[비즈한국] A solo exhibition by artist Jung Hee-kyung, who explores light and color, is currently underway. Titled ‘Whispering Light,’ the exhibition features about 40 works and will run until November 22 at the Hankook Art Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do.
Artist Jung Hee-kyung has long depicted light and color under the theme of ‘Whispering Light.’ Her body of work can be divided into two main tendencies. The first involves works that express the generation of light and the resonance of emotions through circular light emerging slowly from darkness, while the second explores the order of light and a meditative aura through the rhythm of colors repeated at regular intervals.
The artist paints her canvases in deep, dark indigo, then uses a sea sponge dabbed with acrylic paint to layer dots of vibrant colors like violet, magenta, yellow, and cyan. As this process is repeated, the colors build up in layers and deepen, allowing a subtle light to emerge gradually. This light sometimes appears like a waxing and waning moon, and at other times feels like streaming sunlight. It is simultaneously static and dynamic. However, the light is not intense; it approaches the viewer quietly, as if whispering. It is, quite literally, ‘Whispering Light.’
Rather than expressing concrete shapes or narratives, her work constructs the canvas using restrained formal language such as dots, color fields, semi-circles, ovals, curves, and diagonals. By leaving abstract forms and spaces, she allows viewers to discover their own inner landscapes.
This exhibition presents works that capture the flow of light emerging from darkness and the inner vibrations that arrive quietly yet intensely, all through a restrained artistic language. Through both paintings and video works, she demonstrates various artistic attempts centered on light. The exhibition also introduces series that reinterpret previous works. Works where various rainbow colors intersect and gentle light spreads across the cross-section of a cylinder were born from the artist's Christian inspiration. This piece graced the cover of the 2026 spring issue of the art magazine ‘Art Critic.’
The international art community is also taking notice of her. Richard Vine, an art critic and former managing editor of the American art magazine ‘Art in America,’ remarked that Jung Hee-kyung has built a unique world of painting that explores inner hope and salvation through light, bridging the harmony and meditative quality of Eastern art with the dynamism of light and shadow found in Western art.
Accordingly, the artist is expanding her scope of activity internationally. She held a solo exhibition at the Parisco Fine Arts Gallery in New Jersey, USA, last November, and this coming October, she will participate in the Asti Residency in Italy and the Venice Biennale, curated by Elga Wimmer, who is based in Chelsea, New York.
Artist Jung Hee-kyung stated, “I hope this serves as a good opportunity for local residents to encounter non-figurative works,” adding, “I would like for the audience to view the works comfortably, just as they feel them. I hope that by looking at the work, their minds feel composed and purified.”
This exhibition is supported by the ‘2026 Museum and Art Gallery Support Program.’ Viewing hours are from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and the museum is closed every Monday. An opening event with the artist is scheduled for October 10 at 2:00 PM.