NamGoong Won Art Gallery

Rhythm of the Wave

This “A Pleasant Day”  is a canvas woven with the golden light of joy, a central sunburst radiating warmth through thick yellow and white sweeps. Against the soft, lavender-stitched field, dynamic black silhouettes dance, their movements a raw, rhythmic echo of unburdened exhilaration. The red and purple border holds the entire, vibrant moment in a gentle, handmade embrace.

Rhythm of the Wave

This “My Dreaming Self” sets against a soft, lavender-crocheted expanse, the painting evokes a weightless, liminal space. Two ethereal, abstracted figures—the artist’s self revisiting childhood—float gently, surrounded by large, cloud-like patches of white, black, and jewel tones. The rhythmic distribution of these color ‘bubbles’ suggests the slow, meditative, and non-linear flow of subconscious thought and memory.

Rhythm of the Wave

The “Light of the City” is chromatic supernova, where thousands of tiny lights converge in a blinding, central burst. Saturated lines of every hue—magenta, emerald, cerulean—are explosively projected outwards, ripping through the white knitted fabric. It is the overwhelming, electric pulse of the metropolis, a dazzling, fragmented energy that radiates from a silent, vibrant core.

Rhythm of the Wave

In the “Traces of the City”,  canvas is a white silence interrupted by an electric storm of activity. Thousands of minute, colorful splatters create a shimmering, kinetic haze, all circling a small, resilient yellow kernel at the center. It captures the ephemeral dust and memory left behind by constant movement, where a quiet soul anchors the surrounding urban din.

Rhythm of the Wave

This “Fear”, a bifurcated psyche: on the left, an abyss of black and white chaos erupts, a raw, textural scream of splattered darkness upon the woven ground. On the right, a contained refuge of geometric certainty—a sharp, knitted yellow and black fortress—stands defiant, only its rigid boundary threatened by the chaotic spray of turquoise and red, capturing the tension between control and terror.

Rhythm of the Wave

The “Beautiful Trajectory”, a  tapestry of accumulated moments, is a quilt-like collage built from squares of crocheted or knitted fiber. Each block, tinted with soft pastels, moss greens, and bright fuchsia, represents a segment of a life’s path. The texture is paramount, symbolizing the patient, interwoven labor of existence—a tactile map of a beautiful, multifaceted journey.

Rhythm of the Wave

The “Different Thoughts”, is a visual conversation in contrast with two powerful rectangular forces dominating the neutral background. One side burns with a deep, contemplative magenta and black sorrow, while the other glows with an intense, open blue energy. A violent cascade of white, action-painted splatters connects and separates them, suggesting the passionate, yet untangling, nature of conflicting internal worlds.

Rhythm of the Wave

In Childhood: The canvas explodes into a tempest of memory, a chaotic vortex of pink, yellow, blue, and black paint lines swirling rapidly into a central eye. A heavy, dark form—the shadow of a former self—hangs above the whirlwind. The overall effect is the unfiltered rush of childhood emotion: vibrant, confusing, intensely felt, and framed by the stability of the knitted foundation.

Rhythm of the Wave

“Traces of Childhood”: The painting is a memory tunnel, its beige, porous knitting saturated with the patina of time. Layers of vibrant color—red, green, gold—are splashed and drawn toward a muted, central darkness, like a past event receding. These drips are the visceral scars of history, flowing down the fiber matrix, each mark a fragment of a cherished, complex past.

Rhythm of the Wave

“It’s Just the Two of Us”, a deeply protected, centripetal world. Hand-drawn circles of bright white, shimmering gold-green, and fierce burnt-orange spiral inward, defining a sacred space on the rough green field. The dense, dark nucleus at the center is the hushed core of unity—a small, intense bond from which all life and protective energy radiates outward in vibrant, concentric waves.

Rhythm of the Wave

“The Kaleidoscope of Life”, a checkerboard of human experience, this piece is a mosaic of stitched fabric squares, each a miniature world. Across this humble, quilted topography, bold, gestural lines—black, white, and primary colors—are quickly drawn and dripped. Each square holds a unique, intense expression: a knot of blue contemplation, a splash of red fury, a spiral of green thought. It is a powerful metaphor for the infinite variety of life and emotion, held together by the simple, enduring thread of existence.

