A unique presence in the Korean fashion world, photographer Yongho Kim. He is an artist who has continuously pioneered new fields for over 40 years. He has built his own worldview by creating his own visual language not only in photography but in a wide range of fields. Under the firm belief that 'one must not resemble anyone', he embraced fine art in commercial photography and expressed the medium of photography extraordinary. He is questioning the ontological reflection on the inner side of human beings and existence himself, and is thinking about 'an escape', a haven in a state of weightlessness where discrimination does not exist. I met Kim Yong-ho, a true artist in this era who intuitively feels what his contemporary calling is.
THANKS GIVING (hereinafter referred to as TG) Artist Yong-ho Kim's works spurred by the eyes of the society dispel common beliefs. Where did your pioneering perspective come from?
Yongho Kim believes that the source of commercial photography is pure art. Therefore, it is meaningless to distinguish between commercial photography and art. I consider it to be my destiny to look at the world in an interesting way, to explore it with a sharp sense, and to express it with insight. For the past 40 years, I have satisfied my curiosity by applying fine art to commercial work. Therefore, I am indebted to art. When we feel our thirst for art, don't we look for clues at the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the National Museum of Contemporary Art, rather than the Museum of Modern Art in New York or the Center Pompidou? The world we have not yet experienced is breathing in the legacy of the past, not the future.
TG Presented a series of works expressing the nobility of Lotus at the exhibition 'Pean (彼岸)', which means 'realizing the truth and making a name for the ideal'. Why did your gaze stay on the lotus leaf?
Kim Yong-ho 10 years ago, while watching 'Joseon Folktales', I became addicted to a kite that symbolized the love of the Buddha and the nobleness of the gentleman. The kite, a symbol of abundance, is a mark of fertility and prosperity, the manor system, and the glory of wealth. Such a kite will not get wet even if it is drenched in rain. Showing off her graceful appearance, she only holds enough raindrops to hold it in and lets it flow. The scholars of Euro-Chosun with this kite made ponds in the yard and planted kites to make ponds. In particular, King Sukjong built a new pavilion in the backyard of Changdeokgung Palace and named it 'Aeryeonjeong'. As I stood tall and stared at the kite that was not biased to either side, I suddenly thought that I should enter the kite. First of all, I think that anything has to be new. Therefore, he does not shy away from any effort that follows. It is a great joy for me to unravel a world that no one has ever seen and that no one has ever experienced with my own visual language and formula.
The TG work <Kite> is a work that confronts a lotus leaf with a long breath in the water, not out of the water. What did you feel through the process?
Kim Yong-ho Everyone looks down at the lotus by the pond. The curiosity of 'what a kite looks like in the water' led me into the water. It was an effort to take one step closer to the truth by comparing it to a kite in which two worlds were separated by the water surface. I was once the country's first National Geographic diver. I was curious about underwater photography, so I tried it, but after experiencing a severe panic in the water, I left the diving suit for a while, and then took it out and put it on again because I got scratched during a love affair. Wearing a heavy wetsuit in midsummer, while pushing through the densely packed regiments, while walking through the muddy fields, when you find a landscape you like, then you lie down in the water with peace of mind. The moment the cool water and the touch of the wind surround me, emotions from going back and forth between heaven and earth, heaven and hell come flooding in, and I witness a landscape completely different from the world I knew until now. Enjoying the dreamlike world that Shakespeare's <Hamlet>'s <Ophelia> might be seeing by British painter John Everett Millais, I imagine another me who is watching me. If I can become myself in another world even for a moment at the border of existence, it is also an outside world.
TG is a photographer and also writes poetry. Visual language and writing are in some way opposites, so why focus on both? Kim Yong-ho I can't write well, but I do occasionally. I've written novels before and tried them out. When I think of something, I write it down. My insomnia is obviously due to an unsolved homework in my head, but on the other hand, the insomnia is the source of inspiration. There are times when he falls asleep without being able to release something and finally wakes up his consciousness or body. When that happens, I jump up and go down with an enamel pen before anything in my head runs away. If you just carefully record the words mixed with self-help, you will soon be organized and find the answer. As a result, the phrase 'a world outside' came to light.
it may be The spirit of longing for a modern boy, lying in a pond, dreaming of a world outside, and exploring the Silk Road around the world is the 'road' I have been walking on.
TG For <Modeun Modern World>, the sequel to <Modeun Modern> published in 2013, a total of 8 I took 124 photos.
TG You express your desire for a noble life through a colorful world of art. What are you preoccupied with right now?
Yongho Kim We live in an era of acceleration. 40 years can't beat the speed of 4 years. Newspapers and exhibitions have been transformed into media art, and interest and concern, concerns and excitement about the metaverse and NFT coexist. Recently, an information and communication company asked me to implement digital as an image. It was a mission to solve the three digital elements 'ABC', which symbolize artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and cloud, in a visual way. People are not aware of it, but we live with the help of ABC in our daily life. Send an e-mail to your phone and use the app to get a taxi. It is true that the digital utopia puts human convenience first, but in the end, all of this is for everyone to live a beautiful and happy life! This is also the reason why the work was named 'Beautiful New World'.
What are your future plans for TG?
Kim Yong-ho It's what he senses with his whole body. A new challenge has already begun.
Kim Yong-ho <All Modern Worlds> is a collection of photos filled with philosophical thoughts and is a story about art and world life. The journey began while filming Hyundai Motor's overseas production plant. As I looked around the factories that extended to Asia, Europe and the Americas, I thought of the Silk Road. This book is my own photo language that enterprisingly expresses the unfamiliar feelings I encountered in this nationality, such as a Turkish temple, the Niteroi Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro, and the Russian traditional doll Matryoshka and Kazan Cathedral. It is not enough to explain the Silk Road simply as a physical 'road'. That 'way' is perhaps a philosophy and an attitude
The path that TG artist Yongho Kim has walked is modern itself. Where did the 'Kim Yong-ho Style', which was recorded as a master of fashion photography that ruled the era and as a pronoun of Korean men's fashion with his own unique color, come from?
Yongho Kim German 'Zeitgeist', that is, the spirit of the times, literally means the sentiments, ideologies, and tendencies of thinking that permeated a particular era. The spirit of the zeitgeist has unique properties in a specific period, and was used to explain various phenomena in history or philosophy. My tastes and perspectives are explained by the romanticism that succeeded the classicism of the 17th century, the melancholy tendency of the art world in the 1890s, the longing for a modern boy in the 1930s, the spirit of optimism in the 1960s, and the attitude to accept tradition and history in postmodernism. When the Enlightenment thinker Voltaire explained the drivers of historical events, didn't he say that the spirit of the times is the force that moves the world?
