While the name Kim Tschang-yeul may not ring the bell for many, the moniker ‘bubble artist’ is perhaps more familiar. And even if you haven’t heard that nickname, you probably have stumbled upon water drop paintings by Kim Tschang-yeul somewhere. Kim Tschang-Yeul Art Museum Jeju, located in Wolrim-ri, Hallim-eup, Jeju, is solely dedicated to the artist’s career that spanned nearly five decades, with his water drop pieces being the main features.

Kim Tschang-Yeul Art Museum Jeju opened in 2016. Kim donated 220 pieces of his works to the museum, including his very first water drop painting from 1972, titled ‘The Thing That Happened at Night.’ Oan Kim, the painter’s second son and director of the documentary <The Man Who Paints Waterdrops>, once said he respected his father for donating the paintings rather than selling them. Kim Tschang-yeul was born in Maengsan, South Pyongan, in 1929, and left the country at a young age. After spending more than 40 years overseas, he died in Korea in 2021. He is buried under the Pride of India tree behind his namesake museum. So why did he choose to spend his last days on this island?

However, water drop paintings that made him so famous originated in pain. While in Paris, Kim was so down on his luck that he tried to save money by reusing his canvas. He would wet the back of the canvas to remove watercolors and draw something new on top of that. Then one day, Kim had a moment of epiphany when he saw water droplets formed on the canvas. He then started painting water drops. This was in the early 1970s.
And until his death in 2021 at age 91, Kim kept churning out works of water drops for 50 years. He must have produced tens of thousands of droplets. If you’ve only seen a couple of Kim’s pieces, you might have assumed that there were little more than some vivid depictions of water drops we see around us every day. But seeing many other of his water drop paintings at his Jeju museum will make his works seem less like art and more like results of ascetic practices. Anyone who has seen Kim’s paintings must have wondered why he felt compelled to keep painting them. But the introverted artist had never given any specific reason for that. We can only try to read between the lines from the few words he’d left us and to try to figure out the message he was trying to convey with his works.

Kim once said, “I paint to wash away pains.” People have come to interpret those pains as coming from losing friends and family during the Korean War. They believe Kim must have kept painting water drops in order to overcome survivor’s guilt and ease the pain of those devastating losses. Inside the bubbles were his family and friends.

His water drop paintings constantly evolved. In the early days, Kim left a lot of white space while putting down transparent droplets. After the mid-1980s, Kim began coloring his water drops. For his ‘Recurrence’ series, which began in the 1990s, Kim painted water drops over Chinese characters. Kim learned those letters from his grandfather when he was a child. Over the characters that he picked up at an early age, Kim dropped water, one droplet by one droplet, as if practicing asceticism. By the name of the series, Kim also meant a return to his childhood.

The museum fits seamlessly into Gotjawal. It is not a small place but doesn’t stick out either. The single-story structure stands below the ground level. If you follow the ramp in the museum’s courtyard, you will reach the rooftop of the museum. From there, the entrance is just a few steps downhill away. The top of the building is almost on the same level as the ground. The black exterior walls make the museum appear like giant basalt.
Kim put the water drop sculpture in the courtyard. The glass piece stands on top of a large natural stone.
The fountain there shoots water every 10 minutes, and rainbows will form under the sunlight. Just imagine what Kim must have felt like seeing the glass water drop and numerous droplets from the fountain, and the rainbows hanging over them.

To visit, Kim Tschang-Yeul Art Museum Jeju, you must make reservation at least a day in advance. You can buy tickets at the door but access may be limited. Docent tours are available starting at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. For about 30 minutes, you will be briefed on Kim’s life and career and the museum. This is highly recommended. The museum occasionally hosts exhibitions for other artists, too.

Address 883-5 Yonggeum-ro, Hallim-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju Island
Inquiry +82-64-710-4150
Hours Reservation required. 8 one-hour slots per day (10:00~17:00/Closed Mondays)
Website Kim Tschang-Yeul Art Museum Jeju