Kim Song-gun (; born 1945) is a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n painter. He works at the

Mansudae Art Studio The Mansudae Art Studio is an art studio in Pyeongcheon District, Pyongyang, North Korea. It was founded in 1959, and it is one of the largest centers of art production in the world, at an area of over 120,000 square meters. The studio employs ar ...

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

Life

Kim was born in 1945. He initially worked as a blacksmith for 3 years. After his military service, he started working for the Mansudae in 1971, and studied at Pyongyang University of Fine Arts from 1972 to 1975.

Work

Kim Song-gun is also called "Painter of the Waves" since he mostly paints sea and river sceneries with thunderous waters. Despite a very realistic depiction the paintings carry a subtle kind of modern abstraction achieved through the dramatic presentation of the waves. One of those paintings, ''Waves of the Sea Kumgang'', was noticed internationally due to a photo from

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

's state visit to North Korea in 2009 showing him sitting next to Kim Jong-il with the large green waves painting in the background.

Awards

* 1999:

People's Prize The People's Prize ( ko, 인민상) is a North Korean arts and sciences award. It is awarded by the People's Prize Awarding Commission, which is working directly under the Cabinet of North Korea. The prize can be granted to works of art or people ...

for ''Waves of the Sea Kumgang''

Notes

External links

* Ingeborg Ruthe
"Mein Bild Der Woche: Parabeln auf Nordkoreanisch"
''

Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...

'', 28 August 2012 (in German) * "Hae Kumgang" an
exhibition report
on artdaily.org
Why Dictators Love Kitch?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Song-gun 1945 births Living people North Korean painters Contemporary painters Postmodern artists People from Pyongyang 20th-century North Korean male artists 20th-century North Korean artists 21st-century North Korean male artists