Hyung Chong Kim became an artist when Korea could still be called “the land of the morning calm.” As a young man he learned to paint beautiful landscapes in his country’s 1,000-year-old style: spare studies of mountains, orchids, and young pink-cheeked women. After his family survived the Korean war, Kim gave his son, Sung Ho, two rules to live by: You must go to church every Sunday, to thank God for sparing us. And you must paint as I paint, so Korean art will survive for one more generation.
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“After the war my father was a schoolteacher, so he make a little bit better money,” Kim said. “He doing job, and then after, he doing drawing. That’s why I respect. My father taught me basic arts. I graduate from college after he taught me traditional Korean art. When I came here I learned Western-style art, oil painting, installation. My other job is traditional Korean art. I work half-and-half.”
“I show you something,” Kim said. “It’s not finished yet.”
“Do you have the patience to listen to me?” Ahn asked a visitor, putting politeness before self-promotion. But before he could begin his story he received a tap on the shoulder.
Kim stood beside the bar, observing the success of his grand opening. A reporter from the local Korean newspaper was there. In the courtyard behind the building a group of Korean artists sat cross-legged on mats, eating cake with chopsticks. A man from an art gallery in Michigan approached Ahn and expressed an interest in showing the painter’s work.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Audrey Cho.
