Assuming the canon of Modernism is applied to the analysis of medium and form in relation to the fundamental structure of painting and its two-dimensionality, Kim Kang-Yong’s brick paintings can be classified as Modernist works. Even though Kim’s paintings appear to depict everyday objects—bricks—as they are, Modernist art critics may argue that his works are subject to illusionism and trompe-l’oeil, or the “trick the eye” technique.
In terms of form, Kim’s paintings feature parallel rows of bricks that are uniform in size and rendered with neat, refined precision, lacking any visible cracks or blemishes. His works often depict bricks made of sand that appear fine but slightly coarse in texture. Specifically, Kim evenly applies a mixture of sand and adhesive onto the canvas using a knife, and then paints over the surface with sandy tones or bright colors—as seen in his more recent works—creating a sense of realism by adding shadows in darker hues. He enhances the illusion by making some bricks appear to protrude or recede, and by adding shadows at oblique angles. To heighten realism, Kim also depicts the sides of the bricks, not just the front-facing surfaces. As a result, viewers are often left uncertain whether they are looking at actual bricks or mere images of them.
In the early 1980s, when a wave of hyperrealism surged through the Korean art scene, Kim began creating brick pieces with meticulous and highly realistic detail. His early brick paintings, with their coarse surfaces evoking the passage of time and place, invited viewers to reconsider this banal, everyday object. Over time, his brick paintings evolved, eliminating atmospheric effects and suppressing emotional expression. Rendered through the repetition of sharp lines and shadows, and organized in an all-over composition, his bricks evoke an industrial quality, as if mass-produced in a factory. These paintings predominantly feature sandy colors and dark, shaded tones.
Certain aspects of Kim’s work—such as the limited use of color, the all-over compositional method, and the repetitive use of rigid, square forms—can be interpreted as extensions of Minimalism. However, Kim’s paintings differ from typical Minimalist works through their use of shading and subtle protrusions or depressions on the canvas surface. Unlike Minimalist repetition or uniform arrangements, Kim introduces variations that challenge the viewer’s perception. His work can thus be seen as part of the meta-language of monochrome painting and Korean-style Minimalism, which emerged as alternatives to the radical formalism that dominated the Korean art scene in the 1970s.
During this period, Kim’s paintings emphasized three-dimensionality over two-dimensionality, figuration over abstraction, deliberate structure over spontaneity, and subjective interpretation over detached objectivity. His work also features contradictory perspectives and scales, and maintains a handcrafted quality in contrast to the readymade approach.
Kim Kang-Yong tackles the unresolved issue of reproduction in art through the humble, ordinary object of a brick. The viewer often comments, “It looks just like a real brick,” praising its realism. This is where Kim's exploration begins. Initially, he sought to emphasize and heighten the resemblance to real bricks, striving for an image that mimics reality. However, over time, he appears to have accepted that a reproduced image can never fully become reality. This realization led him to shift focus from image to composition, removing the dreamy, expressive elements that characterized his earlier work.
His canvases—filled with cleanly rendered rectangular cubes—can be seen as a response to Minimalism. Yet, Kim continues to pursue realistic representation by using shading and sand as primary materials. He also emphasizes the subject’s will to “generate” an image, treating it not merely as a passive object of representation. By deliberately presenting conflicting perspectives and scales—viewed from multiple angles—Kim disregards the traditional notion of linear perspective based on a single vanishing point, which has dominated Western painting since the Renaissance.
Through this approach, Kim seems to draw closer to the core subject he has pursued throughout his career. At first, he aimed to expose the gap between image and reality by replicating them as realistically as possible. Over time, however, he sought to unify the physical presence of the object and the reality of its reproduced image through repetition of rectangular forms, rhythmic structures, compositional balance, and varied visual angles. This process is carried out in a state of near self-forgetfulness.
Nevertheless, a fundamental dilemma remains in Kim’s brick paintings. Despite creating three-dimensional illusions through shading and surface modulation, they still ultimately exist within the boundaries of two-dimensionality. Since the bricks are based on his imagination rather than direct observation, his works become more artistic but arguably drift further from actual reality—inviting new forms of illusion. Although Kim has recently attempted to move beyond this illusionism, it remains a challenge, as bricks continue to serve as his primary subject.
Viewed in its entirety, Kim’s body of work—including his more recent pieces—reveals an aesthetic and formal exploration of binaries: between the object and its reproduction, reality and illusion, plane and volume, figuration and abstraction, reality and imagination. As one critic aptly noted, it is a confrontation between what we see and what is seen. While his subject could easily veer into conceptual traps or superficial wordplay, Kim navigates these complexities with exceptional skill, refined sensitivity, and sharp intuition. This, perhaps, is the essence of his aesthetics. In this sense, his brick paintings should be understood as an exploration of form, aimed at uncovering the deeper meaning of reproduction and hyperrealist optical effects—ultimately seeking to break apart our fixed assumptions about these ideas. His belief that he can transcend the visible world of images through this obsession and eventual unification may offer not only artistic insight but also solace—for both himself and for others who grapple with the nature of art.
by. Song Mi Suk