NYAB Event - Ha Chong-Hyun “Conjunction”

Ha Chong-Hyun “Conjunction”

Tina Kim Gallery

[Image: Ha Chong-Hyun "Conjunction 14-111" (2014) Oil on hemp cloth 51.18 x 63.78 in.]

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Tina Kim Gallery presents a solo exhibition of Ha Chong-Hyun, one of Korea’s most acclaimed artists. A leading member of the movement known as Dansaekhwa, Ha has consistently used material experimentation and innovative studio processes to redefine the role of painting, playing a significant role in bridging the avant-garde traditions between the East and the West. While often translated as “School of White” and likened to a Korean version of monochrome, Dansaekhwa is a diverse artistic tradition born out of the tumult that followed Korea’s independence after WWII and the Korean War. For Ha, this period of dramatic social change provided an opportunity to challenge and reinvent the role of art in Korea; confronting contradictions with the West enabled the artist to explore subjects of consciousness and postcolonial identity alongside formal attributes of painting. Within the broad terms of Dansaekhwa, the late 20th century provided a fertile milieu for Ha to invent a uniquely powerful body of abstract work that continues to evolve and challenge audiences today.

This comprehensive exhibition at the gallery provides an invaluable opportunity to experience an artist whose work has challenged the traditional definition of painting and helped open a new and vital chapter in Korean abstract art. Still active in his eighties, Ha will present both historical works as well as paintings made specifically for the exhibition.

Ha Chong-Hyun has lived and worked in Seoul since graduating from Hongik University in 1959. From 1990 to 1994, he served as the Dean of the Fine Arts College at Hongik University and was the Director of the Seoul Museum of Art from 2001 to 2006. He has had major solo exhibitions at Espace Paul Ricard, Paris (1999); Mudima Foundation of Contemporary, Milan (2003); and Gyeongnam Art Museum, Changwon, South Korea (2004). In addition, Ha has represented South Korea in major international art exhibitions such as Paris Biennale in 1961; São Paolo Art Biennale in 1967 and 1977; Venice Biennale in 1995; and Prague Biennale in 2009. His recent exhibitions include a major retrospective at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Gwacheon (2012) and a solo exhibition at Blum and Poe Gallery, New York (2014). His works are held in public collections of prominent institutions, such as Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea; and Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul.