KMK: Lee Jung Seop and Kim Young Gap

Jeju just isn’t a paradise for work weary Seoulites to flee to for a few days of rest and relaxation. Nope, it’s also, and has been for a very long time, an island refuge for artists. Once you’ve seen the craggy bluffs, deep blue seas, and forested volcanic craters its not hard to figure out why. Here, on this tiny island, artists ranging from actors to writers either struggling to hear their muses or searching for seclusion to hone their craft can find what they need to feed that spark of creativity.

Two such luminaries are Lee Jung Seop and Kim Young Gap. Though working in very different mediums both of these artists have found their place in the hearts and minds of the Korean people especially on the isle of Jeju.

Our first stop happened to be the Lee Jung Seop (1916-1956) museum. My first encounter with his work happened on the streets of Seogwipo where he has an avenue where his artwork crowns the lamp posts. The images are primitive, playful, and arresting. It all leads to the museum grounds where his old home he used to occupy with his wife, children, and another family still stands. All four of them only had one room to live in. How they managed to survive that in war torn Korea.

Originally from the North, Lee Jung Seop and his family fled the conflict to Jeju. Though the hardship of supporting children and a wife proved to much to bear. He sent them back to her home country of Japan while he stayed due to being unable to secure a visa. Despite this tragedy this period became his most fruitfull. His work appears on postcards, silver chewing gum and cigarette wrappers as well as a few more ambitious larger works.

Once you see his paintings its easy to see why Korea has plucked him out of the past and kept his work from languishing in some forgotten corner.

The second artist Ian and I went in search of is Kim Young Gap. The museum dedicated to his work had been his home, a former elementary school converted to a studio and place to lay his head. He arrived in Jeju in 1985, searching for something magical to capture on film. His ventures into the fields, hills, and the natural world of the island produced shots of sublime beauty that mesmerize.

I stood as the minutes slipped away before one such photo. And then, when I learned that he sometimes spent days and weeks at teh same spot to capture the perfect photo,  I understood why his work is so captivating. Seeing his photos of Jeju makes you want to race out into the fields and hills and witness the beauty first hand. Though, most of us do not have the patience of Kim Young Gap to see such things. Thankfully, his work means we don’t have to.