Special Exhibition of Late Baek Moon-gi's Donated Works... Permanent Display at KAIST Meta Convergence Hall

by Jeong Ilwoong

Published 03 Sep.2024 07:56(KST)

KAIST announced on the 3rd that it will hold a special exhibition of works donated by the late artist Baek Moon-gi (1927?2018) at the Meta Convergence Hall on its Daejeon campus.

The special exhibition will be held in a permanent exhibition format following the opening ceremony on the same day. The exhibition features 67 works donated to KAIST by the artist’s family last December.

Considering that only 27 representative portrait and human figure sculptures created from the 1940s to the 2000s were revealed at the artist’s only lifetime exhibition, this special exhibition offers the largest collection of Baek Moon-gi’s works to date.

In particular, the special exhibition is presented in a unique format by displaying Baek Moon-gi’s bronze sculptures alongside the plaster prototypes (casting molds) used in the production process of each work, differing from typical sculpture exhibitions.

A special exhibition space for the late writer Baek Moon-gi has been established at the Meta융관 of KAIST Daejeon Main Campus. Provided by KAIST

Many works with long histories, such as the ‘K Priest Statue,’ which was preserved because the artist buried it in his front yard just before enlisting in the Korean War at age 23, are also on display, adding deeper significance.

The special exhibition also showcases various awards and medals the artist received. Baek Moon-gi was recognized for his contributions to Korea’s cultural and artistic fields, receiving the Presidential Citation in 1952, the Seoul City Culture Award in 1982, and the Silver Crown Cultural Medal in 1995, making him one of the greatest masters of his time.

However, he was known for holding only one solo exhibition in his lifetime. His sole solo exhibition was held in 2015 at the Seongbuk-gu Art Museum under the title “Shaping People ? Baek Moon-gi Exhibition.”

Baek Moon-gi decided to donate all of his collected works to KAIST in the year he turned 90 and passed away the following year.

Meanwhile, Baek Moon-gi graduated from the Sculpture Department of Seoul National University College of Fine Arts (the first class). During his lifetime, he served as a professor in the Sculpture Department at Ewha Womans University College of Fine Arts (1958?1967) and was president of the Fine Arts Division of the National Academy of Arts of Korea (1993?1996).

During his artistic career, he won a special prize at the 1st National Art Exhibition of Korea (Gukjeon) in 1949 and was invited to 33 group exhibitions, including the 1958 Brussels International Art Exhibition in Belgium and the 2014 Eleven Korean Contemporary Artists Exhibition.