ARTIST Kim iL Tae
24K Pure Gold Painting, Unique in the World
GOLD has held a special place in the human imagination for millennia. Being compared to the mighty sun, the Incas called it the ‘tears of the sun’. This sun-coloured metal is seen as being synonymous with power, beauty and the cultural elite. Distinct among metals for being imperishable, never tarnishing in air or in water, gold is dense, soft and ductile with an attractive yellow colour and lustre. It is not a coincidence that yellow is the royal colour in Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand.
Gold leaf was used in the creation of illuminated manuscripts in Constantinople, Ireland and Italy from the 5th century。The most notable of whom is the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), a prominent exponent of the equality between the fine and decorative arts. During his ‘golden phase’, Klimt created a series of gold leaf paintings which include his world-famous masterpieces ‘The Kiss’, and the ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ which was renamed ‘The Lady in Gold’
In an exciting new development, Kim Il Tae, a South Korean contemporary artist, driven by his passion for art just the same and spurred on too by the women in his life, has taken gold art to a whole new level. Unlike others who have produced gilded paintings, Kim’s work is made with 24 karat gold. He has created his own unique path which can’t be imitated by others.
几千年来，黄金在人类的发展中占有特殊的地位。黄金在古代可以媲美太阳的神圣地位，印加人称之为“太阳的眼泪”。这种有着太阳光辉的金属，当时被视为权力、美与神圣的象征。黄金坚硬、柔软、韧性好，具有诱人的色彩与光泽。黄金在众多金属中，也被证实为不可磨灭的。黄金并不会在空气中或水中变质变色。在汶莱、马来西亚和泰国，象征黄金的黄色是王室官方的代表颜色。
自5世纪以来，在君士坦丁堡、爱尔兰和意大利，就有艺术家开始用金箔来作为创作的手稿。其中最著名的是奥地利艺术家古斯塔夫·克里姆特（1862-1918），他是装饰艺术的杰出代表。在他创作的黄金岁月里，克利姆特创作了一系列金箔艺术作品，其中包括他举世闻名的杰作《吻》，以及《阿黛尔·布洛赫-鲍尔一世肖像》，后来这个作品改名为《金色女郎》。
金一泰，作为韩国当代艺术家，除了有着与克利姆特一样的热情，还有另一个巧合，就是他被他一生当中最重要的女人（妈妈以及爱人）所启发。但与他不同的是，金一泰并非用金箔来做艺术品的表面装饰，金一泰是以99%的24K纯黄金直接作为其艺术品的原料。可以说，他把黄金艺术提升到了一个全新的高度，开创了一道前无古人，后无来者的道路。
The Origin and Mission of Painting with Gold
Kim’s work is made with 24 karat gold, the purest form, with 999 parts per thousand of gold. No other medium will do, as this artist intends to make an indelible mark and leave the world with works of art that will last forever – the kind that will not fade or crack or crumble in time – or in his own words ‘something that will last for 1,000 years’.
Oil painting will lose its original color and it will crack over the time. However, Kim’s pure gold art has no issue about this problem. Kim’s works spread and share the feeling of wealth, happiness, benevolence and happiness to the world, and this spirit will be passed on from generation to generation and remain unchanged.
以金作画的初衷与使命
24K金是最纯的金子，相等于每千克黄金含纯度999克。自古以来，没有那一位艺术家能做到这般境界，金一泰之所以那么执着于原材料的选择，是因为他想要留下不可磨灭的印记，把这些黄金艺术品永远的保存与传承下去。他的作品不会随着时间褪色、破裂或变质。他曾说：“我的作品将在这世上起码延续1000年的时光”。
油画会随着时间失去原色及出现裂痕，可是在纯金的作品并不需要担心这个问题。金一泰的作品能把富裕、快乐、仁爱和幸福的感觉分享给世界，并且这种精神会被世世代代传承下去，永恒不变。
Not just gold, but art
Interestingly, when people used to ask him about the gold weight in each painting, he’d say that if it was gold that they wanted, they really should get a gold bar instead. Rightly so, anything involving gold is a grand affair to begin with, without even considering the novelty and the great skill behind a work of this kind. There is truth to the saying ‘If you have to ask, you can’t afford it’. His unusual paintings are an impressive sight to behold, imparting as they do a gleaming three-dimensional quality in both natural and exhibition settings. To say that they should not be appraised on just the value of the gold is only stating the obvious. Gold and art are two precious things to hold and behold, each with its own individual merit.
不只是黄金，而是艺术
当金一泰的作品成功问世以后，引起了许多人高度的关注。有趣的是，有的人经常会问他每幅画中金子的重量。通常他会这么回答，“如果你们想要买的是黄金，你们可以到金店去购买一根金条。没错，你问这个问题之前，并没有考虑过这作品背后的故事、创作的心路历程、以及所耗费的时间和成本。”
这些有别于一般绘画的创作确实会让人留下印象的深刻。无论在哪个场合展出，金一泰的作品都能呈现出闪烁的、高雅的、有立体感的层次与观感。因此，金一泰的作品不应该仅仅根据黄金的价值来评价，黄金和艺术都有其独特的价值，但毋庸置疑，黄金作为一种艺术形式本身就是一个独特的工艺。其艺术含量与收藏价值远远比单纯的金条高出许多。
Kim first caused a commotion in the Korean art scene in 2011. At his first private exhibition in Insa-dong, an arts and culture district in Seoul, a metal detector was employed to verify the purity of the gold used. Since that initial alarm, his extraordinary paintings have caught the imagination of the Korean public and garnered wider audiences, earning him worldwide critical acclaim and the distinction of being the only artist in the world who paints and sculpts pure gold on canvas.
To date, Kim Il Tae has held over 20 exhibitions in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon and Los Angeles with more planned in the near future at other venues. The highlight of his career includes a two-week solo exhibition in 2016 at London’s Saatchi, a gallery renowned for exhibiting only the finest in contemporary art. In July of 2014, he was interviewed by The New York Times and they have made this quote for Kim:
“To be remembered as an artist who did not follow the trends of his time but made his own path in the international community through gold art”
成名之路
2011年，金一泰在韩国艺术界引起了不小的轰动。在首尔著名仁寺洞举办了其首个个人展。其中，在现场安装了金属探测器来测试其作品中所使用的黄金的纯度。自那次的曝光后，他的独特的黄金画作成功吸引了韩国公众的广泛关注，并获得了许多支持者。此举也为他赢得了国际上的赞誉，因为他成为了有史以来世界上唯一一位能以纯黄金在画布上进行绘画与雕刻的艺术家。
迄今为止，金一泰在东京、香港、广州、雅加达、吉隆坡、北京、深圳、仰光和洛杉矶等地举办了超过20次展览。他职业生涯的亮点包括2016年在伦敦Saatchi萨奇美术馆举办为期两周的个人画展，该画廊以仅展出当代艺术精品而闻名。纽约时报在2014年7月曾专访过金一泰并做了这样的一个总结：
他将被铭记为一个不遵循时代潮流的艺术家，因为他独创了金画，开创了先河。他突破了世上现有的艺术风格，走出了自己的路。