JAE KON PARK (1937-1993)

Born in South Korea, Park Jae Kon (1937 – 1993) attended Seoul National University of Fine Art. Not long after graduating, Park Jae Kon left Korea with his wife and two daughters. He and his family traveled widely, eventually settling in Argentina. He spent the rest of his life in South America, traveling to various regions and using the landscape and cultural history as inspiration for his artworks. As an artist, his output spanned various media, styles, and subject matter, producing work that ranged from gestural abstract expressionism and typographic woodcuts.

Throughout his career, travel continued to inspire him. Park Jae Kon created abstract landscapes that reflect the colors and light of the Andes Mountains and geometric abstractions that incorporate iconography from the South America’s ancient civilizations. Park Jae Kon himself found a deep spiritual resonance with South American and Indian cultural history, and his work captures this personal connection to Aztec, Incan, and Hindu iconography. In his later work, Park Jae Kon attempted to reconcile his Korean identity with his adopted homeland of South America. These works often combine the colors and patterns of ancient Incan and Aztec art with traditional Korean iconography. He was one of the first recognized Korean international artists of the post war period, with 33 international exhibitions, as well as 17 solo exhibitions, including a 2008 retrospective at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea.