KIM JAE SIN
김재신
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작가소개 & 평론
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[작가소개]
- Dong-a University, Western Painting Major
- Held 47 private exhibitions through invitations
2019
- The Sea (at Gyeryongdae Military School Gallery)
- The Kim Jae-sin Exhibition (Gallery COOP)
- JOTAK (Gallery Mizak)
- Locking in the Light (Gallery Gugu)
2018
- The Wave Pieces Where the Light Has Hidden (Gallery Gugu)
- Soom, Goreum, Bom (Artcore Brown)
- The Sceneries of Tongyeong (Gallery COOP)
- JOTAK (Gallery Mizak)
2017
- Sometimes the Mountains, Sometimes the Sea
(Chi-yoo, Gallery of Seoul National University School of Dentistry)
- JOTAK (Gallery Brown)
- Dongpirang Story (Gallery COOP)
2016
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Gallery COOP)
- The Sea (Gallery Dam-ggot)
- The Sea of Tongyeong (Tongyeong Public Art Center)
- Profit JOTAK (AYA Gallery Artcore Brown)
2015
- The World of Nirvana (Brown Gallery)
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Gallery COOP)
2014
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Brown Gallery)
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (F.E Gallery)
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Geuk-dong Sports Center, VIP Room)
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Paintian Gallery)
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Mare Gallery)
- Dongpirang Story (Hotel Hyundai)
- Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Gallery Du)
2013
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Lusso Gallery)
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Gallery Du)
2012
- Dongpirang Story (Pyeongchang-dong Gallery)
- Dongpirang Story (Hyundai Dept. Store, H Gallery)
2011
- Special Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (GIG ARTCOMPANY)
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Mu-deung Gallery)
2009
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin (Geoje Gallery)
2008
- The Scenery with Coal Briquettes (Tongyeong Public Art Center)
2004
- Private Exhibition of Kim Jae-sin
and many others
2019 ~
- From Baekdu to Halla (Hall of the National Assembly)
- FIVE Guys (AYA Artcore Brown)
- The Exhibition That Visits the Audience. Drawing Exhibition (Gallery COOP)
- Project “BTBM 2” (AYA Artcore Brown)
- Cheongdam Art Fair (AYA Artcore Brown, Gallery Du)
- Seven Exhibitions of Endless Art (Brown Gallery, Seoul)
- Charity Art Fair of Korea, China, and Japan (Cha Medical School)
and many others
Korea International Art Fair (Gallery Mare, Brown Gallery), Art Busan (Mukji Gallery), Busan International Art Fair (Gallery Mare, Mukji Gallery), Seoul Open Art Fair (Gallery Du), Gwangju Art Fair (Won Gallery), Daegu Art Fair (Gallery Mare), Gyeongnam International Art Fair (Gallery Mare, Gallery Mizak), LA, London, Shanghai, Belgium, Hong Kong (Gallery Mukji), Luxemburg (Arco Gallery), and many others
[평론]
The Artist of JOTAK(彫琢), An Island Named Kim Jae-sin
“Kim Jae-sin, the artist of JOTAK, is well-known for his own unique JOTAK technique that has been tried by no one, and cannot be mocked by any others. Making his artworks based on the themes of Dongpirang Hill and the Sea of Tongyeong, Kim is the creator of JOTAK technique, which is not made through brushwork, but through carving and emptying out the tens of layers of watercolors carefully stacked on the wooden canvas, as if cultivating oneself religiously.” (Kukmin Daily, 9. 26. 2014.)
In the city of Tongyeong, where hundreds of islands form an archipelago, there is yet another island that is quite special – it is an island named Kim Jae-sin. Kim creates his artworks based on the islands of Tongyeong, and also on another “island” named Dongpirang, which used to be a poor village in the harbor city Tongyeong. When I first saw the works of artist Kim, for the eyes of a wanderer, the strong feeling came to me like a storm, just as when I first saw the works of an artist named Byeon Si-ji in Jeju Island. Kim Jae-sin guides us to the very first and basic hometown that we all have once lived, but have long forgotten. The entrance to it is the “island” Dongpirang.
Dongpirang used to be like an island. It had been so for a long time. An island that was on the land, yet isolated from it. The island of the poor. The island of the people who were banished from the even land of the city onto the mountainside. The island where they wished to get out from, but were not able to. That is why the people in Dongpirang relied on one another. They made their own nirvana. The houses built so close together is the sign of that solidarity. Dongpirang village in the canvas of artist Kim Jae-sin, do not contain the Dongpirang of the present, which has become the landmark of Tongyeong as a village of beautiful murals – they contain the former Dongpirang, the typical poor hillside village, the Dongpirang of the poorer yet warmer time of the past; the Dongpirang of that solidarity and friendship.
Maybe that experience of solidarity had functioned as the root of what made the Dongpirang of today. Although the village is now famous as a mural village, the lives of Dongpirang people have not changed much. The old houses are still close to each other, and even though some small stores have emerged to sell the visitors Ggul-bbang(Tongyeong’s specialty fried bread with red bean paste inside), fish cakes, and coffee, the sellers themselves never become jealous of one another. Take a look at the two stores near the entry to Deombawi-gil, for example. The two stores sell Ggul-bbang and fish cakes side by side, but they do not attempt to attract more costumers that the other or be involved in fights. They get along well with each other. That is why the Dongpirang in the description of Kim Jae-sin is not its exterior; it indicates the spirit of friendship and solidarity of Dongpirang.
