Shin Sang-ho

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In this Korean name, the family name is Shin.
Dr.
Shin Sang-ho
Born1947
NationalitySouth Korean
SpouseHan Yun-sook
Korean name
Hangul
신상호
Revised RomanizationSin Sangho
McCune–ReischauerSin Sangho
Websitehttp://www.sanghoshin.kr/index.php

Shin Sang-Ho (Korean: 신상호; Hanja: 申相浩; born 1947) is an internationally known Korean ceramicist. His works can be found in museums around the world especially the Shin Sang-ho Art Museum. He is the former Dean, College of Fine Arts at Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea,[1] and former Director of the Clayarch Gimhae Museum.

Career[edit]

Shin Sang-ho was born in an area historically known as Yangju, and now known as Banghak-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul, South Korea. He became interested in ceramics when he was attending classes at Hongik University's Department of Crafts. Rather than going home during a school break, he went to a pottery in Icheon.

At that time, Icheon had no electricity or natural gas. A manually fed wood-fired kiln was the only way to fire ceramics. Further, without any modern equipment to throw clay or prepare it, Shin's initial foundation in ceramics techniques that had changed little since ancient times. Shin's claim during an interview that “I came to modern times through traditional ceramics" was not an over statement.[2]

After about a month, his parents came to visit. They found Shin rather dirty and wearing nothing but a shirt owing to the heat around the kiln.[2][3] Shin's father's response was pragmatic. He accepted his son's passion for ceramics and used his wealth to help further his son's career. He purchased the pottery and kiln that very day.[3] At that time, Icheon had about 100 potters working in 7 to 8 potteries.[4] Owing to his father's wealth Shin leap-frogged into the position of being employer and trainer for other potters before he even graduated from university. Master Kim Se-yong, was one of several famous ceramists trained by Shin.[5]

Dream Series, Buncheong Ware 1991

Starting in 1965 he began submitting his works to both the Korean Commerce and Industry Art Exhibition and Korean Industrial Artists Association Exhibition. He took a bronze medal in 1968.

While Shin was still a student at the University, he traveled to Japan.[3] After running out of money on the trip, Shin took a job working at a pottery in Fukuoka.[6] The pottery utilized a natural gas fired kiln. This was novel to Shin. Back in Icheon all kilns were laboriously wood fired. Further, potters believed it was the only way to achieve a rich celadon color. To convince himself that celadon wares could be successfully produced within a gas fired kiln, Shin ran some tests in the Japanese pottery. The results were so successful that Shin used the money made in Japan along with additional borrowed funds to purchase a gas fired kiln and shipped it to South Korea.[6]

Shin was expecting a 95% successful firing rate with new his gas kiln, instead of the low successful rate found when utilizing wood firing. However, his initial firings failed to achieve the same celadon color he obtained in Japan. He “tried to commit suicide at that time.”[6] Eventually, he traced the problem to South Korea's natural gas supply. It was not clean enough. He learned to cleanout the nozzles after every firing and installed his own desulphurization system to remove hydrogen sulfide. Shin's success caught the attention of other potteries who hired away his employees in order to learn his methods.[6]

1973 solo exhibitions in Japan including Tokyo, Osaka, Sendai, Yamagata, and Mitsukoshi Department Store where he received an award from the Culture and Information Commissioner. Three-person exhibition in Hamburg Germany.

In 1974, he was invited to join 3 other Korean potters in a four person exhibition held at Mitsuha.

In 1976 Shin settled on a rural property near the city of Yangju located north of Seoul. He continues to live on this property to this day and has built his home, guest house, studio, and museum.[7]

In 1978 he received the Chairman's award at Korea's National Folk Art Competition.

In 1979 exhibitions in New York and Washington DC

In 1979 Shin began to 'spy' on the behalf of the South Korean government.[6] This came about when ceramics was selected as 1 of the 10 strategic industries to promote the expansion of trade with other countries. Shin became part of a strategic industry inspection team that traveled internationally to learn how other countries were making ceramic items and bring that technology back to South Korea.

