Artwork by MANE

Biography

Artist MANE

MANE is a Korean contemporary painter whose work gives form to emotions that resist language. Working across oil painting and oil pastel on canvas, wood, and cardboard, MANE builds layered, figurative compositions in which memory, childhood, and inner life converge into quietly charged images.

The figures in MANE's paintings carry deliberately restrained expressions — not empty, but open. This withholding invites viewers to enter the work through their own emotional histories, transforming each painting into a space of personal projection rather than fixed narrative.

Rooted in narrative figurative painting, MANE's practice bridges the immediacy of popular visual culture with the material depth and compositional rigor of fine art painting. Originally trained as a 3D modeler and commercial designer, MANE founded Ponybrown over twenty years ago before transitioning fully to painting in 2022.

마네는 언어로 설명되지 않는 감정에 형태를 부여하는 한국의 컨템포러리 화가입니다. 캔버스, 나무, 판지 위에 유화와 오일 파스텔로 작업하며, 기억과 어린 시절, 내면의 풍경이 교차하는 구상 회화를 구축합니다.

마네의 회화 속 인물들은 의도적으로 절제된 표정을 지닙니다. 비어 있는 것이 아니라 열려 있는 표정입니다. 이 절제는 관객이 자신의 감정적 기억을 통해 작품 안으로 들어오도록 유도하며, 각각의 그림을 고정된 서사가 아닌 개인적 투영의 공간으로 전환합니다.

서사적 구상 회화에 뿌리를 둔 마네의 작업은 대중 시각 문화의 직관성과 회화 고유의 물질적 깊이, 구성적 엄밀함을 잇습니다. 3D 모델러이자 상업 디자이너로 20년 이상 포니브라운을 운영한 후, 2022년 회화에 전념하기 시작했습니다.

Practice

Medium & Approach

Oil Painting

Canvas and wood panels. Primary medium for large-scale narrative works exploring emotional depth through layered brushwork.

Oil Pastel

Cardboard and wood surfaces. Intimate, textured works that capture the immediacy of emotional memory with rich, warm tones.

Sculpture

Three-dimensional extensions of MANE's painted world into physical space. An expanding practice exploring form and materiality.

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Exhibitions

2026
Art Jakarta PapersGallery THEO, Jakarta, IndonesiaArt Fair
ART BUSAN 2026BEXCO, Busan, KoreaArt Fair
Solo ExhibitionWhitestone Gallery, Seoul, KoreaSolo
241 POP IN241 Art Space, Hsinchu, TaiwanGroup
Kiaf SEOUL 2026Coex, Seoul, KoreaArt Fair
ART JAKARTA 2026JIEXPO Kemayoran, Jakarta, IndonesiaArt Fair
Solo ExhibitionTHEO Gallery, Jakarta, IndonesiaSolo
2025
Art JakartaJIEXPO Kemayoran, Jakarta, IndonesiaArt Fair
The Room I Still Dream OfWhitestone Gallery, Tokyo, JapanSolo
Art TaipeiGallery THEO, Taipei, TaiwanArt Fair
Kiaf SeoulWhitestone Gallery, Seoul, South KoreaArt Fair
Art ONoVillazan Gallery, Seoul, South KoreaArt Fair
The Sleepless ChildhoodNext Museum, Seoul, South KoreaGroup
2024
Neverland SyndromeGallery THEO, Seoul, South KoreaSolo
Art TaipeiGallery THEO, Taipei, TaiwanArt Fair
Art JakartaGallery THEO, Jakarta, IndonesiaArt Fair
Art BusanGallery THEO, Busan, South KoreaArt Fair
Knock-KnockNext Museum, Seoul, South KoreaGroup
Inside My GarageONEsGALLERY, Boston, U.S.A.Group
2023
Art JakartaGallery THEO, Jakarta, IndonesiaArt Fair
Art TaipeiGallery THEO, Taipei, TaiwanArt Fair
Urban BreakOpen Call Artist, Seoul, South KoreaArt Fair
Art BusanGallery Afternoon, Busan, South KoreaArt Fair
BrightsideSuncitygallery, AustraliaGroup
Spectrum 3.0Gallery Nowhy, Bangkok, ThailandGroup
Spectrum 2.0Gallery Nowhy, Shanghai, ChinaGroup
Riding the Waves of Spring through ARTStella Gallery, Busan, South KoreaGroup
CON SPRING EDITION'23Circleofnoneuk, London, United KingdomGroup
2022
Spectrum 1.0Gallery Nowhy, Seoul, South KoreaGroup
Leaves May FallMaisonozmen, Paris, FranceGroup
TRAVELMAKERCollast, Seoul, South KoreaGroup

Contact

Artist Information

Full Name

OH SEJONG

Artist Name

MANE

Born

1978, South Korea

Based in

Seoul, South Korea