Human

Hwang Yong-Yop was born in 1931 in Pyeongyang, North Korea. In 1950, the Korean War led him to South Korea, where he attended Hongik University. His life trajectory having been directly affected by the doings of history, it is only natural that his work is the outcome of his experience and deep raw emotions. Going independent from the flow of various abstract trends in the local art scene in Korea at the time, Hwang developed a unique figurative style by incorporating elements of traditional Korean history and culture. Human (Lot 639) and Story of One Day (Lot 638) both represent an exploration of human fate in the aftermath of political oppression. The first, painted earlier in his career, incorporates geometrical lines to define an oppressed space surrounding figures, while the latter focuses on figures as emaciated human beings whose relationship is altered by the presence of a bird stuck on a stick, symbol of an imprisoned freedom.