Jang Ji-Hwan is a pioneering figure in the history of abstract painting in Gwangju and one of the most enduring senior artists in Korean modern art. Active since the 1960s, Jang has developed a distinctive painterly language often described as a world of “light and illusion,” shaped through more than six decades of sustained artistic inquiry. Jang received his formal art training at Gwangju National Teachers College, where he studied under Kang Yong-woon and Yang Soo-ah, leading pioneers of Korean abstract art. Influenced by the rise of Abstract Expressionism and postwar modernist movements, he naturally gravitated toward non-figurative painting. In 1968, he held his first solo exhibition titled Wall, marking the beginning of his lifelong engagement with abstraction. During the late 1960s and 1970s, Jang became a core member of the avant-garde abstract group Epoque, which played a crucial role in shaping the development of abstract art in the Gwangju region. His early works explored symbolic themes such as walls and waves, visualizing human history, conflict, and psychological tension through abstract forms. In the 1970s, his practice evolved toward geometric abstraction, characterized by prismatic structures and radiant light, often likened to refracted gemstones. In the 1980s, Jang briefly turned toward figurative imagery, incorporating human figures and recognizable natural forms. Rather than a departure, this period functioned as a transitional phase that ultimately led to a mature synthesis. From the 1990s onward, his work settled into a distinctive visual territory where abstraction and figuration coexist, and where Eastern and Western painterly traditions intersect. Jang’s mature paintings combine the diffusion effects of ink wash and calligraphic gestures with layered oil pigments, dynamic brushwork, and overlapping techniques. His compositions evoke natural and cosmic phenomena—auroras, glaciers, storms, seas, and expansive landscapes—without directly depicting them. Light emerges as both subject and structure, embodying cycles of generation and dissolution, chaos and cosmos. The artist has described his work as existing “in a middle zone, neither purely abstract nor fully figurative.”
The exhibition 60 Years of Artistic Practice: Time Travel (2018), organized in conjunction with the Gwangju Biennale, offered a comprehensive overview of Jang’s career, presenting key works from his early period to recent paintings. The exhibition underscored the continuity of his central theme—time—through constant transformation, echoing his belief that while phenomena change, essence endures.
Beyond his studio practice, Jang has made significant contributions as an educator and cultural leader. He has served as a jury member and invited artist for major national and regional exhibitions, including the Gwangju Art Exhibition, Jeonnam Art Exhibition, and the Korea National Art Exhibition. Currently, he is an advisory member of the Korea Fine Arts Association. Even in his eighties, Jang remains actively engaged in painting, continuing to explore new visual possibilities with undiminished vitality.