The colorful compositions of Park saeng kwang established him as the first official exponent of the shamanism Korean, or mudang, although long before it was established as an official current in the country.
Although the name of the artist does not usually stand out as one of the most striking in Korean painting and did not have any direct link with the art minjung, an artistic movement sociopolitical that arose in South Korea In the 1980s, it is considered that he influenced many artists who followed him and the expansion of this trend, of which he is considered a precursor.
Born in 1904, Park devoted his entire life to landscape painting and observation, however, he gained international fame after his colorful paintings that he produced during the latter part of his career, which incorporated traditional themes and folkloric elements, often touching the buddhism and shamanism as a vital element on the canvas.
Before knowing success through his passion, from 1920 to 1944 he studied and worked in various disciplines in Japan, where he could find little time to carry out his favorite discipline; after a time of instability, he returned to his native Korea, where the exploded shamanism in a unique style that used the traditional Korean color scheme known as obangsaek: white, black, blue, yellow and red.
After several years of experimenting with this scheme and the pictorial figures of his colleagues, the stylistic change that the artist underwent at the end of his life was dramatic.
nojeokdo, 1985. Source: Daegu Art Museum | Korea Herald
In this new stage he turned to the traditions of his country, going back to prehistory and the worship of gods and ancestors, as well as spirits of nature, with which his canvases became some of the elements graphics most distinctive of the Korean nation.
In addition to this, Park saeng kwang He was also interested in animals that symbolize longevity found in traditional paintings.
In the end, Park's work is the fusion of ancient traditions and the density of modern colors and technologies that look like illustrations from a fantastic comic.
Despite his death in 1985, Park's career continues to stand out for his unique spirit that helped him develop an authentic Korean style, which has him recognized as the nonconformist from the history of Korean art in the XNUMXth century.