“Recording the Structural Contradictions of the Era While Working as a Miner in Gangwon Province”
“Observing Reality with Intense Eyes from a Low Standpoint”,
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Ui-rae = The painter Hwang Jae-hyung, known as the ‘miner artist’ who depicted the workers of mining villages and engaged in labor and cultural movements while working as a miner, passed away on the 27th, according to Gana Art. He was 74 years old.
Born in 1952 in Boseong, South Jeolla Province, Hwang Jae-hyung graduated from Chung-Ang University with a degree in painting in 1981. During his time at university, he was part of the Minjung Art group ‘Imsulnyeon’ and received an encouragement award at the Central Art Exhibition for his work “Hwangji 330” (1981).
However, instead of pursuing a career as a full-time artist after graduation, he moved to Gangwon Province, where he worked for three years as a miner in regions such as Taebaek, Samcheok, and Jeongseon. Hwang experienced the hardships and dangers of working in mines firsthand and used these experiences to realistically portray the daily lives of mining villages, the tension of the labor sites, and the joys and sorrows of the community.
Even after he had to quit mining due to severe conjunctivitis, he remained in Gangwon Province, participating in labor and cultural movements while continuing his work.
His practical approach to finding meaning in art from life itself earned him the moniker ‘miner artist.’ In the 1990s, he captured the scenery of declining mining villages and the landscapes of Gangwon Province, while after 2010, he used materials like hair and graphite to create works that addressed contemporary social issues and characters from mining communities.
His work is evaluated as a documentation of the structural contradictions of an era that were overshadowed by development and growth.
Gana Art, in a eulogy, said, “He was an artist who observed reality with intense eyes from the lowest places of his time,” and “He demonstrated throughout his life that a single person’s life can become the portrait of an era without losing respect for human existence and nature.”
In 2017, he received the first Park Soo-geun Art Prize, and in 2021, he held a solo exhibition titled ‘Hoecheon’ at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, which highlighted his artistic achievements.
He is survived by his wife Mo Jin-myung, and one son and one daughter, Hwang Je-yoon and Hwang Jung-ah. The funeral will be held at Asan Medical Center Funeral Hall 31 in Seoul, with the procession starting at 7:40 a.m. on March 1.