About the artist
Ree Soo-jong. Pioneering ceramic artist, he belongs to the first generation of modern ceramicists in South Korea and is a leading figure in the Korean ceramic studio movement. In the decades after the Korean war there was a rapid modernisation of society, politics, art and culture and a move to revive Korea’s rich traditional ceramic arts. At this time, Ree started to experiment in abstract ceramic painting and sculpture, blurring the lines between craft and fine art and bringing back the forgotten iron and white-slip decoration techniques of the 15th -16th century.
Ree treats the ceramic surface as if it were paper and works with Korean calligraphy techniques, incorporating spontaneous, energetic strokes into his forms. Ree’s iron painted porcelain Moon Jars subvert the perfect sphere of the Moon Jar by leaving the seam lines visible, revealing the intersection or ‘skeleton’ of the jars and highlighting the process of making.
Whilst a traditional Moon Jar can be described as a calm and modest female character, Ree’s adaptations add a bold masculine element. The artist inscribes his white Moon Jars with dark iron-brown brushstrokes, suggesting we need to encounter the dark in order to appreciate the light.
Image credit: Photograph of Ree Soo-jong. Courtesy of Lloyd Choi Gallery.
