MINSEOK KANG
Minseok Kang was born in 1980 in Busan and studied Western painting at Dong-A University, where he earned both his bachelor's and master’s degrees. His art consistently begins with “movement” and “the tension of existence.” He closely observes the speed and stillness of the city, moments of fracture and recovery, exploring how human emotion and identity are shaken and reconfigured within those experiences. Since he first brought the image of a car onto the canvas, it has become more than a simple object — it has evolved into a symbol that bridges his inner world and external reality. For him, the automobile is both a tool for racing through reality and a vessel in which inner power and desire are projected. Through this, the artist raises a fundamental question: “How do humans live and transform within the passage of time?”
His painting is a sensory record in which material and action converge. By scraping, pushing, pouring, and layering paint in repetitive gestures, he leaves behind traces of time and fragments of emotion on the surface. These are not mere painterly techniques but actions that expand into proofs of existence and visualizations of emotion. In his work, the automobile is at times dismantled, fragmented, and reconstructed through the clash of explosive colors and lines. This process does not point outward toward competition with the world, but inward toward a journey of breaking personal limits and confronting inner anxiety. Within this tension, the artist discovers the “Invisible Force” — not a physical energy, but a resonance of emotion that emerges at the moment a person confronts themselves, a vitality that rises from deep within.
At the core of Minseok Kang’s work lies the concept of boundaries. He challenges the borders between reality and psyche, speed and stillness, order and chaos — visualizing the tremors that arise in those unstable moments. On his canvases, color explodes, lines fracture, and the cracks on the surface signal the beginning of a new order. This repeated process of deconstruction and reconstruction reflects both the anxiety and recovery of existence. Through sculptural works made from leftover paint, he explores the relationship between disappearance and memory, metaphorically expressing the lingering warmth of existence even in transience. His art extends beyond painting into sculpture and sensory experimentation, constructing a personal “philosophy of speed and emotion.”
Minseok Kang’s art is an unending journey. Through painting, he delves into inner conflict, visualizes the flow of invisible forces, and records the fleeting traces of humanity within time. His practice is not about a finished result, but a continuous process of exploration — a battle not against others, but against himself. The fragments of color and marks he leaves behind become imprints of lived time and traces of light left by existence. Through this journey, Kang seeks to uncover the essential beauty and strength of human existence beyond time and space.
