Song Burnsoo

Athis early phases until 1970s, he encountered the social injustice andraised a voice of criticism by working on intense and provocative printsby borrowing pop art elements. Song began to work with the tapestry as amedium during his years in Paris. The tapestry became a catalyst thatdrew Song's popular acclaim and critical distinction of his artisticpractice. Works that combine titles that reflect personal experiencesand have a vision effect on objects with sophisticated weaving, not justthe level of depicting objects, are still considered his representativestyle. The motif of 'thorn' is also concretized gradually from themid-1970 after his studying in Paris. Starting to describe roses withdistinctive sharp thorns in prints, the thorn becomes the persona ofSong as he deeply engaged in a spiritual reflection through the ups anddowns of life. The assemblage of thorn-shaped reliefs generates a keensense of tension as though they penetrated the actual surface of thecanvas and encourages the audience to appreciate multi-layeredpsychological states such as pain and sacrifice or despair and hope witha more tangible approach. In recent years, extending every further onthe symbolism given to the 'thorn', Song took a new approach on the newvalue of thorn to reproduce individual units of planets, constellations,and their clusters as objects echoing the master's monologue whowitnessed the wonders of the world in mind.

Song Burnsoo livesand works in Yongin, Korea. He was a professor of College of Fine Artsat Hongik University from 1980 to 2008 and a director of Daejeon Museumof Art. Currently he is an honorary professor at Hongik University and adirector of the Maga Art Museum, which was established in 1998 tosupport young artists of textile crafts. In 2000, he received thedecorated the Order of National Service Merit in Korea and in 2001, hewon the first golden fleece prize at On the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian State. Along with the large-scale retrospective, Song Burnsoo_Pantomime of 50 Yearsin National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, his work hasbeen featured in exhibitions in Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art (2016),Museum of Fine Arts Budapest (2005), MMCA Korea (2003), Daejeon Museumof Art (2000), Busan Museum of Art (1999), Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum(1987). His work is represented in the collections of MMCA Korea, SeoulMuseum of Art, Busan Museum of Art, Daejeon Museum of Art, NationalMuseum of Budapest and H.Q of Korean U.N., Switzerland.

Courtesy Gallery Baton