1960 Born on Cheju city, Korea
1992 Graduated from College of Art, Cheju National University, Cheju-do, Korea

1995 Fabian Walter Gallery (Basel)
1993 Sejong Gallery (Cheju)
1993 Danseong Gallery (Seoul)

1997 - 1995 - Grand Art Exhibition of Cheju Island, Invited (Cultural Center, Cheju)
1997 Beach Performance Center, Cheju
1996 - 1991 Cheju Art Festival (Cultural Center, Cheju)
1996 Cheju Art Gallery (Cheju)
1996, 1994, 1993, 1991 Annual Korea „Art Festival“ (National Museum of Contemporary Art, Kwachon)
1995 Cheju-Okinawa Art Exchange Exhibition (Naha city Gallery, Okinawa, Cultural Center, Cheju)
Cheju international Biennale (Cultural Center, Cheju)
1995, 1994 Cheju Youth Artists Invitation Exhibition (Cultural Center, Cheju)
1995 Performance Center (Beach Performance Center, Cheju)
"Three Man Show" (Mangisch Gallery, Zurich)
Invitation Exhibition for the Openning of Hansol Gallery (Cheju)
1994 Cheju Invitation Art Exhibition (Paiksang Gallery, Seoul)
"Three man Show" (Syrlin Stuttgarter Kunstverein, Stuttgart)
Sejong Gallery, Cheju
Yaemaek Gallery, Seoul
1993 Won grand prix at Cheju Grand Art Exhibition (Cheju Literary and Art Hall)
Seoul Contemporary Art Festival (Art Hall in Literary and Art Center)
Exhibition for Celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of Dan-seong Gallery (Seoul)
1993 - 1987 The South Region Contemporary Art Festival (Cheongju, Gwangju, Daejun, Mokpo, Cheju, Ulsan)
1992 National Youths Art Festival "The Flags of brilliant Future" (All over the country)
International Interchange Art Festival (Jang-an Art Hall, Suweon)
Today's Exhibition for Altogether (Indeco Gallery, Seoul)
The Exhibition of Man and History (Dan-seong Gallery, Seoul)
1992, 1990, 1987 Busan International Biennial (Busan Art Center)
1992 - 1987 The Exhibition of the Members of 'Kwanjum' Group
1992 - 1983 The Exhibition of the 'Sisang' Group
1991 Korea New-Generation's Exhibition of Contemporary Art (Kyoto International Interchange Association, Japan)
Daejun International Triennial (Daejun City Hall Art Center, Daejun)
The Exhibition for Exchange of Exferience (Kwan-hoon Gallery, Seoul)
FRONT DMZ (Art Center, Seoul)
MBC Grand Art Exhibition (Art Center, Seoul)
The Exhibition for Diffusion of Consciousness (Kyong-in Museum, Seoul)
1990 Gwan-hoon Gallery, Seoul
The Exhibition for Today's Provincial Artists in the plan of Guem-ho Museum (Seoul)
The Exhibition of 1990's life in Cheju its Details and Phase (Sae-jong Gallery, Cheju)
Do-ol Gallery, Seoul
1989 April Exhibition (Sae-jong Gallery, Cheju)
1988 Celebrating Exhibition for the First Annivesary of Sinchonji Art Museum, (Cheju)
United Festival for Artists (Geurimmadang-Min, Seoul)
The Wave of Contemporary Art Festival by paper (Namdo Art Hall, Gwangju)
1987 Today's Meeting Exhibition (Daejun Art Center)

A Warning of Dehumanization and A Hope - „The World of Hong Seong-Seok's Works“
It is heavy, dark and gloomy. Dark solemnity of human drama fills up every scene of the pictures. Parts of human body are magnified, and each part stretches the scene with tight tension like body-builder's muscles. Hong Seong-Seok's paintings displayed this time, with the theme "Frome the Awe of Life", bitterly criticize dehumanized modern civilization and simultaneously try to show its humane side. By using the dark monochrome he expresses every section of human body by a realistic technique as if he saw through it with such a mechanical instrument as X-ray camera. Here and there human being's distressful looks are carved. And the numerals nailed on the pictures seem to make a protest against the present situation that confines human lives within a frame like serial numbers or identification card numbers. Those two or three slender and sharp lines that graze one part of the pictures irregularly are also the symbol of restraint of human beings. And the upper part of man's body that seems to be reflected in a broken mirror reminds us of people who have lost the hope of the future. But he doesn't say only about hopelessness. He separates one-thirds of the canvas for formative change, and by drawing eggs on it as a symbol of life he predicts the birth of new life. Thus he throws a message of hope to modern people who have lost their dreams.

Mr. Hong's drawings show a crossing between the tragedy of modern people and the expectation of a new-coming age. Some of his paintings remind us of Michelangelo's marble sculpture "A Dying Slave" and the ropes binding the Slave who has surrendered himself to the restaining destiny. And they also remind us of Luo's serial works "Miserere". Particularly in "Miserere" there is a crucifix with the title 'Jejus will stay in the pain of death until the end of the world'. Mr. Hong’s drawings which seem to re-illuminate the breast of the crucifix have religious solemnity, and remind us of Jejus's crucifixion, death and resurrection in connection with the symbol of eggs. So it seems that he tries to re-interpret the image of Michelangello and Luo by a modernistic technique. His paintings give an impression of abstract paintings because of the big expansion of parts. They seem to imply some social meanings by emphasizing the criticism of civilization. Thus thoroughly personal and artificial aspects underlie in his paintings. Mr. Hong's „Man“ originats "from the awe of life", the motive of his paintings. He symmetrizes human beings with eggs and reduces colors to nearly one color containing dynamic texture. He even devides the color space, linking the realistic description of surrealism to the representation. The two extreme duality of man and egg is arranged on one picture like an experiment. Such contrast like this may become a shock, and may be regarded as a switch or an encroachment. And such subconcious rhythm as tight contrast, tension and relax can be pointed as an important moulding language. Hong Seong-Seok focuses on human bodies and reflect the loss of humanity, which has come to be merciless and cruel. Thus he leads us to make self-examination. In Hong Seong-Seok's drawings we can see an effort to illuminate critically the evil influence of modern civilization.
Text by Kim Won-Min (Art Critic)

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