In 1980 exhibitions Boston, University of Southern California, U.C.L.A., and Shinjuku Japan

In 1981 works included in the Korean Contemporary Ceramic Exhibition (New York, Los Angeles, Paris)

In 1982 Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Department Store exhibition in Japan

In 1980's continued experimentation and developing his own particular style of celadon and buncheong ware. He also became a lecturer in the Applied Art Department of Sungshin Women's University and began working as a Professor of Ceramic Art, College of Fine Arts, Hongik University.[8] This position eventually led to him becoming Dean of the College of Fine Arts.[9]

In 1981, South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan traveled to Washington DC to meet President Ronald Reagan for a summit meeting.[10] He brought a moon jar vase made by Shin who was described as being "a leading Korean ceramist".[6][11] At the July 1981 wedding of Charles III and Diana, the best wishes of the people of South Korea were conveyed to the couple in the form of a vase by Shin. One news account described Shin's vase as were among the top five wedding gifts received from various countries.[6]

Also in 1981, South Korea was actively trying to counter the influence North Korea established during the 1970's in Africa.[12] South Korea's ambassador to Zaire, Lee Jong-eop, noticed that under the reign of autocratic leader Mobutu Sese Seko, art and culture was given full attention as a part of Zairianisation.[13] Lee came up with the idea of sending an artist from South Korea to meet Mobutu. Which is how Shin Sang-ho eventually found himself in Zaire in front of Mobuto to present him with a 60 cm tall, celadon, openwork vase as a gift.[6] The visit was Shin's first of many visits to Africa.

Display of Dream Series 1991

In 1986 then Korean President Chun Doo-hwan and his wife presented Queen Elizabeth II two of Shin's vases. See External Links below.

After a brief sojourn in London as a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Art (1995–1997) he began to switch gears. He returned to Korea with an abruptly different style that fused Western and Eastern design. The "Dream" series (1995) was one of his first exhibits to gain international recognition.[14] This series features traditional Asian vessel shapes and buncheong glazes decorated with abstract patterns reminiscent of Asian calligraphy or ink wash paintings.

In 2002, “The Dream of Africa” series, that sculpturally depicts animals using bold colors and patterns, was inspired by his trips to Africa and passion for African indigenous art.[15] A subset of this series, featuring goat heads, was further developed into its own series called "Totem". The heads were elevated on slab formed totem like towers. The "Head" series, featuring very large busts of African indigenous people, does not yet appear to have been shown to the public except in Shin's own museum.

In the 1990s Shin began developing "fired painting" tiles used as a means to apply ceramic arts to commercial architecture. In 2000, a particularly large installation he created was installed within the overhead covered walkway connecting the Seoul JW Marriott Hotel and the Seoul Central City Express Bus Terminal. Additional buildings that selected Shin's fired painting tiles to be incorporated into their facades include: Future City (Yonhap Media Center); Green Cross Yongin Building; The Classic 500 Building at Konkuk University; and Samsung Town (Seocho Building).[8]

In 2022 the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art presented an exhibition titled "Prayer for Life: Special Exhibition of Korean Polychrome Painting" that featured Shin's "Totem" series.[16] In 2023, the exhibition moved to San Diego.

In 2023, Shin's "Tree of Life" series and "Book of Revelation" series, that continue his interested in mainly two dimensional ceramics featuring texture and color, were scheduled for their first public display in London.[15]

Clayarch Gimhae Museum[edit]

Clayarch Gimhae Museum with 5000 fired painting tiles by Shin Sang-ho on exterior walls

The name of the Clayarch Gimhae Museum (클레이아크김해미술관) comes from the two words clay and architecture. It is believed to be the world's first museum dedicated to architectural ceramics like fired roof tiles, bricks, bathtubs, and sinks.[17] It opened on March 24, 2006 with Shin Sang-ho serving as Artistic Director.[18][19] I The 4,400 fired painting tiles by Shin Sang-ho are 48 cm square (19 inches) were handcrafted at Bugok Pottery.[20] The vibrant colors are intended to express the symbolic patterns of primitive art and embody the ideology of the museum. To permanently cast the colors, the tiles had to be fired 4 to 5 times at 1,250 Degrees C (2,282 Degrees F). The tiles are not permanently affixed to the building. Instead, they are supported on an aluminum frame and can be rearranged changing the future appearance of the building. Shin's work has been well received with many news accounts describing his achievement as helping to convert an entire building into a work of art.[20]

In 2020, the museum's design was awarded with a gold medal in Asia's largest design contest. Of the 2,340 designs from 38 countries, only 70 designs received this highest honor.[21]

Style[edit]

Joseon Period buncheong bowl similar to reproductions by Shin for the Japanese market.

