으로는 처음으로 미 주류사회를 주 대상으로 개최되는 이번 전시회에서는 주종근 교수가 신작 3점을 포함 총 26점을,  정현주 레인보우 원장이 총 27점을 선보일 예정이다. 주종근, 정현주 '이인전'으로  개최되는 이번 전시회에 우리 커뮤니티의 많은 동참이 기대된다.

다음 은 이번 전시회를 초청한 Timothy High 교수가 전하는 주종근, 정현주 원장의 작품세계를 영어 원문으로 게재한다.

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FINDING ONE’S PLACE

CHONG KEUN CHU & HYUN JU CHUNG CHU

In Western cultural tradition, the culmination of empiricism arrives with a glorification of the hard sciences, placing those disciplines (medicine, biogenetics, geosciences, physics, mathematics, and computer sciences, etc.) at the apex of intellectual life. Those disciplines are thought to be more practical, progressive, and more dedicated in service of mankind. However, one of the principal concerns of philosophers, theologians, poets, artists, and scholars, throughout time, is a preoccupation of finding, ascertaining, comprehending, and then living in one’s own place in God’s universe. Such pursuits are colored by individual experiences, sensory environment, and the external influences of culture and tradition, no matter how intensely one might seek to transcend these structures to find the meanings of life from a universal perspective. Nevertheless, man has always sought the hand and face of God through the smudged lenses of human sensory and perceptual subjectivity, which provide, at best, an extremely limited field of vision. The apostle Paul said it best (I Cor 13:12), “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I see in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am known.” NIV Though most pedestrian art viewers are more comfortable with representational, if not narrative, images that are more familiar and overt. Ideationally-driven works, conversely, whether representational, allusively abstract, or symbolic often require more effort to interpret and appreciate on the part of the audience. It must be understood, however, that our day-to-day lives are perpetually filled with abstractions, those unseen things that we take on faith to be true or valuable. Being creatures bound by time and space, we cannot see the potentialities and ultimate outcomes of such things as a seed planted, an encouraging word, a smile, a prayer offered, or a firm rebuke. Chong Keun Chu and Hyun Ju Chung Chu are contemporary Christian artists whose work seeks to evoke, rather than define, ideas and/or mental pathways truly worthy of further thought, appreciation, and praise. As both Christians and husband and wife, we are wise to consider them as two parts of an integrated whole; allowing each of them in turn to share with you, in their own words, what they hope to bring forth in their art.

CHONG KEUN CHU

“In the fragmented post-modern cultural society, my art works are based upon the process of personal experience and faith. My mark and shape-making in art are attached to my memory of the past, the action of the present, and the new vision of the future. Therefore, the abstract and symbolic matter of dots, lines, and shapes on paper or canvas made with a brush and/or a painting knife reflect the real action of my Korean-American life. Aesthetically, my art works are influenced by the faith of Christianity, Korean folk art, and western folk art, plus the fragmentation of post modern cultural society.
In choosing color, I view black as a mixture of the primary colors to contain vital energy. I selected basically yellow, red, and blue: yellow can mean light, air, or star; red can mean sin, clean, confession, action, or earthly life; blue can mean sky, hope, or vision; and, black, gray and white symbolized the invisible or visible realm and distance to me. Also, symbolically my abstraction of dots represent the individual as a seed or a living thing, the lines describe the new growth and structure of living life, and the shapes are the representation of the expansion of our natural and cultural world within His power.”
2010

HYUN JU CHUNG CHU

“My artwork has emerged primarily from my life both in Korea and America. The first twenty years of my life, I have been influenced by my life in Korea, while the second part of my life has been focused on acclimating myself to the culture and values of the West. During this process, the memory of my Eastern life has never left me. Thus, my artwork has developed to function as a personal expression of my current life: a blend of both cultures. I have taken advantage of the oil painting techniques as a Western concept, and I developed personal techniques on canvas which were influenced by Eastern art. In particular, the recurring images of Asian symbols and the bright and extensive range of layers of colors are derived from Korean folk art. Recently, I have focused more on the concept of memory on canvas and figure relationships that are vague but are painted in a very detailed manner with a fine brush. This is one example of how I have chosen to represent the undergoing formation of the mixture of memories from both worlds. This constant struggle to find balance between the past and the present is what inspires the core of my paintings today.” 2010

