Korea University’s (KU) Professor Jeong Jong-Mi (School of Art and Design) was selected as an awardee of the 13th Lee In-Sung Artist Award.

On August 19, Daegu City announced that they creamed off Jeong, an artist of Korean painting, for the award. Daegu City established Lee In-Sung Artist Award in 2000 to commemorate Daegu’s artist Lee (1912~1950) who created a remarkable artistic legacy in Western paintings, and is celebrating its 13th anniversary.

Lee In-Sung Award Judging Committee was held on August 16 with Honam University Professor Yoon Jin-Sup as a chairperson. The juries conducted an in-depth discussion on 11 nominees who had received recommendations from across the country including Daegu, Seoul, Gwangju, and Gyeonggi-do, from July 9 to 31, and selected Jeong as an awardee.

The Committee highly evaluated Professor Jeong for her remarkable work in modernization of Korean painting by using traditional materials such as hemp (Sambe), ramie fabric (Mosi), and silk (Myungju). Moreover, the Committee recognized that Jeong broke new ground of Korean coloring with traditional materials and techniques, which Western paintings cannot imitate. With the award, Artist Jeong became a record holder as the first female awardee and the first awardee in Korean painting sector in the history of Lee In-Sung Artist Award.

Born in 1957 in Daegu, Jeong Jong-Mi graduated from Seoul National University’s College of Arts and the graduate school of Oriental Arts. She has been active in the art world, giving 17 private exhibitions and participating in several International Arts Fairs.

The award ceremony will be held on 29 at 5:30 P.M. in Daegu Culture and Arts Center. Prior to the award giving, a seminar about Lee In-Sung’s world of arts and improvement directions of Lee In-Sung Artist Award will be conducted from 2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.