Galleries show black, white and blue, too

Arts & Design

Published: 27 Jul. 2011, 19:52

Galleries show black, white and blue, too

Left: Alexandre Calder’s “Untitled” gouache painting (1953) is part of “Black and White.”
Right: Kim Tschang-yeul’s acrylic and oil painting “Recurrence SH07010” (2007) is part of “Beyond the Blue.” Provided by the galleries

Two galleries on two major art streets in Seoul are holding exhibitions dedicated to certain colors. One is “Black and White” at Opera Gallery in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District, and the other is “Beyond the Blue” at Gallery Hyundai on the art street east of Gyeongbok Palace.

Some might imagine “Black and White” to have mainly drawings. And while the exhibition certainly has some, such as Marc Chagall’s “Les amoureux,” drawings represent just a small portion of the show.

It includes an oil painting by 92-year-old French artist Pierre Soulages who is well known as “the painter of black.” He fills his paintings in “ultrablack” and then scratches the surfaces, reflecting light off the black surface. He has been influenced by East Asian philosophy on emptiness and the region’s calligraphy, the gallery explained. The exhibition also shows black-and-white paintings and prints by well-known artists like Alexandre Calder, who invented mobile sculpture.

“Beyond the Blue,” meanwhile, presents paintings with various blue tones by 20 local artists, ranging from renowned Modern artists like Kim Whan-ki and Yoo Young-kuk to relatively young contemporary artists like 39-year-old Kwon Ki-soo.

“For long, Koreans have considered blue to be the color of nature and to be the fundamental color from which all things originate,” Gallery Hyundai said in a release. “The paintings in the exhibition carry this sentiment of Koreans.”

*“Black and White” runs until Aug. 14. Admission is free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Opera Gallery is located on the first floor of the Nature Poem building near Cheongdam Intersection. Go to Cheongdam Station, line No. 7, exit 9, and walk for 10 minutes. Call (02) 3446-0070 or visit www.operagallery.com.

“Beyond the Blue” runs through Aug. 7. Admission is free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays. Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 1, and walk for about 10 minutes. Call (02) 2287-3500 or visit www.galleryhyundai.com.

By Moon So-young [symoon@joongang.co.kr]

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생명의 기운, 푸르름‘靑-Beyond the Blue’전

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블루(blue)라는 단어에서 서양인들은 쓸쓸함을 느낀다지만 우리는 좀 아닌 듯하다. ‘파랑’ 혹은 ‘청(靑)’이란 말에서는 힘찬 기상이 느껴지지 않는가. 전통 오방색 중 남색은 생명과 풍성함을 의미한다고 한다. 새벽 하늘을 ‘청천(靑天)’이라 부른 것도 영험한 기운을 담아내기 위해서였다. 무더운 여름을 맞아 한국을 대표하는 작가들의 작품 중 생명의 푸른 기운이 넘치는 것으로 골랐다. 전통과 자연의 은유적 푸르름을 담은 1부에서는 남관선생(1911~90) 의 코믹한 군상 열전을 비롯해 김환기·유영국·장욱진·김창열·박서보·정상화·이우환·김종학·유희영·이강소·전광영·강익중의 작품으로 구성했다.생성과 발원의 생명력을 그린 2부에서는 노은님·강형구·유봉상·김동유·홍경택·권기수·민성식이 참가했다.