In Dialog is an exhibition project designed to connect the art historical contexts of global art and Korean art. In Dialog: Chung Sang-Hwa anticipates a dialog between the works of Chung Sang-Hwa, representing monochrome abstract painting in Korea, and Agnes Martin.

Chung Sang-Hwa’s “white abstraction” embodies the artistic world of an artist who has traversed Korea, Japan, and France for a long time, experiencing the forefront of contemporary art. In this exhibition, a selection of the most moderate white abstract works is introduced to explore the aesthetic relationship between Chung Sang-Hwa’s geometric work emphasizing performative aspects and Agnes Martin’s painting with poetic sensibility.

The viewer who absorbs the pieces at a slower pace may feel the depth that emerges from the boundaries between the small interconnected squares on the canvas. They may find their gaze reaches the depths of the serene, calm, static, and meditative variations of color. This immersive experience is born of the unique and distinctive painting technique deployed by Chung. The unstretched canvas is covered with a layer of pure white kaolin. The gooey canvas is then folded and bent along horizontal and vertical axes. Where cracks appear on the canvas, the dried clay is torn away and the spaces are filled in with acrylic paint. This process of applying, drying, bending, folding, tearing, and filling is repeated over and over again, revealing Chung’s signature surface. The paintings created through this process are not painted, but rather made. The work begins with the artist’s meticulous planning, but then expands spontaneously, as if settling into its own form. When it reaches perfect harmony, perfect balance, and perfect form, the artist steps away and the work is complete.

Chung Sang-Hwa refers to his creative activity as “’work,” revealing a reluctance to attach any special meaning to the act of creation. His attitude toward his work and the way he lives his life is characterized by a desire to subtract rather than add or fill. He discovers surfaces in surfaces without imbuing them with specific narratives or hidden meanings to be read into. Through the countless repetitions of revealing and filling, he illuminates the boundless surface within the surface. The process of the work and the actions performed throughout that process are key to the final outcome. The myriad of chromatic nuances melted into a single color and the subtle movements in the grain that trigger a sensation of visual tactility are experienced as a whole.

Chung Sang-Hwa (1932-)

Born in 1932 in Yeongdeok, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Gyeongsang province, Chung Sang-Hwa began studying art by chance in middle school, and enrolled in Seoul National University’s art department in 1953, at the height of the Korean War. In 1957, while working as a teacher at Incheon Teachers’ College, he continued his art practice. A member of the Contemporary Artists Association and Actuel, he boldly broke with the conventions and formats of traditional painting and experimented with Art Informel tendencies. In 1967, he spent time in Paris, where he was exposed to the latest trends in Western contemporary art, before traveling to Japan in 1969, where he lived and worked in Kobe until 1977. During this time, he developed a close friendship with Yoshihara Jiro, the leader of the radical Japanese artist group Gutai. The work he produced during his time in Japan shows a gradual shift in style from energetic Art Informel to monochromatic abstraction. From 1973 onward, organic forms disappear and his canvases begin to be divided into grids. Since then, he has been active in Paris and Japan, working both domestically and internationally. He returned to Korea in 1992, where he continues to work actively.