The artwork of Kim Jae-sin is the combined form of engraving and painting. His drawing technique is called JOTAK(彫琢). Kim applies the colors on the wooden canvas for over dozens of times and based on his idea, then carves it out with a chisel to complete the color and the composition, adjusting the depth of the colors. Through JOTAK technique, Kim Jae-sin gives the shape not only to Dongpirang, but also to the sea and islands of Tongyeong. Tongyeong is the city that gave birth to a good number of artists, and at the same time, the kingdom of islands. To know the depth of an island, one should take a peek at its bare skin. Nevertheless, the island hardly let it show. That is why it is hard for the inland people to understand well about islands.
Just as people, it would be only natural for an island not to reveal its bare skin. Just as us, an island would show its bare skin only to whom it loves, and those who love it as well. We can catch a glimpse of the bare skin of islands through the canvas of Kim Jae-sin. It must be that the artist and the islands must deeply in love with one another, as the latter revealed their bare skin to the former. The artist could not describe the bare skin shown to the loved, in its exact form – the loved knew that the lover would be shy. As such, the artist drew the shadow of the bare skin reflected on the sea, rather than the bare skin itself. That is why the bare skin remains secretive, without being explicit. The more secretive the bare skin of a lover becomes, the more attractive it becomes. What the islands of Kim Jae-sin showed came to me as more appealing, as they remained as secrets.
The fishing boats have come back to the harbor. The boats have dropped their anchors, and the time of rest has just come. The Chinese character for “anchor” sounds as “Jeong(碇)” in the Korean language. Very long time ago, people used to tie a heavy rock(石) to the rope for the boat not to drift away from the dock. The letter “Jeong(碇)” originated from such scenery. That is why “Jeong-bak(碇泊)” in Korean means “anchoring the boat”. Anchored boats look rested. Perhaps that is the reason the boats anchored in the canvas of Kim Jae-sin also look comfortable, just like the shoes that fit on the feet perfectly. Maybe, just maybe, Kim might have thought that the boat is like the shoes that people wear when they cross the sea. Yes. The boat is the shoes of the people who go about the sea.
Dongpirang village or the houses on the islands in the canvas of Kim Jae-sin are as simple as they could ever get. Few things would be so special and different about the appearances of the houses that people live in. On the other hand, the patterns of them reflected on the waves of the sea are of tens of thousands of kinds. It is because what are engraved in the waves are the patterns of life; the wave patterns contain the lives of the people who live in those houses. Apart from the appearances that seem similar to one another, the patterns of people’s lives can be so diverse and individual. As if staying indifferent towards them, the artist captures each pattern of life with delicate details. His deep history of artwork indicates towards his deep perspective. Only the deep can love.
The moon has risen above the sea of Tongyeong. The moon has also risen above the sea of the artist as well. That moon reminds me of “Wol-in-cheon-gang(月印千江)” in Korean - one moon has been reflected on thousand rivers. In Kim Jae-sin’s canvas, there may be a single moon on the sky, but tens of thousands of moons has risen on the waves of the sea. The patterns of lives have risen. I see and realize “Hae-in-sam-mae(海印三昧 - Buddha’s realization of concentration towards understanding the inside as well as the outside of everything clearly, just as every kind of form is reflected on the calm sea, as every water flows into the sea, and as everything is finished at the sea) from his artwork.
조탁의 화가, 김재신이란 섬
“조탁작가 김재신은 어느 누구도 시도하지 않았고 쉽게 흉내 낼 수 없는 특유의 조탁기법으로 유명하다. 통영의 동피랑 언덕과 바다를 주제로 작업을 해 나가며 붓으로 그리는 것이 아니라 목판 위에 켜켜이 쌓은 수십 겹 물감의 층을 도를 닦듯이 도려내고 파내는 조탁기법의 창시자다.”(국민일보 2014.9.26)
수백의 섬이 다도해를 이루는 통영에는 특별한 섬이 하나 있다. 김재신이라는 섬이다. 그는 통영의 섬들을 그린다. 또 항구 도시 통영에서 외로운 섬처럼 떠 있던 가난한 마을 동피랑이란 섬도 그린다. 김재신 화백의 작품을 처음 접했을 때 나그네에게는 제주에서 변시지 화백의 작품을 처음 대면했을 때와 같은 강렬한 감동이 폭풍처럼 밀려왔다. 김재신은 잊고 살았던 원초적 고향으로 우리를 안내한다. 그 입구가 동피랑이란 ‘섬’이다.
