An upward trend continues
Published: 04 Nov. 2015, 04:21
The ongoing trend was evident at the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) art fair that ran from Oct. 21 to 25 in Paris.
At the booth of the Seoul-based Kukje Gallery, viewers stopped to see paintings by dansaekhwa artists such as Lee Ufan, 78, and Kwon Young-woo (1926-2013). The style, characterized by minimal color and unusual texture, began to appear in the mid-1960s.
“Lee Ufan was an already established artist before his exhibition at the Chateau de Versailles last year, but he has become more popular among the general public since the show,” Kamel Mennour, founder and director of the gallery, told the Korea JoongAng Daily during the fair.
The Paris-based Galerie Perrotin presented two large dansaekhwa paintings by Chung Chang-sup, and its New York branch opened a solo exhibition of the artist yesterday.
At the same time, several art galleries in Korea and overseas recently kicked off exhibitions featuring dansaekhwa artists. Kukje Gallery on Friday launched a solo exhibition of Kwon, who explored the possibilities of abstract expression with traditional Korean materials such as hanji paper.
Also on Friday, the Blum & Poe Gallery’s New York branch launched an exhibition of Yun Hyong-keun (1928-2007) in collaboration with the Estate of Yun Hyong-keun and Seoul’s PKM Gallery. It is his first posthumous solo show in North America. Yun is best known for his “Umber Blue” series, which span the border between East Asian ink paintings and Western oil paintings.
“The [dansaekhwa] artists variously soaked canvas, pushed paint, dragged pencils, ripped paper and otherwise manipulated the materials of painting in ways that questioned the terms by which the medium was known,” the galley wrote on its website, adding that the style is “quickly becoming the globally recognized face of contemporary Korean art.”
BY MOON SO-YOUNG [symoon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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