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‘Peaceful Chaos’ on display in art gallery by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations The disturbing, but colorful images imprinted in an artist’s memory form a variant display of socio-politically-charged art by Korean-American Gi Wan Song at the Courtenay Gallery until Nov. 17.   An example of Gi Wan Song's artwork.   The show, “Peaceful Chaos,” features paintings reminiscent of Picasso and Moore, but reflects Song’s personal convictions in reaction to his experiences growing up during a dark and oppressive era in Korea.   Song’s art shows that while he may have left Korea years ago, he never forgot what he saw, experienced and believed while there. His art, therefore, expresses a dissonance from his past in which he was a political activist against the former Korean regimes. Song called for a reunification of South and North Korea, and in 1986, after having emigrated to the United States 15 years prior, produced a documentary critical of Korean politics. Both he and the documentary were banned in Korea.   Around the age of 60, Song became an artist after retiring from owning shops and an art gallery. Self-taught, his skills improved through hours of practice. His swift, hard work paid off early. In 1994, his entry, “Eve of Dreams,” in Plainfield, N.J.’s annual Outdoor Festival of Art won Song a first place, and his first public recognition. “Eve of Dreams” was part of Song’s Recycled Series and was influenced by the artist’s growing awareness of his natural environment and Americans’ apparent disregard for conservation.   In the Recycled Series, Song uses old apple cartons, beer caps, garbage, and other waste materials; recycling them into statements of structure and beauty.   After establishing himself as part of the New Jersey art community, Song was lured to Charleston where his son, Young Song, was a radiology resident at MUSC. Young Song completed his residency here in 2002 and has since taken a position at a Myrtle Beach practice. While the senior Song wanted to be near his son, he was attracted to the rich and diverse art culture in the Lowcountry.   Currently, the 74-year-old artist is working on a multi-panel painting from his Atrocity Series. This work includes two panels depicting the Korean Kwangju-Massacre and the Jewish Holocaust. He plans to add the American Civil Rights movement as a third panel. This series illustrates Song’s deep-seated pain and exposure to the atrocities of the Korean War. He describes these panels as featuring “an angry mixture of bright colors clustered with chaotic images of death and human viciousness.”   Common to almost all of Song’s works is the emphasis on humanity. Whether this is implicit or boldly declared, the artist’s work is, like the man, deeply political by nature. He says he hopes for a world declaration of peace, “not just for human pleasure, but for human survival.”   The Courtenay Gallery, located in the Harper Student Center, features artists as part of its cultural and educational mission. These art shows, which can benefit the center through art sales commission, also helps build the center’s unique art collection. Each artist can contribute a piece of his or her work to the center at the end of each show. As a result, the Harper Student Center has about 80 pieces in its art collection.   The public will get a chance to meet Song during a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 11. The gallery is open weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.   For information on the gallery, call 792-8263 or  e-mail desrosmg@musc.edu. To learn about Song, visit http://njpages.com/art/song/.     Friday, Oct. 5, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.