Latest news with #HaChong-hyun
Korea Herald
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Art evolves through accumulation of time, two artists show
Kukje Gallery exhibitions of Ha Chong-hyun, Choi Jae-eun show how art changed in later years Artists persevere to express what they hold inside or deliver messages through art — and galleries nurturing long-running relationships with artists are crucial in showing how that art evolves through time. Kukje Gallery in Seoul presents two exhibitions, focusing on contemporary artists Ha Chong-hyun and Choi Jae-eun, showing how they have continuously evolved in their artistic practices into their late years. Ha's solo exhibition is his fourth presentation at the gallery and the first in three years. The 89-year-old artist's new works from the 'Conjunction' series, which gives variations to his signature 'baeapbeop,' are at the center of the exhibition. "Baeapbeop" literally means 'back-pressure technique." In his latest works from the 'Conjunction' series — which he started in the 1970s — Ha highlights gradations mixed between brushstrokes at the back of the canvas and bright colors added to the front, reflecting his renewed focus on color. Baeapbeop, a term coined by the artist, involves pushing thick layers of paint from the back side of the burlap canvas so that the paint oozes through, creating a unique texture on the surface. The bright colors Ha employs for the new works are distinguished from his early works that feature colors commonly found in traditional Korean objects such as roof tiles or white porcelain, according to the gallery. The self-titled exhibition of Ha Chong-hyun is on view at the gallery's hanok space and K1. Another exhibition, 'Nature Rules,' marks Choi Jae-eun's third presentation at the gallery with themes surrounding the origins of life, temporality, birth and extinction. The 72-year-old artist, currently based in Japan, has combined art and science to explore concepts of vitality and the cycle of life. The ongoing exhibition shows her sensory analysis of the light and sound of the forest visualized through a variety of art, encompassing installation, video and sculptures. Collecting fall leaves and flower petals during her walks through the forest in the Kyoto neighborhood where she currently resides, the artist utilized these natural materials as pigments for paint, applying them to her canvases. She aptly titled the series 'From the Forest.' The sound installation of the artist's voice and nature echoing across the gallery makes one feel as though he or she were standing in the middle of a forest. The artist moved to Tokyo in the mid-1970s and has since continued the 'Underground Project' series she began in 1986 by burying specially made paper in the ground, then unearthing it to analyze traces of accumulated time. The exhibition at the gallery takes place in the K2 and K3 spaces.
Korea Herald
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Ha Chong-hyun was experimental artist before he became Dansaekhwa master
Little-known aspects of Ha's early career get spotlight at Art Sonje Center in Seoul Ha Chong-hyun, 90, is widely known as a master of Dansaekhwa, a Korean genre of monochrome painting, but before that, he was an artist who constantly experimented with his art. His solo exhibition 'Ha Chong-Hyun 5975' sheds light on the master's early works spanning from 1959 to 1975, exploring his use of varied techniques and diverse materials. Amid the influx of Western art, Ha agonized over how to maintain his artistic identity while embracing global art trends. Ha is most popularly known for the so-called 'baeapbeop,' literally meaning "back-pressure technique." His 'Conjunction' series, which the artist embarked on in the 1970s, overturned the concept of painting using canvases made of hemp cloth. Baeapbeop involves pushing thick layers of paint from the back side of the burlap canvas so that the paint oozes through, creating a unique texture on the surface. It is for this technique that he later came to be identified as a Dansaekhwa artist. But the Art Sonje exhibition starts with his early art, from 1959 to 1965, where he used informalism, a global art style that emerged after the Second World War. He drew inspiration from the informalist movement, using it to reflect the chaos and scars of the Korean War (1950-1953). 'He visualized the collective memories of war and social upheaval, laying the foundation for his later experiments with material possibilities and the expansion of painting's boundaries,' according to the museum. A decade later, as the country was swept in with rapid industrialization, Ha began focusing on the social changes driven by urbanization. His 'White Paper on Urban Planning' series demonstrates how he visualized the transformation of cities — the painting 'White Paper on Urban Planning 67' shows horizontal folds in the lower part of the canvas with bold color painting. It is reminiscent of a fast-changing society on the one hand and traditional Korean garments or house on the other, due to the colors that are often seen in traditional Korean objects. It is generally not well-known that Ha was one of the figures who led the establishment of the Korean Avant Garde Association in 1969. The artists in the group aimed to push the boundaries of Korean contemporary art through experimental approaches using everyday materials — from wire to newspaper, plaster and springs, among others. His art from 1969 to 1974 is shown in the 'New Art Movements' section of the exhibition. Coinciding with the exhibition, a lecture entitled 'Ha Chong-Hyun: An Enduring Spirit of Experimentation' by An Kyung, curator of Asian art initiative at the Guggenheim Foundation in New York will take place at Art Sonje Center at 2 p.m., March 22. Some 40 works are on display at the exhibition, running through April 20. The museum is closed on Mondays.
