Kim In Soon (1941- ) graduated from the Department of Applied Arts at the College of Art & Design, Ewha Womans University in 1962. Kim In Soon held solo exhibitions including 《Solo Exhibition, Kim In-Soon》 (Kwanhoon Gallery, Seoul, 1984), 《Women, Human, and Spirit of Art》 (21st Century Gallery, Seoul, 1995), and 《At a Slow Step》 (Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, 2005). She participated in group exhibitions such as 《From Half to One》 (Geurimmadang Min, Seoul, 1986), 《Northeastern Asia and 3rd World Art》 (Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, 1997), 《Women's Art Festival 99: Patjis on Parade》 (Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, 1999), 《Another History of Art: Representation of Femininity》 (Ehwa Womans University Museum, Seoul, 2002), 《Art toward the Society: Realism in Korean Art 1945-2005》 (The Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum and other museums, Niigata and other cities, Japan, 2007), and 《Herstory Review》 (Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, 2020).
Kim In Soon continuously contemplated the relationship between art and society through her interest in engagement literature and her activities in Reality and Utterance (Hyunsil-gwa Baleun) in the 1980s. In her first solo exhibition in 1984, she showed a realistic critical view of the historical meaning of human suffering, sadness, and the memories of war. In 1985, she formed the Siwol Gathering with Kim Jin-suk and Yun Suknam, which became the beginning of the first women’s art movement in South Korea. They referred to themselves as “painting laborers” and achieved the essence of realism, namely contemporaneity and site specificity, by directly visiting locations, collecting objective data, and producing works based on their research. She has served as a board member of the The Council of Korean Women Workers (Hanguk Yeoseong Nodongja Hyeobuihoe) and Women’s Culture and Art Planning Organization.
