 |
| Artist Kim Jung-gi performs at a live drawing session at the Lotte Museum of Art in Seoul in this May 3, 2021 photo. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Kim Rahn
Kim Jung-gi, a visual artist widely known for live drawing performances, died in France on Oct. 3. He was 47.
Artist Kim Hyun-jin, who has led Superani Studio with Kim Jung-gi, made public the death, Oct. 5. He is presumed to have died of a heart failure.
 |
| Visual artist Kim Jung-gi / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
"After having done so much for us, you can now put down your brushes. Thank you Jung Gi."
Kim Jung-gi became famous for live performances in which he would create a large-sized, impromptu drawing without any rough sketch. Previously working as a cartoonist, he rose to global fame following a YouTube video in which he, instead of submitting a completed work for the 2011 Bucheon International Comics Festival, covers the entire wall of his booth with white paper and starts drawing to fill the wall with an improvised work of art.
He was since invited to many countries for live drawing performances, animation festivals, exhibitions and lectures.
At the end of 2017, he held a seven-hour live drawing performance at Cheong Wa Dae to commemorate the first year of the then-Moon Jae-in government.
Despite the large size of his drawings and hours-long performances, each small object was drawn in a delicate and intricate form on his canvases ― which was the result of his close observation of people and objects as well as his endless practice ― each of which was merged harmoniously to create one immense work.
![[INTERVIEW] 'Now is time for Koreans to unlock potential in Africa'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/9236a17d88ea472b862b237c9788069d.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Meet the man behind giant rubber ducks that once took over Seoul](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/df32c60c8204448e98ccdb9841366bec.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[REVIEW] Musical 'Monte Cristo' returns with riveting tale of vengeance, love](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3934be1fa6844478b619a015d610bc5b.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
