Exhibition director Choi Go-un (left) and rapper and painter Cheetah. Photo | Reporter Lee Da-Won
Rapper Cheetah, who debuted as a painter, explained the message to be conveyed through artistic activities across various media.
On the morning of the 4th, at the Hwang Chang-bae Museum of Art in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul, during a press conference for the first invitational solo exhibition in Korea by Cheetah, ‘Voices Beyond Sound: From Human Greed’ (VOICES BEYOND SOUND), when asked what message Cheetah wanted to convey through rap and painting, Cheetah said, “In the end, it must be a message filled with love. I hope that living and non-living things on Earth can live well in harmony in their own places. I hope they can enjoy everything they can while they are in this world,” and stated, “The world I live in now is not a natural world, is it. As much as we enjoy many things, we can also give to nature, and I hope this will serve as a small opportunity to put that into practice.”
Cheetah said, “In painting, I think I am borrowing animals to deliver a message. By borrowing the beautiful, cool, and cute appearances of animals, I can convey the sad and stifling message hidden behind them, so I am even more grateful to these friends (animals),” and answered, “It also makes me think that I must live better.”
Cheetah added, “Furthermore, if I continue to paint, I am personally hoping to move beyond messages like these and to imbue the work with deeper meaning.”
This exhibition is the first official solo show that musician Cheetah presents as ‘Kim Eun-young, a painter’. With the meaning of all life encompassing nature, animals, and humans as its theme, it presents a total of 22 works, from early Genesis pieces to new works. It was planned as an attempt to build another artistic language through the medium of visual art rather than as an extension of music.
In this exhibition, the Korean wine specialist company Gaja Liquor is participating as the official sponsor and will present limited-edition wine art goods during the exhibition period. It is a convergence culture-and-arts experiment that combines art appreciation and consumer experience, an attempt that suggests the potential for the popularization of the art market.
The exhibition opening event will take place on the 13th. To commemorate the world premiere of the exhibition, a special event will allow collectors who acquire works to receive a message personally written by the artist on the back of the piece.