동피랑은 섬이었다. 오랫동안 섬이었다. 뭍에 있으나 뭍으로부터 고립된 섬. 가난한 이들의 섬. 저 평평한 도시의 땅에서 추방되어 산으로 올라간 사람들의 섬. 벗어나고 싶었으나 벗어날 수 없는 섬. 그래서 동피랑 사람들은 서로 기대어 살았다. 스스로 피안을 만들었다. 동피랑의 집들이 서로 어깨 걸고 딱 붙어 있는 것은 그 연대의 표시다. 김재신 화백의 화폭에 담긴 동피랑도 벽화마을로 명성을 떨치고 통영의 랜드마크가 된 지금의 동피랑이 아니다. 통영의 대표적인 달동네였던 동피랑, 그 가난하지만 따뜻했던 시절의 동피랑이다. 그 연대와 우정의 동피랑이다.
어쩌면 그 연대의 경험이 오늘의 동피랑을 만든 뿌리가 아니었을까. 벽화마을로 유명해졌지만 동피랑 사람들의 삶이 크게 달라진 것은 없다. 여전히 낡은 집들은 다닥다닥 어깨 걸고 있으며 소소한 가게들이 생겨나 관광객들에게 꿀빵도 팔고 오뎅도 팔고 커피도 팔지만 결코 서로 시기하지 않는다. 덤바위 길 입구의 두 가게를 보라. 나란히 꿀빵과 오뎅을 파는데 내 것을 더 팔기 위해 호객하거나 다투지 않는다. 사이좋다. 그래서 김재신이 그리는 동피랑은 동피랑의 외관이 아니다. 동피랑의 우정과 연대의 정신이다.
김재신의 그림은 판화와 회화를 접목한 것이다. 그의 화법은 조탁(彫琢)기법이다. 머릿속에 구상한 것을 수십 차례 목판에 색칠을 한 뒤 색상의 깊이를 조절해 가며 조각칼로 파내 색상과 구도를 완성해 나간다. 김재신은 조탁기법으로 동피랑만이 아니라 통영의 바다와 섬들도 형상화한다. 통영은 예향인 동시에 섬 왕국이다. 섬의 깊이를 알려면 섬의 속살을 엿봐야 한다. 하지만 섬은 좀처럼 자기 속살을 내보이지 않는다. 내륙에 사는 사람이 섬을 알기 어려운 것은 그 때문이다.
사람처럼 섬이 낯선 이에게 속살을 드러내지 않는 것은 당연한 일이 아닌가. 섬 또한 그를 사랑하고 그가 사랑하는 이에게만 속살을 보여준다. 우리는 김재신의 화폭에서 섬의 속살을 엿볼 수 있다. 섬이 화가에게 그의 속살을 드러냈으니 섬과 화가는 서로 깊이 사랑하는 사이인 것이 틀림없다. 사랑하는 이에게 내보인 속살을 화가는 화폭에 그대로 담을 수가 없었다. 연인이 부끄러워 할 것이기에. 그래서 화가는 섬의 속살을 그대로 그리지 않고 바다에 비친 속살의 그림자를 그렸다. 속살이지만 노골적이지 않고 은밀한 것은 그 때문이다. 연인의 속살은 은밀할수록 유혹적이다. 김재신의 섬이 내보인 속살 또한 은밀하기에 더욱 매혹적이다.
항구로 어선들이 귀항했다. 닻을 내리고, 정박한 배들. 이제 안식의 시간이다. 닻의 한자어는 정(碇)이다. 오랜 옛날에는 밧줄에 무거운 돌(石)을 매달아 물속에 던져 배가 떠내려가지 못하도록 붙들었다. 정(碇)이란 글자는 거기서 유래했다. 그래서 배가 머무는 것이 정박(碇泊)이다. 정박한 배들은 편안하다. 그래서일까. 김재신의 화폭에 정박한 배들 또한 잘 맞는 신발처럼 편안해 보인다. 그는 혹시 배를 사람들이 바다를 건널 때 신는 신발이라고 생각한 것이 아닐까. 맞다. 배는 바다를 누비는 사람들의 신발이다.
김재신의 화폭에 담긴 동피랑 마을이나 섬의 집들은 단순하기 이를 데 없다. 사람 사는 집들의 외관이 무어 별 다를 게 있겠는가. 그런데 바다 물결에 비친 무늬는 수만 가지다. 물결에 새겨진 것은 삶의 무늬이기 때문이다. 물결무늬가 그 집들에 사는 사람들의 삶을 담고 있기 때문이다. 비슷해 보이는 외관과 달리 사람들 삶의 무늬는 또 얼마나 많이 다르고 제각각인가. 무심한 듯 하지만 그 각각의 삶의 문양들을 화가는 섬세하게 포착해 낸다. 그것이 깊이다. 그의 화업이 깊다는 것은 그의 안목이 깊다는 것이다. 깊어야 사랑할 수 있다.
통영 바다에 달이 떴다. 화가의 바다에도 달이 떴다. 그 달은 월인천강(月印千江)을 떠올리게 한다. 달은 하나지만 천개의 강을 비춘다. 김재신의 화폭에 달은 하나지만 바다 물결에는 수만 개의 달이 떴다. 삶의 무늬들이 떴다. 저것이 바로 해인삼매(海印三昧)란 것인가
시인 강제윤
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[작가소개]