In conclusion, I would encourage our viewers to spend quality time considering the images, iconography, colors, gestures, and the titles of these beautiful works. Chong explores  concepts centering upon the Person of Christ, as both the author/creator of things, but also as the Gardener, tenderly caring for his coming harvest. Accordingly, he also considers the future potentiality of the unseen or unrealized things, ie.,”Blue Seeds”; “Do You See My Yellow Dots”. Images suggest the Hyun Ju draws vivid associations of heavenly things from aspects she sees in common humble objects. For example, noticing how women from rural Korea use a bound ring on their heads as a cushion for balancing the heavy water jars carried from the village well home to their families. This object may then connote both a servant crown and a halo. There are other things that one could point out in reference to in these works, but to do so would render a disservice to the value and joys of discovery.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Tim High, VAM Curator 2-22-10
Associate Professor of Studio Art at UT-Austin

BIOGRAPHICAL SNAPSHOTS

In the past three decades, Chong Keun Chu has come full circle from studying art to teaching it. After leaving Korea for the United States and enrolling in a noncredit art class at Brookhaven College in Dallas, TX, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at SMU and Master of Fine Arts degree at Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in Philadelphia, PA.. For seven years, he taught art to high school students at Trinity Christian Academy.
"I spent my first three years in this country dealing with English and cultural changes," says professor Chu. "Then I wanted to go to school. I wanted to learn more about painting. One day, I took my paintings and drove to Brookhaven College. I stood at the door of a classroom where students were learning to paint, and I told the instructor that I needed an art teacher! When I was a Brookhaven student, my faculty members gave encouragement and confidence so that I knew I could study what I wanted to pursue. I now carry that same spirit to my own students,"
Today, Chu is a full-time Brookhaven faculty member, working artist, published book author and summertime lecturer to university art students in his native Korea. His work is exhibited frequently in art galleries across the United States and in Korea. Chong’s work is not just on canvas, either; he and his wife Hyun Ju Chung, also an artist, have designed DART light-rail station which is the Spring Valley Station and is working on another, the Royal Lane Station, which will be opening soon.

http://www.dart.org/riding/stations/springvalleystation.asp
http://www.dart.org/about/publicart/publicartstations.asp?zeon=SpringValleyStationArt
http://www.dart.org/about/expansion/greenlinestations.asp

"I want to help my students understand art and to achieve individual success," he says. "Teaching is another way to learn, so when I am teaching, I am really learning from my students. We should educate people, but also encourage them to speak through art, from their hearts."
In late 2008, the Andrew Shire Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. presented a solo exhibition of new drawings and paintings by Chong Keun Chu. For the past thirty years, Chu has lived and worked in Dallas, Texas where he is Professor of Art at Brookhaven College, School of the Arts. He also attended college at Brookhaven from 1978-1980 before earning his BFA in painting from Southern Methodist University, Meadows School of Arts in 1982, and his MFA in painting from Temple University, Tyler School of Art in 1984.

Hyun-Ju Chung was born in Seoul, Korea and she graduated from Seoul National University with a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree in 1980. She received her Masters in

Fine Art degree in 1984 from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. Today, she is living and working in Dallas, Texas. Hyun-Ju Chung's primary concern as an artist is to express and communicate her personal life experience and thoughts regarding them. Her paintings have been exhibited in group and solo shows throughout the United States and Korea since 1980. Hyun-Ju Chung had one-person shows at Jean Art Gallery (Seoul, Korea), Park Ryo Sook Art Gallery (Seoul, Korea), the Amarillo Museum of Art (Texas), the Galveston Arts Center (Texas). Since 1988, Chung's work has also been presented by the Edith Baker Gallery in Dallas, TX, and currently teaches continuing education painting courses at Brookhaven College. Her column on art and education is published twice monthly in “News Korea Texas.”

The exhibition is presented in commemoration of the missionary efforts of the First Evangelical Church of Austin in Romania, Sudan, Malaysia, Ukraine, Argentina, Italy, Korea, and many other nations. To view more information log on at http://www.fefc.org/

INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS FAIR
featuring TouchGlobal
Sunday, Febraury 28th, 9:30 AM -12:45 PM
FEFC Community Hall

MISSIONS BANQUET
with speaker David Rofkahr
Friday, March 5th, 7-9PM
FEFC Worship Center