Zen Monk Seongpa’s Art Exhibition Aims to Inspire Korean Art
Creatrip Team
6 months ago
Seongpa, the chief monk (종정) of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, opened a special exhibition “Seongpa Seonye: The Artistic World of Seongpa” at the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum in Yongin on May 10. The show—part of the museum’s 30th anniversary—features about 150 works including new lacquer (옻칠) paintings for 2025, lacquer-dyed pieces, ceramic Buddha statues, and a ceramic Tripitaka woodblock. The exhibition is organized in four sections exploring themes from the vast and timeless to the mind’s role in creating reality: 1) “Eon-ago” with large lacquer works and part of the monk’s 3,000-Buddha ceramic hall, including a 6-meter underwater-safe lacquer painting; 2) “Nonduality of self and thing (物我不二)” with Buddhist statues presented as ordinary human selves; 3) “Beyond letters” focused on the Heart Sutra rendered in ceramic plaques and lacquer calligraphy; and 4) “All is created by mind (一切唯心造)” showing spontaneous, colorful geometric lacquer pieces. Seongpa emphasized that he did not start as an artist but as a practitioner, creating without deliberate intent so viewers may find their own meanings—“a mirror of the mind.” He hopes the exhibition will encourage Korean visual arts and help soothe social tensions. The show runs through May 31.
