Heaven In Us

Art.Poem

Heaven in us is composed of poems by Yun Dong-ju, who is loved for his pure and concise poetry, and art by Kim Hwanki, who gives a transcendent and sublimated experience.

About the Author

Yun Dong-Ju was born on 30 December 1917 in a Korean village in Manchuria in China, which is resided by migrants fleeing from Japanese imperialism. After his childhood, he studied in Pyongyang and Seoul, Korea as well as in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan, where he majored in English literature. On 14 July 1943, while returning from his studies to visit his homeland, he was arrested by the Japanese police as an enemy combatant and imprisoned in Fukuhoka Prison, Japan. He was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for independence activism and died in February 1945 at the age of 27 for unknown reasons. After his death, a collection of his poems was published in 1948. His poetry has been much loved ever since for his simple words and pureness of self-reflection.

About the Artist

Kim Whanki (* 27. Feb 1913 † 25. Jul 1974 ) was one of the most famous artist of South Korea and worked during his lifetime in Seoul, Tokyo, Paris and New York. His early works were semi-abstract paintings which allowed viewers to see certain forms, but his later works were more deeply absorbed abstract paintings, filled with lines and spaces. With refined and moderated formative expression based on Lyricism, he created his characteristic art world. “I feel the spirit of poetry here. One should hear a song in art. I hear very powerful songs in many great works. Now I know what I have been singing all these years, I finally got to know it, as I sensed the bright sun, here in Paris.(1957, Paris)” The artist's partner Kim Hyang-an established the Whanki Foundation in 1978 and opened the Whanki Museum in 1992, Seoul, Southkorea.