Park Geonhi

The late Park Geonhi majored in photography in college, and attracted public attention as a photographer with a promising future based on his persistent, creative activity. Already in his early 20s, Park was equipped with qualities of an artist, namely, excellent sensibility and passion for photography. He demonstrated new possibilities through his unique sense of theme and methods of approach.

With this broad interest in art and culture, in 1995 he jointly founded Daum Communications Corporation. Daum, launched by a group of art majors and computer engineers, operated the first virtual gallery in Korea. The web site emerged as one of the most popular sites in Korea with the Internet exhibition of Park’s own works, “Image, Images,” and the works of other Korean photographers. Consequently, it was selected by U.S. web survey company Point Communication as one of the best sites in the world, Korea’s first such honor.

Following this triumph, Park organized a 24-hour global live broadcast of the first Gwangju Biennale, covering the artists, their works, and critiques, and became a hot topic of conversation through projects such as “Seoul International Comics Festival ’95″ and “Korea Fashion Net.” While working for the promotion of visual culture in Korea and worldwide, Park Geonhi passed away at the young age of 29.

Life history

1967 Born in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, Korea
1986 Graduated from Young Dong High School, Seoul
1986 1st solo exhibition, Seoul
1991 2nd solo exhibition, Exhibition by Park Geonhi and Small Concert by Roh Young Sim, Hakchon Theater, Seoul
1993 Graduated from Dept. of Photography, Chung-Ang University
1993 Studied in France
1995 Establishment of Daum Communications Corp.
1995 3rd solo exhibition, “Images, Images,” Daum Communications Virtual Gallery
1995 Live Internet broadcasting of the first Gwangju Biennale
1995 Died of a heart attack at his home

[Collection]
2006 National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea