Kim En Joong at Chambord: Colors of the Invisible

Exhibition from March 29 to August 31, 2025

From March 29, Chambord will present for the first time the work of a stained-glass artist, and undoubtedly the most important of those who continue today, worldwide, this centuries-old art, which was once one of the most eminent in Christian Europe. Some of the most beautiful stained-glass works by Father Kim, presented on the second floor of the château, will resonate deeply with the religious dimension of the monument, whose Trinitarian fleur-de-lis crowns the lantern tower, symbolically representing the dialogue between the monarch and God.

If the very layout of Chambord, based on the Greek cross, demonstrates a transfer of sacredness, the presence of Kim En Joong’s work will immediately make this dimension visible, an essential aspect of the spirit of a monument whose architecture, by design, guarantees the circulation of light. Additionally, a space will be dedicated to presenting ceramics and paintings by the artist, whose initial training combines calligraphy and painting. This will allow visitors to understand how the brushstroke feeds into the art of stained glass. In total, around forty works created by Father Kim in specialized workshops in France and Germany (Ateliers Loire [Eure-et-Loir], Peters, and Derix) will be displayed for five months across nearly 850 m².

An exhibition that would not have been possible without the close collaboration of the Domaine national de Chambord with the International Stained-Glass Center of Chartres, which has been showcasing the work of Kim En Joong until September 2024 in the imposing cellar of the former Tithe Barn, which hosts temporary exhibitions.

Scenography: Nathalie Crinière Agency

Biography

Kim En Joong was born in 1940 in Korea. At the Seoul School of Fine Arts, he became captivated by Western art. In 1969, he moved to Switzerland, where he found in the spirituality of Dominican monks the vocation he had been searching for. He joined the Order in 1974. In France, he discovered the light of Provence and Brittany. His first stained glass windows for the new cathedral of Évry, in 1998, revealed his talent as a painter of light within architecture.

Since then, he has built a considerable body of work, one of the most important of the 21st century in France and around the world: the cathedral of Vaison-la-Romaine, the cathedral of N’Djamena, the basilica of Brussels, churches, chapels, and monasteries in France, Korea, Italy, Australia, and Germany. The artist has profoundly renewed the art of stained glass and opened new paths for contemporary sacred art.

His friendships with notable personalities, both secular and religious, and writers such as Julien Green and François Cheng, have nourished his unique art of painting with light, a result of personal meditation and a reflection of natural reality. In August 2010, Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand awarded him the insignia of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters for his creation of the 37 stained glass windows in the basilica of Saint-Julien of Brioude. The use of large floating glass plates, cut to fit the dimensions of the openings, freed the power of his gesture, no longer constrained by the interruptions of lead cames that make up the structure of traditional stained glass. Practicing, as in his paintings, a very differentiated use of space by concentrating the color spots in certain areas, he preserves large blank spaces—white on the canvas, transparent in the stained glass. This increases the luminosity through stronger contrasts, and also due to the glass’s ability to release more clarity than any other material. The art of Father Kim does not seek to represent anything except life in its absolute regenerative power. He says he “paints reality,” the reality of a life that faith, intimately united with art, allows us to glimpse.

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