Lot 66: Kang Ik-Joong , b. 1960 Happy World mixed media mounted on wooden board

signed in Korean; signed in English, numbered F30A1 and dated 2006/2008 on the side mixed media mounted on wooden board

47 by 47 by 7 in. 119.4 by 119.4 by 17.8 cm.

Acquired by the present owner directly from the artist

New York-based Korean artist Kang Ik-Joong (b. 1960) received his MFA from Pratt Institute and has exhibited his work at the Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria and at the Venice Biennale. The concept of play is central to Kang's work, and he has collaborated on massive installations with schoolchildren from around the world, including his large-scale work Amazed World that was exhibited at the United Nations in 2001-02 and comprised 34,000 drawings made by children from 135 nations. History too is central to Kang's production, and he often looks back at traditional Korean arts for inspiration and even family history; Kang's great-great-grandfather was the revered literati artist Kang Sehwang (1713-1791), one of esteemed artists of the Joseon Dynasty. Available here are four of Kang's well-known Moon Jar (Lot 67) paintings, one each in pink, brown, green and blue. Moon jars are one of the most important styles of traditional Korean ceramics and were first developed in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). They are made from white porcelain and do not have any additional decoration; their purity and natural shapes are their defining traits. Kang captures the spirit of these celestial containers in his paintings which give the illusion of three-dimensional space thanks to the artist's skill at trompe-l'oeil. Although perfectly flat, Kang's works give the illusion of both a curvaceous jar that seems to both extend from and recess into the painting in equal measure. The cheerful candy-colors surrounding them give them a most contemporary feel, allowing Kang to blend traditional and Pop Art aesthetics into a unified form. Kang's recent work Happy World (Lot 66, 2006-08) is a nearly 4-foot-square assemblage of 144 3-inch-square pieces, each with a unique painting, and enhanced by a variety of kitschy toys, compact discs and other objects culled from the artist's immediate environment. From miniature moon jar paintings to colorful abstractions, these small format paintings were invented by Kang through necessity: while a student at Pratt, he had to work long hours at a Korean grocery store to put himself through school, and the only time he had to paint was during his subway commute. He soon found that the 3-inch pieces were easily transportable, and that he could paint on them while riding the train. The various toys and objects attached to the work, from a plastic statue of the Virgin Mary to a rubber ducky, represent the various things that Kang encounters on a daily basis, and in their own way, invoke a sense of play and humor into the artist's body of work. -Eric Shiner