Kim Jung Gi

After completing his studies at the College of Fine Arts at Dong-Eui University in Busan and serving in the South Korean special forces, he began his career with Funny Funny, published in the famous Japanese magazine Young Jump in 2002. Kim Jung Gi emerged on the international scene in 2011. He was invited to perform around the world- notably in France, the United States, throughout Asia, and in Japan - at major art fairs and festivals to stage graphic performances, or “drawing shows,” during which he created large-scale murals freehand. Videos of these events have garnered several million views online. Also a comic artist, he created the six volumes of the series TLT - Tiger the Long Tail with writer Seung-Jin Park between 2007 and 2011, and Spy Games (published by Glénat) with French writer Jean-David Morvan in 2014. He collaborated with writer Bernard Werber, illustrating Paradise in 2010 and Third Humanity in 2013. Since 2007, his sketchbooks, comprising several thousand pages, have been published through Caurette and Superani. In 2017, he collaborated with renowned Japanese artist Katsuya Terada on a new sketchbook. Also a teacher, he co-founded his own drawing school, AniChanga, in Seoul with his loyal friend and manager Kim Hyun Jin. Around the world, Kim Jung Gi inspired awe and admiration among the public and fellow artists, who were captivated by his extraordinary technique and phenomenal memory, which allowed him to create highly complex drawings freehand without any preparatory sketches. The Daniel Maghen Gallery dedicated three major exhibitions to him in 2016, 2019, and 2022. He passed away on October 3 in Paris at the age of 47, while on an international tour.