Korean Artist Young Sil Rho to Present at SUMA

Published: October 11, 2016 | Author: Lola Taylor | Read Time: 3 minutes

Korean artist Young Sil Rho will be presenting an artist talk at the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA) on October 13, 2016, at 7 PM. Rho’s artist talk will cover her journey to becoming an artist and coincides with the opening of her exhibit at the museum that same day. This event is sponsored by Southern Utah University’s (SUU) Art & Design Art Insights program. Admission is free, and the general public is invited to attend.

In the November 2003 catalog of her work, Rho said, “I have been partial to classical western art and its traditional medium and used the oil in a traditional manner. In my work, however, I have incorporated the context of my cultural background and experience. That I have tried to pursue and render the quintessential aspects of natural beauty defines the core of my style.”

Young Sil Rho grew up in the beautiful countryside of Korea, surrounded by mountains, valleys, and fields, all of which she felt compelled to put on paper from a young age. She began by drawing on pieces of paper she found in her father’s office, later attending the Ewha Girls’ High School in Seoul to develop the technical foundations of drawing and painting. Rho then went on to earn a BFA with a concentration in oil painting from Ewha Women’s University in 1959.

Growing up in the aftermath of the Korean War (1950-1953), Rho had to seek out beauty in a country that was left in desolation. She was drawn to the French Impressionists plein air style of painting that captured a moment in time while experimenting with the effect of natural light on color. Her professional artistic career began in 1957 when her painting A Village in Seoul, Dang In Ri was presented at the prestigious Korean Fine Arts Association.

After marrying a Korean diplomat, Rho began her life overseas in 1969. With nearly three decades spent in Japan, the United States, London and Hong Kong, Rho was able to bring an international dimension to her artistic career, serving as the basis for her extensive bodies of work on multi-national landscapes.

Rho has participated in many solo and group exhibitions throughout the years. She has also received awards from the Korean National Art Exhibitions, Korean Photographers Association, the Gogen Art League and the Korean Art on Fan Association. Her work is included in collections at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Korea, and SUMA, as well as private collections around the world. She has produced several hundred oil paintings and countless works sketched in pencil and coal. The work that is currently on exhibit was donated by Young Sil Rho as a gift to SUMA’s permanent collection.

When talking about her work as an artist, Rho said, “The predominant theme of my work throughout the years has been nature and our relationship to it. Nature not only provides us an environment to live in but also a platform, which enables us to create culture. An open discourse with nature has spiritually enriched me, and I have tried to compose it and try to give it a form on canvas. My work therefore is simply a creative process through which personal observation is shaped by change of seasons, locations, time and its varying climate. In nature, there are also varying traces of humanity. My endeavors are to compose these impressions transmitted to my perceptive functions.”

Art Insights is hosted during the fall and spring semesters by SUU’s Art & Design faculty. Students and community members meet to experience presentations and discussions by visiting artists and art educators from around the nation who share their work and insights.

---

Tags: International Affairs

Contact Information:

435-586-5400
Contact the Office of Marketing Communication