When it comes to South Korea, most people think of shopping and Korean dramas. However, Korean artist Me Kyeoung Lee gave up these popular attractions and used the Ganzi shop hiding in the corner as the protagonist of his paintings, completing a series of works. Let everyone know a different Korea.
These small stores are different from ordinary chain convenience stores in terms of appearance, product display, and even the small gardens in front of the stores. Lees soft-toned brushwork makes each store look very warm. . Lee uses white as the background to allow everyone’s attention to focus on the details of each store, such as stacks of fruit and vegetable boxes, brooms leaning against the wall, bicycles parked in front of the store, or plants planted in Potted plants for the backyard.
Even the trees nearby have different characteristics in each store. They may be blooming with pink flowers that are as beautiful as cherry blossoms, or they may be mixed with gold and green leaves, or they may be covered with ripe willow dices. This kind of small store style is naturally not comparable to chain convenience stores with the same color signboard, emphasizing neat and bright product display, or the N-in-one function of payment, collection, online shopping and delivery.
Even now, there are still 33,000 ganja shops in operation in South Korea. Although these ganja shops are inconspicuous, their existence is the childhood memory of every Korean, at least for Lee. Even though he has grown up, he still misses the time when he would go to the store to buy things with his change, or gather with friends to chat in front of the store. Perhaps it is also because of this. Although Lee has been painting these ganja shop paintings for 20 years, he still misses the time. Not bored at all, because in modern life, it is difficult to find the simple and beautiful atmosphere like in the past.
