The contemporary stained glass windows of the painter and glassmaker Kim En Joong are exhibited in Chartres

From the basilica in Bruges to the cathedral in N’Djamena, stained glass windows by Korean artist Kim En Joong adorn religious buildings around the world. This painter and stained glass artist, born in 1940 in South Korea, was ordained a priest in 1974, a few years after his arrival in Paris. A major artist in the art of stained glass, he renewed the genre, between modernity and tradition. “He also uses collages, which will allow to have several colored glasses, which will be superimposed and give densities and colorings a little new compared to what we knew how to do traditionally”, explains Jean-François Lagier, director of the Center international du vitrail.

The creations of Kim En Joong mark by their luminosity. Monumental stained glass windows, some of which reach eight meters in height. Delicate color work that reinforces the spirituality of the place. In Chartres, the exhibition paint on the sky presents 42 works, all produced between 2010 and 2022, a prosperous period for the artist. “He does about three projects a year, which represents about forty stained glass windows. There is the quantity but also the quality, because these works are all commissions” says Jean-François Lagier.

The exhibition present stained glass windows made for European countries more also for the United States or Iraq. The visitor can also discover the model of 87 stained glass windows – a work in progress – for Chad. At 81, the artist still has many projects.

Exhibition “Painting on the Sky” until December 31, 2022 – Stained Glass Museum 5, rue du Cardinal-Pie, 28000 CHARTRES (50 m from the cathedral) Tel: 02 37 21 65 72 – Open every day from Monday to Sunday: 2 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.

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