Kwon Ji-an (Korean: 권지안; born 30 September 1984), commonly known by her stage name Solbi (Korean: 솔비), is a South Korean singer, painter, and television personality.[2] She made her singing debut in 2006 as a member of the K-pop group Typhoon, and gained widespread fame in 2008 as a cast member of the variety show We Got Married.[3] She held her first solo exhibition as a painter in 2012.[4]
Career
Debut
She made her debut as the main vocalist of the representative K-pop hybrid group Typhoon in 2006 and also released her solo album ' Do It ' in 2008. In the same year, she also received attention in plays and musicals. Since then, she has been releasing music and music albums every year.[citation needed]
Aside from her music career, Solbi has also achieved fame as a television host on MBC, in the shows Sang Sang Plus (season 2) (alongside Lee Hyori and Shin Jung-hwan) and Music Core with Big Bang members Seung Ri and Dae Sung from March 2008 to March 2009, later replaced by Tiffany and Yuri of Girls' Generation. In February 2008, Solbi was cast in the reality show We Got Married, where celebrities are paired up to live together as newlyweds. Solbi was paired up with Hong Kyeong Min for the Lunar Special episode, but for the rest of the series her partner was Andy of Shinhwa.
On 19 June 2008 Solbi released her first solo digital single, titled 'Cute Love', the lyrics in which she composed herself. The song is used as Andy and Solbi's theme song for the show. On 15 July 2008 she recorded a Korean version of 'Way Back into Love' from the 2007 movie Music and Lyrics with Kim Jong Wook. Solbi's first mini album titled 'Do It, Do It' was released on 17 September 2008. Her second album, titled 'French Kiss' was released on 16 April 2009.[citation needed]
Solbi appeared as one of the main MCs for Infinite Girls (season 2), but later stepped down,[5] citing scheduling conflicts with her upcoming album. She participated program named Infinite Challenge in October 2015.
In 2017, she was appointed as an ambassador for the Central Election Commission.[6] She was also a special guest teacher in Idol School, as a Psychological Health Management teacher using art therapy, the same outlet for herself when she was struggling.
A change from singer to artist
She is absorbed in art, which was started in 2010 for healing purposes. Starting with ' fantasy ' of ' Trace ' in 2015, she introduced self-collaboration (a new form of art through collaboration between two different selves: Kwon Ji-an and Solbi). The self-collaboration is a total of five pieces, including 'Black Swan' in 2016, "Jikji Korea International Festival' in 2017, and 'Hyperism-Blue' in 2018. Solbi in particular is a side effect of the " hyperism " (the flood of information and content), which means that if modern desires and higher expectations are not addressed, the opposite side effect is the feeling of deprivation. 'Hyperism -Red' performed an unprecedented 'Red' performance on KBS 2 TV 'Music Bank ' on the subject of pains of women, giving fresh shock. In March 2018, she introduced the sound of 'Class' of 'Hyperism-Blue' to her YouTube channel.[citation needed]
In July 2022 Solbi held her tenth solo exhibition. 'Humming-Paradise' at Vista Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul from July 13 to September 13.[7]
In August 2022, Solbi held the exhibition 'Beyond the Apple: Systemized Language' by Kwon Ji-an from August 20 to September 18.[8]
Solbi uses art to process pain from cyberbullying. In a 2023 Voice of America documentary "Painting through pain" produced by Komeil Soheili, Solbi says: "In 2011, fake videos of me were distributed online, [...] At that time, many malicious comments were directed at me. And at some point, my persona became very shameful. [...] [Cyberbullying] is like a pack of wolves attacking one woman." Solbi said of her Solbi RED performance painting, "Through the performance, I wanted to box up the pain, move on, and live my life again."[9]
Philanthropy
On March 8, 2022, Solbi donated ₩10 million to the Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association to help those affected by the massive wildfires that started in Uljin, Gyeongbuk. and also spread to Samcheok, Gangwon.[10]
In May 2022, Solbi donated 10 million won to the orphanage on Children's Day and Mother's Day By donating on 29 April 2022.[11]
^Lee Jae-eun (12 July 2022). "솔비, 13일 개인전 'Humming-Paradise' 개최" [Solbi to hold solo exhibition ‘Humming-Paradise’ on the 13th] (in Korean). Sports Kyunghyang. Retrieved 12 July 2022 – via Naver.
^Choi Jeong-ah (18 August 2022). "권지안(솔비), 美서 호평 이끈 '애플(Apple) 시리즈' 국내 첫선" [Kwon Ji-an (Solbi), the first domestic launch of the 'Apple series', which led to favorable reviews in the US] (in Korean). sports worlds. Retrieved 18 August 2022 – via Naver.
^"Painting Through Pain"(Documentary). 52 Documentary Series. VOA. pp. (17:41). Retrieved 27 November 2023.
^Lee Da-gyeom (8 March 2022). "솔비, 산불 성금 1000만원 기부…"서둘러 피해 복구되길"" [Solbi, donated 10 million won to the forest fire... “Hurry up to recover the damage”] (in Korean). Star Today, Maeil Economic Daily. Retrieved 8 March 2022 – via Naver.
^Kim Soo-young (2 May 2022). "솔비(권지안), 끊이지 않는 선행…보육원에 1000만원 기부" [Solbi (Kwon Ji-an), never ending good deeds... Donate 10 million won to an orphanage] (in Korean). Korea Economic Daily. Retrieved 2 May 2022 – via Naver.
^Baek Seung-hoon (12 December 2022). "세븐·솔비·박기량, 新 골프 예능 '스윙스타' 출연" [Se7en, Solbi, and Park Gi-ryang appear in the new golf entertainment 'Swing Star] (in Korean). iMBC. Retrieved 12 December 2022 – via Naver.
