Emerging South Korean artist Jeehye Song (b. 1991) has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the ‘Kunstpreis junger westen’ in the category of painting.
 
First awarded in 1948, the prize is one of Germany’s longest-running and most respected awards for emerging artists-previous recipients include Gerhard Richter and Horst Antes.  

This year’s award marks the first time in four years that the Painting category has been presented, and Jeehye Song has been honored as its distinguished recipient. At the same time, the jury awarded Jeehye Song the 20,000 euro art prize. She will receive a solo presentation at the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen.

Jeehye Song translates emotions and states felt in everyday life into her paintings. Her work, which attempts to “make the ordinary special” or “make the special ordinary,” resembles a diary. Like writing a daily journal, the small details and emotions captured in fleeting moments are fully reflected in the characters, places, and objects in her paintings. 

Dr. Nico Anklam, director of Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, stated, “The jury unanimously decided to award the prize to the artist Jeehye Song.” He further explained Song’s painting by saying, “Song's work moves between painterly tradition, contemporary visual language, and conceptual reflection - and she uses precisely this field of tension to raise central questions about the role of the artist and the function of the medium of painting in the present. In doing so, she remains deeply rooted, in the best sense, in the traditions of the genre of painting."

Jeehye Song completed her studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 2021 as a master student of Prof. Andreas Schulze. She has already received numerous awards and sponsorships at home and abroad. She has also had solo and group exhibitions at home and abroad, including in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Italy, South Korea and the USA. She was shortlisted for the Paula Modersohn-Becker Art Prize in 2024. 

On September 20th, in connection with this award, Jeehye Song’s solo exhibition will be held at Kunsthalle Recklinghausen in Germany. Currently, her second solo exhibition, 《built a clay house in my head and live in it》 (May 16 – June 8), is on view at IAH Gallery.

References

• IAH 갤러리 인스타그램 (IAH Gallery Instagram)
• 송지혜, Jeehye Song (Artist Website)
• 쿤스트할레 레클링하우젠(Kunsthalle Recklinghausen), junger westen 2025 Art Prize – Painting