▲ Owl and Stage Artist Beonggu Min

Artist Beonggu Min is known as the owl artist. Apart from artist, a number of professional names follow him: stage artist, poet and a board member of the Korea Stage Artist Association. Last summer, he held exhibitions at the Insaartplaza Gallery and the Chungbuk Forest Gallery and displayed 60 of his owl works.

Min is a self-learned artist. He had a chance to visit Insa-dong with his aunt and was impressed by Korean paintings. He started growing his dream of becoming an artist one day. He challenged for a competition in high school years and the work was selected but he was lost his way after graduation and never had a chance to learn art at an institute. So he decided to do it by himself and traveled far and wide to study and copy works of famous artists for 15 years.

“It was spring of 2013. The fan of my studio was broken and I took it off for a repair. Then I flew to China and stayed for 2 weeks. When I came back, an owl set up a nest there with three eggs. Words spread from people to people and I learned that there was a saying that the harvest is abundant when an owl farts. So my interest about owl grew deep and I started painting owl. Ever since, owls became my companions of life. I feel happy watching them playing, walking and flying and I sometimes find inspiration and ides by scribbling” says Min.

As a stage artist, he has published Stage Art of Min Beong Gu 1 and 2. He designed the stage of the play Tenanted Farm which was run at a theater in Daehak-ro, Seoul.

“I think stage is a physical activity and painting a spiritual activity. The latter for me is an aspiration and a cure. Taking up a brush removes headache and gives me focus. The former is more complicated. It requires a team work and it involves not only painting but also many works including carpentry and welding. I can say that stage art, in way, is a picture in a frame” says Min.

Owls have big eyes. The mouth might lie but eyes never lie. The wise says that look into one’s eye if you know he is virtuous or vicious. For the same reason, Min is drawn to owl’s eyes. He observes them carefully and shifts the heart onto canvas. It is important to draw a picture with a wit, he says, but it is also important to give a meaning. He is participating in an art show held this October in Daejeon.