Shin Sang-ho's style has evolved over his long career. This, may in part be owing to his philosophy of not recreating anything he has already made.[22] When he was working in Icheon, his earliest works were similar to traditional inlayed celadon Goryeo ware called sanggam. As his skill level increased, he began creating more intricate celadon openwork and at least a few double-openwork pieces.

Unlike contemporary ceramist Master Kim Se-yong's, who started his career at roughly the same time and still makes only celadon wares to this day, Shin began producing a large amount of buncheong wares similar to wares produced in the Joeson Period. These works are characterized by his use of simple shapes and earthy colors, which give his pieces a sense of natural beauty and serenity.[23] This style shift was likely in response to Japanese demand for traditional Japanese tea ware they call mishima.

Around this period he also began producing a style of pottery that was mostly similar to Joeson white porcelain. These works appear to have mostly sold into the Korean market. The moon jar vase presented to Ronald Reagan in 1981 was made in this style. This may not have been his first works in pure white porcelain. When he was working in Japan as a student, he may have produced the pure white bowls and teapots that can be found on the secondary auction market in Japan. These were fired in a gas kiln. His more difficult singe and double-openwork pieces featured sanggam style inlays appear to have been made after returning to South Korea and fired in the gas kiln he brought back from Japan.[24][25]

Up until this point, with the exception of his simple, pure white porcelains supplied into the Japanese market, there were at least some elements of traditional Korean style to be found in his works. One critic wrote he 'epitomized the uniquely Korean aesthetic sensibilities, with free-flowing and generous forms in order to instill a contemporary touch.'[26] Shin's departure from Korean sensibilities to becoming a ‘problematic figure’ in the Korean ceramics world has been traced to 1984. That was the year he met 'modern' ceramists when he began teaching at the University of Connecticut.[6]

In 1988, Shin took advantage of the draw created by the Seoul Summer Olympics to host a one-week workshop in his personal art studio. Prominent ceramists from around the word attended bringing with them new techniques that have helped make Shin and fellow Korean potters better known in the rest of the world.[6] In the late 1990's, after teaching in London and learning about the artistic values of African indigenous art he returned with an artistic style which was distinctly African in origin that lasted for several years.

However, that wasn't the final transformation of Shin's style. Shin kept evolving to the point that his style can only be described as uniquely his own. It is this fact that has made him recognized around the world. In Tatsuo Matsuyama's book, Portrait of a Modern Ceramic Artist, Shin was listed as one of the 66 most influential ceramists who shaped modern ceramics.[27]

He has also been deemed a heretic.[7]

Personal life[edit]

Shin Sang-ho is married to Han Yun-sook who made her own line of pottery from porcelain.[22] The couple raised two daughters, both of whom continue the family association with art.[19] Shin an avid collector. A large exhibition in London of African art was particularly influential. He was so enchanted by the original vitality of the works that he almost lived in the exhibition hall. Since then, he has frequently traveled to Africa. His home is filled with hundreds of artifacts collected from Africa.[19] In 2022 Shin reported he was in talks with Yangju City to donate his extensive collection of personal art as well as collected art.[6]

Shin is the chairman of Camp Red Cloud Design Cluster Creation Working Group. The group is working to utilize the property and buildings that were transferred from the United States Forces Korea to the government of South Korea. Shin's goal is to convert the property into a multi-use cultural space for galleries, artist residences, a school for design and art, and area to host art fairs.[15][28]  

Signature[edit]

When working in celadon, Shin typically signed his works by first engraving his stylized signature in thin clear lines and curves. The engraved area was then filled in with a darker clay before firing. When working in buncheong, Shin typically signed his works with a wider deep engraving that was left unfilled. Many buncheong works are signed near the foot instead of the bottom.

