Walking down the street in the evening Painting

Back gwondo is a South Korean painter based in Seoul. He earned his M.F.A. in Painting from Hongik University, Korea’s leading institution for contemporary art education. His work investigates the tension between surface and substance. Often depicting garments and spaces void of bodies, Back gwondo challenges the tendency to equate appearance with truth. His work draws attention to what is absent yet implied, urging viewers to reconsider how we perceive value, meaning, and essence beyond what is visible. Back has held several solo exhibitions, including A Minor Study on Blue and Void (Gallery DOS, Seoul, 2025), 無主空畵, Mujugonghwa: Portraits of subjectless voids (Artlogic Space, Seoul, 2024), and Sincerity Within (Bangcheon Yega, Daegu, 2019). His paintings have also been featured in international group shows such as Li.Ber.Tas (Gallery MC, New York, 2024) and Rythmos (Gallery MC, New York, 2016), as well as numerous exhibitions throughout Korea. Through oil and ink on canvas, Back gwondo develops a restrained yet striking visual language—one that fuses historical sensitivity with a quiet interrogation of perception and being.