Vencent Ko is an extraordinarily successful painter – he had his first showing at the Sydney Affordable Art Fair.
(Pictured left: Woman Playing Violin, Vencent Ko, Oil on stretched linen, 1750mm x 1200mm).
Vencent Ko has exhibited around the world include, including the International Art Expo in New York, Art Miami and the Siyki Gallery in Japan which were equally successful. Ko has won a number of prestigious awards in his home country of Korea, as well as major European prizes. He lived in Sydney for many years and his signature gallery was located at the Queen Victoria Building in the heart of Sydney. He has since returned back to his homeland of South Korea and is was, for a while, represented exclusively in Queensland, Australia by our physical art gallery, Bella Art Gallery, in Springfield Lakes, South-West of Brisbane until 2010.
Using classic abstract expressionist form, Ko`s work relies on physical movement and vigorous brushwork often on large canvases. By dripping and pouring paint, reminiscent of the artists Jackson Pollock and de Kooning, he encompasses a bold freedom of expression that suggests a musician composing a song, or a dancer practicing her steps.
History dictates that abstraction should be unconcerned with aesthetic beauty and yet Vencent Ko`s abstract paintings are undoubtedly beautiful, maintaining technical proficiency and masterly consideration of colour.
Vencent Ko`s still-life paintings are in stark contrast to the restless movement of his abstract work. Using a palette dominated by black, white and red, groups of austere vessels stand to attention, inert, and motionless. Pieces of fruit are positioned in pairs like reverential lovers or sit placidly side by side in a bowl like small children chastised for making too much noise. The objects, although very different, are obviously connected, like a family or a group of friends. Vencent’s work suggests a sense of the Orient and suggests a meditative way of seeing and feeling, with an underlying strength that belies any suggestion of sentimentality.
Whether energetic or serene, Vencent Ko`s exceptional paintings will provide endless contemplation and complement any fine art collection.
Vencent Ko graduated from Konkuk University and has been painting professionally for over 30 years. Formally trained in korea and France, Vencent Ko’s flourishing art career began In 1989 with an exhibition at Pompidou Gallery in France.
Further solo exhibitions include Sinjuku Gallery in Japan, Yemok Gallery, Gukje Gallery, Sydney gallery in Australia, and he has participated in international art fairs such as the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Art Fairs (being a sellout artist at the first Sydney Affordable Art Show), the Spain ARCO, Basel in Miami, KIAF Korea International Art Fair, Seoul Arts Centre, Vencent KO Special Exhibition and Imperial Gallery Invitation Exhibition in Malaga, Spain.
Prizes include:
- Replubic of Korea Art Competition Exhibition
- JungAng Art Competition Exhibition
- France Le Salon (Silver Prize)
- Hanseong Art Festival (Grand Prize)
- Moku Association
- Seoul Art Festival
- Geonguk Art
In 2004, Sydney ABC Broadcasting Corp. produced and televised “About Vencent”, and TV Korea produced programs about Vencent Ko heightening his worldwide appeal.
Ko has participated in the large scale planning of exhibitions held in England, America, Japan and France.
A past director of the Korean Fine Art Assocation, Vencent Ko has won almost every major award in Korea, and has achieved many awards from Europe. His canvases are now highly sought after in the Australian art market, and Ko strengthened this appeal by living and working Sydney, operating his own prestigious gallery for his work from the Queen Victoria Building building in Sydney, as well as gaining valuable representation from other major Australian art galleries.
Music and dance features very strongly in his work, with an influence coming from cubism and minimalism, Ko captures the human figure almost effortlessly with broad, well placed strokes the retain the fluid movement of the human form. To keep up with demand, Ko produces a painting a day, and paints to classical music, well dressed, complete with a tie.
Ko now has representation in Galleries around Australia, Korea, UK, Canada, USA and Europe.
As former owners of Bella Art Gallery’s physical art gallery, we’re lucky enough to have a few pieces remaining in our personal collection, including the featured work picture above of the woman playing the violin.
View more of Vencent Ko’s work below:
We have been lucky enough to have seen these first hand, many of which we sold, and a few of which remain in our personal collection.
