Sayart.net - Art Central 2025: A Celebration of Korean Contemporary Art at Hong Kong′s Iconic Central Harbourfront

Art Central 2025, a leading event in Hong Kong’s Art Week, will take place from March 25 to March 30, 2025, at the Central Harbourfront. The exhibition will feature works by renowned Korean contemporary artists Heungduk LEE, Keunyoung YOO, Younghoon BAHK, and Jaeyoung KANG. Curated by Kwanhoon Gallery, a pillar of Korean art since its founding in 1979, the exhibition will showcase these four artists' works that explore themes of individual psychology, social dynamics, and the hidden forces influencing modern life.

Kwanhoon Gallery has long played an essential role in promoting Korean contemporary art, particularly through its focus on monochromatic painting and experimental art. Over the years, the gallery has fostered the careers of many influential artists and continues to represent the finest in contemporary art. The participation of these four artists in Art Central 2025 reflects Kwanhoon Gallery’s commitment to presenting high-quality, thought-provoking art on an international platform.

Heungduk LEE’s Beach Café (2025), an oil painting on canvas measuring 162.3 x 130.3 cm, offers a profound exploration of human interaction, personal psychology, and social dynamics. His works often focus on the psychological complexities of everyday life, capturing moments that reveal the hidden desires, conflicts, and emotions of individuals. In Beach Café, Heungduk LEE employs the setting of a café, a space of social interaction, to reflect broader societal themes. His approach merges personal observations with universal issues, portraying the individual as both an isolated entity and a reflection of society as a whole.

Younghoon BAHK’s work is rooted in his fascination with the unseen forces of light, sound, and air. His 2021-2022 piece Brightening (130.5 x 162 cm), made using color fluorescence adhesive film and mixed media on aluminum panels, explores the tension between the visible and invisible, questioning the reliability of human perception. Younghoon BAHK delves into the concepts of visual meaning and relationship aesthetics, using his artwork to challenge the viewer’s understanding of the world and perception. His use of abstract forms and media explores the boundaries between language, image, and sensory experience, presenting a multi-layered inquiry into how we experience reality.

Jaeyoung KANG’s Parable of the Sower (2024), a large-scale acrylic and collage piece on cotton (177 x 126 cm), investigates the passage of time and the process of transformation. Through his use of fragmented imagery, Jaeyoung KANG evokes themes of memory, identity, and change, creating a visual narrative that speaks to both the personal and collective human experience. His artistic process involves continuous layering and erasure, mirroring the cyclical nature of life and the persistence of memory. Jaeyoung KANG’s work is both an introspective exploration and a social commentary, as he uses mythology and symbolic imagery to express the complexities of human existence.

Keunyoung YOO’s The Odd Nature (2017), an oil painting on canvas (130 x 162 cm), is a vibrant expression of nature's raw energy. Known for his use of bold color and expressive forms, Keunyoung YOO’s work is rooted in expressionism, using color and shape to evoke visceral emotional responses. The Odd Nature embodies the artist’s exploration of nature as a dynamic, ever-changing force, with a focus on energy and vitality rather than mere representation. Keunyoung YOO’s use of abstraction pushes the boundaries of traditional landscape painting, creating a visual experience that transcends the natural world and invites viewers to engage with the deeper forces at play in the environment.

Art Central 2025 offers an opportunity to experience the evolving landscape of Korean contemporary art, with each of these artists providing unique insights into the complexities of modern life. Through their distinctive approaches, Heungduk LEE, Keunyoung YOO, Jaeyoung KANG, and Younghoon BAHK create works that speak to the universal experiences of identity, perception, and social interaction. This exhibition promises to be a thought-provoking exploration of the intersections between individual psychology and the broader social forces that shape our world.

Sayart / Jason Yim, yimjongho1969@gmail.com