Kwon Jung Ho
Kwon Jung Ho (), also stylised as kwonjungho and Kwon Jungho, is a Korean artist, sculptor, and educator based in Daegu, South Korea. Kwon was influenced by Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Expressionism, and Post-Modernism movements. A majority of artworks in the oeuvre take the shape of the skeleton that reflects the artist's interest in the subject matters of life and death inspired by his physician father from a childhood memory. The pivotal artworks consist of monochrome paintings, dot series, sound series, skeleton series that embrace flat painting and installation, and conception and abstraction. Life and Education The son of a physician, Kwon Jung Ho was born in Chilgok, located in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, on April 28, 1944. Kwon, born on the verge of the Korea's liberation, grew up in times of social turmoil. In 1950, he enrolled at Suchang Elementary School, but the same year, he fled to Miryang (Yeonjeong) for refuge to escape the Korean War. After graduating from Jongno National School in 1956, from 1959 to 1963, he attended Gyeseong High School where he learned photography from the photography class taught by Kim Tae Han and Her Jong Jeong; nevertheless, Kwon did not aspire to become an artist at that time. After being rejected by a medical college, he entered the Civil and Architecture department at Chunggu University in 1964 for its high value on socially useful work. However, in 1965, Kwon transferred to the Arts and Crafts department at Keimyung University to pursue studies as an art student. He attended lectures by sculptor Nam Chul, craftsman Kim Gwang-Hyun, and painter Seo Seok Gyu. In 1972, Kwon became an apprentice of Professor Jung Joem Sik and calligrapher Seo Dong Gyun who greatly influenced his early works, and the same year, Kwon graduated from the university. In 1975, he married his current wife and had one child. After completing the master's degree in Art Education at Keimyung University from 1973 to 1982, he moved to New York to further his studies in Fine Art at the Pratt Institute, where he obtained a master's degree under the tutelage of Professor Corinne Robbins and Kelvin Albert from 1983 to 1986. Career In 1972, Kwon embarked on his career as an art educator at Gyeongan Middle School in Andong, Oseong High School in Daegu, and Gyeongmyeong Girls' Middle School. With his career background as a lecturer at Hyosung Women's University, Keimyung College, Hansa Technical College, and Shinil College, in 1982, Kwon was appointed as a professor at Daegu University where he worked until 2009. From 1996 to 1999, he served as the president of the Korean Art Association of Daegu Metropolitan City, the vice-president of the Korean Art Association, and the national branch president. In 1997, Kwon and 24 other members who endorsed the local art, academia, press, and cultural community reinforced the Daegu Art Museum construction committee's establishment by implementing a petition and fundraising exhibition to support the museum establishment. From 2002 to 2006, he served as the president of the Korea Federation of