Meet the Artist: Yong Woon Park aka Green | Contemporary Lynx

Green, born Yong Woon Park, is a London based artist who hails from South Korea. After completing his studies in Fine Art and Environmental Design, he took on a role as an Environmental Designer at Chang-Jo Architecture before establishing his own Design Studio. Struggling to find fulfilment in corporate life, he decided to make a move to London where he graduated from Camberwell College of Arts, UAL, with an MA Degree in Fine Art: Painting. Currently, he continues to paint at his studio at the Bow Arts Lakeside Centre in London. 

Since moving to the UK capital, he has showcased his art at several exhibitions. Last year, Green took part in the Bow Open 2023 curated by artist and activist Chila Burman, titled Bring Your Light, at the Nunnery Gallery, as well as the Surging Silence exhibition at the Hypha Studios. In 2024, he participated in and curated a trio exhibition, A Mighty Gust, at the Four Corners gallery.

Green’s style brims with raw energy and spontaneity. The contrasting vivid colours and quick, harsh brushstrokes create a sense of urgency and suggest an element of improvisation.

Green’s highly expressive large-scale paintings feature vibrant colours splattered on canvas in bold, almost aggressive shapes and powerful gestures. His use of unmixed oil paint on raw canvas and the dynamism of the forms highlight the complex underlying emotions expressed unconstrained in their roughness. 

His art is highly political and the artist doesn’t shy away from openly expressing his criticism of contemporary society and conveying anti-capitalistic messages, often using humour and satire as means of commentary on societal issues such as inequality or over-competitiveness. Coming from South Korea and working in London, Green has experienced life in two highly competitive contemporary societies which has left him with feelings of anger, anxiety and disappointment that all shine through his paintings. 

“My life and experiences both in London and in South Korea have enabled me to conceptualise the metaphorical narratives I present in my artworks.”

“My life and experiences both in London and in South Korea have enabled me to conceptualise the metaphorical narratives I present in my artworks. South Korea and the UK share a social class-based system where ownership of property, means of production, and wealth is the determining factor of the distribution of power-on the other hand both societies have quite distinctive characteristics,” says Green.

Wanking at 9 o’clock certainly makes a bold statement with its provocative subject matter and use of vibrant colours. The central figure depicts a deformed, caricature-like man pleasing himself while another person is watching from afar. The man, who represents the wealthy, is aware of the other person’s presence, however, he chooses to disregard it, emphasising the power imbalance and disconnect between the upper and lower classes. The diagonal lines and contrasting colours add to the dynamism and liveliness of the painting which, together with the uncomfortable subject matter, force the viewer to reflect on the state of our society. 

“Through my artworks I aim to establish an inner debate within audiences, a self-reflection of their position within contemporary capitalist societies. I question the reasons why we are all passive subjects of systems that oppress us and push us to become competitive at the expense of equality and equity. By looking at my paintings I would like my audiences to reflect upon their own lives and day-to-day actions, their failings, and the overall idiosyncrasies of a society we all feed, by abiding by its (sometimes) unreasonable standards without questioning. I hope that this inner reflection will lead audiences to become themselves conduits of positive change, by thinking about their own actions in their daily lives. Similar to critical narratives of modern societies, developed in movies and series such as Parasite and Squid Game, my art would like to influence viewers to ask themselves ‘what’s right and what’s wrong in my society?’ Like I do myself, when painting my pieces,” comments Green.

Another theme present in Green’s work is a critique of corporate life and its tropes such as over-competitiveness. Please stop chasing me depicts a car being chased by a grotesque monster – the vehicle, seemingly at full speed, is closely followed by the beast which appears to be closing in. One can’t help but think of the metaphorical rat race and its never-ending pointlessness. 

Stop Running After Shadow captures a moment of tension through the juxtaposition of two figures. Although the titular shadow is being pursued by the other figure, there is a sense of impending collision and unease. The forms, painted in vibrant contrasting colours, seem animalistic in their nature and caught in a moment of conflict, perhaps embodying the artist’s inner struggle.

“Similar to critical narratives of modern societies, developed in movies and series such as Parasite and Squid Game, my art would like to influence viewers to ask themselves ‘what’s right and what’s wrong in my society?’ Like I do myself, when painting my pieces.”

“My own struggle against Korea’s traditional norms inspired by Confucianism, and socio-economic pressure to achieve high goals in education, professionally, and even in the contemporary arts field, have pushed me as an artist to use what I have been seeing and what I have been experiencing to criticise the status quo in the first place. I was a victim of the above pressure; I was successful in climbing the professional ladder till I became the Director of my own Design Company. However, I could not lie to myself, I needed to express myself through paintings without restrictions, or boundaries given by my own society,” says Green.

Green’s anti-capitalistic messages are presented to the audience by animalistic characters and mystical objects, often drawn from Korean mythology. These fantastic beasts’ aggressive and dreamlike presence may seem out of place in the context of the corporate world and contemporary societies but that’s what makes the statements so poignant. The use of contrasting colours and simple forms resembles the raw imagination of a child, forcing the viewer to contemplate the straightforward symbolism and evoking basic instincts and associations. 

“In my paintings my feelings and daily life experiences are represented by allegorical subjects such as animals, mythological figures, or objects such as Korean traditional goblins and masks fighting against each other, hunting each other, fooling us, or warning us of the danger of capitalism,” comments the artist. 

Green’s style brims with raw energy and spontaneity. The contrasting vivid colours and quick, harsh brushstrokes create a sense of urgency and suggest an element of improvisation. His works feel more like an instinctive expression of the artist’s fleeting emotions and feelings, captured in the moment, rather than the result of a structured, planned approach. The empty canvas space, and the simplicity of the humorous narratives Green creates, invite viewers to reflect on the meanings of his works and explore various interpretations, often guided by his suggestive titles.

“Emotional synaesthesia (where sensory stimulation leads to involuntary emotional experiences) is key to my practice. As is the notion of paintings that can be described as made automatically, without much forethought or conception. Impulsive movements using thick and dynamic oils, often applied straight from the tube, are accompanied by palette knife strokes that act like a literal knife, the cut and thrust of my gestural emotions burning across the canvas in waves of pulsating vehemence and nuanced inventiveness. Oil sticks are used to draw more delicate linear marks in contrast with stronger coatings. Large areas of raw canvas are also left empty, exposed. This difference is representative of a dichotomy in the work between absence and presence, strength, and weakness. The thick, energetic forms painted are contrasted with the emptiness of the canvas and its gentler renderings. This void space being symbolic of the meaningless futility of living in the 21st century, wrapped up with my often-difficult feelings about producing art and the world in general. I begin the process of painting by conceiving colour compositions to reflect my love for beauty and the natural world. However, they often become thick and rough as I lose control of myself, as I struggle to contain my emotions of impulsiveness, agitation, and restlessness with contemporary life,” says Green.

Despite the heaviness of the subject matter and the gravity of the issues Green’s art deals with, his paintings are not one dimensional or bleak in their message. The artist chooses to observe contemporary society and express his emotions without being over-moralising or painting a hopeless vision of the future. Although conflict and struggle remain the focal point of Green’s art, the different sides of the conflict coexist with each other. There is no clear winner or solution on offer, but rather a vision of an imperfect system and an invitation to reflect on how it can be improved and what we can do to make the world we live in more balanced.