Selected collections[edit]

Shin's work is in the permanent collections of:

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  2. ^ a b Ha, Joo-hee (2022-11-29). "Shin Sang-ho, a master representing Korean ceramics "I lived like a crazy person, loving only pottery."한국 도예를 대표하는 거장 신상호". monthly.chosun.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  3. ^ a b c Tetto, Mark. "[마크테토의 아트스페이스] 젊은 거장, 도예가 신상호 Young master, ceramic artist Shin Sang-ho". m.post.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  4. ^ Hong, Chang-shin. "청자에 혼을 심는 도공 A potter who puts his soul into celadon". 언론사 뷰. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  5. ^ Choi, Seung-hyun. "無心으로 지핀 불가마에서 만다라를 굽다 :: 주간불교 Burning a mandala in a fire kiln made with no intention". m.bulgyonews.co.kr. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ha, Joo-hee (2022-11-29). "Shin Sang-ho, a master representing Korean ceramics "I lived like a crazy person, loving only pottery."한국 도예를 대표하는 거장 신상호". monthly.chosun.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  7. ^ a b Tetto, Mark. "[마크테토의 아트스페이스] 젊은 거장, 도예가 신상호 Young master, ceramic artist Shin Sang-ho". m.post.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  8. ^ a b 홈페이지, 신상호 공식. "신상호 스튜디오 About Shin Sang-ho". sanghoshin.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  9. ^ "Dr. Shin Sang-Ho (b. 1947) - Vase". www.rct.uk. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  10. ^ "Seeing human rights in the "proper manner": The Reagan-Chun Summit of February 1981". nsarchive2.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  11. ^ "Gifts to the President" (PDF). Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
  12. ^ Amstrong, Charles. "Juche and North Korea's Global Aspirations" (PDF). Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
  13. ^ Article, Rebecca Anne Proctor ShareShare This (2022-09-01). "Congo Is in a 'Cultural Crisis.' Here's How Artists, Dealers, and Collectors in the Capital of Kinshasa Are Using Art to Solve the Problem". Artnet News. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  14. ^ "Ceramics". prezi.com. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  15. ^ a b c "[ZOOM KOREA] Shin Sang-ho continues to mold a new path for Korean ceramics". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. 2023-01-04. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  16. ^ "Prayer for Life: Special Exhibition of Korean Polychrome Painting". The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.
  17. ^ "Clayarch Gimhae Museum | Creative City, Gimhae". www.gimhae.go.kr. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  18. ^ "Network | 경기도자미술관". www.gmocca.org (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  19. ^ a b c "흙과 색의 제국 '신상호의 세계'". 행복이 가득한 집 (in Korean). 2010-12-20. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  20. ^ a b 기자 Kim, 김중걸 Joong-geol (2006-01-03). "[김해]클레이아크 김해미술관 그 자태를 드러내다 Clayarch Gimhae Museum reveals itself". 경남도민일보 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  21. ^ dosol@busan.com, 정달식 선임기자. "클레이아크김해미술관, 아시아 최대 디자인 공모전 금상 받았다 Clayarch Gimhae Museum received a gold medal in Asia's largest design contest". 부산일보 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  22. ^ a b Lee, Ji-Hyeon (2010-12-20). "Empire of Earth and Color 'Shin Sang-ho's World '흙과 색의 제국 '신상호의 세계'". 행복이 가득한 집 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  23. ^ "Exhibitions". han-collection. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  24. ^ "Dr. Shin Sang-Ho (b. 1947) - Vase". www.rct.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  25. ^ "Dr. Shin Sang-Ho (b. 1947) - Vase". www.rct.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  26. ^ Chang, Kihun. "Constancy and Change in Korean Traditional Craft 2017" (PDF). Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum.
  27. ^ "［商品詳細 現代陶芸家の肖像 (松山龍雄)］阿部出版オンラインショップ". www.abepublishing.co.jp. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  28. ^ (의정부)임봉재 (2023-08-14). "[경기 의정부소식] 의정부시, 미래전략포럼 개최…문화정책 비전을 설계하다". 아주경제 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  29. ^ Katz, Ellen (2014-07-31). "file under fiber: Everson Museum of Art Syracuse New York". file under fiber. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  30. ^ "Korean Collectors to Expect at the Buzzy Events in Seoul This Week". Larry's List. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  31. ^ Russeth, Andrew (2022-08-25). "South Korean collector Higgin Kim: 'People are genuinely rough. Art works like a tenderiser'". Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  32. ^ "LongHouse Reserve". www.lihistoricartistssites.org. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  33. ^ "Korean Ceramic Culture: Legacy of Earth and Fire | Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art". jsma.uoregon.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-11.

External links[edit]

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