ARTist

NAMgOONG woN

Scarecrow is the eternal theme of my work and the expression of my life. Honest and simple, the Scarecrow has been brought together from nature to his inner world, and his inner world is now a philosophy. These days, I am re-equipping myself into a series of emptiness, sharing, standing up, and love as a series of “Scarecrow Philosophy.” Action painting techniques have been added to the previous knife work to eject a Scarecrow-free Scarecrow (human) with strong fingertips.

biography

Artworks are permanently collected and displayed by

  • National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA)

  • Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)

  • Gyeonggi-do Museum of Art

  • Gyeonggi-do Office

  • Seongnam City Hall

  • Seongnam Art Center Art Museum

  • Kyunghyang Newspaper

  • Kyungwon University

  • Taiwan Art Village

  • Kanakawa Cultural Foundation, Japan

2025

  • Namgungwon Invitational Exhibition (Paju Artrin Museum)

  • A Hidden Story Exhibition by Artists through a Collection of Paintings and writing (Gapyeong Namsong Art Museum)

  • Artists’ Age Spiritual Exhibition (Innsadong La Mer Gallery)

2024

  • Namgungwon’s Painting Festival (Echo Museum)

  • View the status of Gyeonggi Art (Namsong Museum of Art)

2023

  • Gyeonggi Art History (Yangpyeong-gun Museum of Art)

  • Exhibition of us cruise special artist (us cruise exhibition hall in Jamwon district, Hangang River)

2022

  • White Porcelain, how did you put your body temperature in the soil? / Seoul Craft Museum

2021

  • “I am the painter of the Republic of Korea,” 90 individual invitation/(Released comprehensive book)

2020

  • Human Exhibition (Jeongmungyu Art Museum, Ansan, Korea)

  • LA VILLE A DES ARS Invitational Individual Exhibition (Paris)

  • Comparaisons (Grand Palais, Paris)

  • Invitation Exhibition of Hyunin Gallery (Jeju)

2019

  • Seoul Art Expo (COEX, Seoul)

2018

  • Turkish Cultural Center Invitation Exhibition (Ankara)

  • Seoul Art Show (COEX, Seoul)

2017

  • Namgungwon New York Invitational Exhibition (K&P Gallery New York)

  • Celebration of the 14th Art World Award Main Prize (Monthly Art World)

2016

  • Contemporary Art Show (Singapore)

  • Korea Painting Festival (Hanjeon Art Center, Seoul)

2015

  • Minu Museum of Modern Art (Minu Museum of Modern Art, Seongnam, Korea)

2014

  • Journey of Life, Namgungwon Act 2, Chapter 1 Exhibition (Hangaram Museum of Art, Seoul)

  • Gallery Art World Invitation Exhibition (Monthly Art World Invitation)

2013

  • Art Karlsruhe (Germany)

  • Namsong International Art Show (Seongnam Art Center Art Museum)

2012

  • Art Asia Exhibition (COEX, Seoul)

  • Gyeonggi-do Representative Artist Exhibition (Namsong Museum of Art)

2010

  • Power of Gyeonggi-do (Gyeonggi Museum of Art)

  • 28th Hwarang Art Festival (BEXCO, Busan)

2009

  • Seoul Art Festival 2009 (Seoul Press Center Seoul Gallery)

  • K.COSA Exhibition to commemorate the 17th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and China (Bukyong Sangsang Museum of Art)

  • LA Art Show (LA, USA)

2008

  • Beijing Olympic Art Festival (Beijing, China)

  • Paris Tour (inviting 15 Paris districts)

  • Golden Eye Art Fair/Golden Eye Award (COEX, Seoul)

2007

  • Salon d’automné, Paris, France

  • MANIF Seoul International Art Fair Special Award (Hangaram Museum of Art, Seoul)

2006

  • KIAF International Art Fair Invitation to Bon Gallery (COEX, Seoul)

2005

  • Shanghai Art Fair (China)

  • Sydney Art Fair (Australia)

2004

  • MAC 2000 Art Fair Invitation (Paris ESPACE CHAMPERRET)

1996

  • Celebration of the 5th Korea Artist Award (Joseon Ilbo Art Museum, Seoul)

1994

  • Paris Invitational Exhibition (Galerie Anne Fugier)

1993

  • Personal Invitation Exhibition (Planned by Art Era-Creative Gallery, Seoul)

1992

  • Gallery Army Invitational Exhibition (Amih Gallery)

  • Graduate School of Fine Arts Education, Yonsei University

    • Degree: Graduate School of Education (Master’s degree)

  • The Present:

    • Director of Namsong Art Museum

    • Art One TV Representative

  • The Former:

    • Chairman of the Federation of Gyeonggi Arts Associations

    • Professor of Painting at Kyungwon University College of Art

    • CEO of Anyang Culture and Arts Foundation

  • Hwangjo Geunjeong Medal (황조 근정 훈장) – Presidential Award

  • Minister of Education Award

  • 14th Art World Award

  • The 5th Korea Artist Award Commemorative Exhibition (Joseon Ilbo Art Museum)

  • MANIF Seoul International Art Fair Special Award

  • Korea Arts Festival Grand Prize – Seoul Arts Center (Korea-U.S. Cooperative)

  • Seongnam City Culture Award

  • Gapyeong Culture Award

  • Korea Arts Awards (Art Section) – Korea Arts Association

  • Gyeonggi Arts Awards (Art Section) – Gyeonggi Arts Association

  • Proud Artist Award (Seongnam Arts Association)

  • Art Korea Broadcasting Corporation/Korea Press Service Award

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