THE SUBLIMITY OF AN EMPTY CANVAS

Kim Byungki is a 103-year-old artist who still actively practices and creates art. Kim, who had a solo exhibition ‘Refreshing Breeze for 100 years: Wind is Rising’ three years ago in celebration of his centenary year, now returns with a new exhibition ‘Here and Now’. It puts representative works and new works created after 2016 together to encompass his artistic world. Kim entreated, ‘stop asking me about the secret to longevity. What I want to talk about are my works.’ His studio, which we visited for the interview, was full of painting tools, such as empty canvases, paints and brushes. Rather than throwing a brush aside as if to say ‘it is enough to draw now’, the older painter’s passion for sitting in front of an empty canvas and contemplating what to paint today is unfolding