um tae-jung
The Genesis of a Sculptural Vision Born in 1938 in the historic city of Mungyeong, South Korea, Um Tae-jung emerged as a transformative figure during a pivotal era of Korean art history. His formative years were defined by an academic rigor that bridged the gap between local traditions and international modernism. After honing his skills at the Seoul National University, his artistic consciousness underwent a profound expansion through his studies at the Saint Martin's School of Art in London. This exposure to the European avant-garde provided him with the conceptual tools to move beyond repr…
The Subject Atlas
A chart of um tae-jung's corpus mapped not by date but by subject. Spokes are what they painted; rings are when; and the threads between stars reveal the patrons and places that secretly connect them.
Spokes — Subject
Each arm of the atlas gathers works by what they depict: portraits, sacred scenes, mythologies, and the scientific studies. Click a spoke to swing that cluster to the top.
Rings — Career Period
Distance from the center marks time. The innermost ring is the earliest period; the outermost, the final years. Style matures as you move outward.
Threads — Shared Context
Coloured lines link works bound by the same patron, commission, or theme. Trace a context to watch related clusters light up across subjects.
