i-m-a-g-i-n-efx-august

Artist Portfolio
Big on the net
Kim Jung Gi is a South
Korean artist whose unique
abilities have made him a
YouTube sensation. He’s
able to draw indefinitely
with no references or
rough sketches.
Artist Portfolio
Kim Jung gi
The South Korean tells Gary evans how
he went from being a college dropout
to becoming a world-famous artist
Kim Jung Gi steps up to a
blank canvas. It’s huge –
several metres wide. Pen in
hand, he makes his first
mark, drawing a mechanic working on
a rally car. Another man rides a camel
out into the desert. Dogs follow.
The story picks up the pace now. A
shepherd appears, and he’s carrying an
AK-47. Perspectives plunge, narratives
arc, plots and subplots intertwine. Gi
adds motorbikes, trucks, more cars.
Finally, in the middle of it all, the artist
illustrates himself: he wears his
Artist
ProFiLe
Kim Jung Gi
Location: South Korea
Favourite artists: Akira Toriyama
and Takashi Murakami
media: Pen, pencil and paper
web: www.kimjunggi.net
trademark glasses and hoodie, he sits
quietly at a desk, and he draws.
In just a few hours, the Korean has
covered the whole canvas, right up to
the very edge. He’s used no references,
no thumbnails, or rough sketches. He
drew it all from memory. It looked like
he could’ve kept drawing indefinitely.
“I have the ability,” Gi says, “to draw
straight to paper whatever I visualise in
my head. I twist stories out of everyday
life, everything around me, every
scene, no matter how ordinary.
I observe everything. What you see
is a moment in time, the present, but
you have the artistic freedom to
imagine a past and a future.”
Over 300,000 people like Gi’s
Facebook pages. Half a million people
follow him on Instagram. His YouTube
video – like the one described above
– attract as many as three million
views. He’s both an artists’ artist
36 August 2017