Almine Rech opens the first posthumous exhibition of Korean artist Kim Tschang-Yeul
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, December 12, 2024


Almine Rech opens the first posthumous exhibition of Korean artist Kim Tschang-Yeul
Kim Tschang-Yeul, Recurrence, 1994-2017. Oil and Indian Ink on canvas, 89 x 146 x 2 cm. 35 1/8 x 57 1/2 x 3/4 in. Image courtesy: © The Estate of Kim Tschang-Yeul - Courtesy of the Estate and Almine Rech - Photo: Melissa Castro Duarte.



LONDON.- Almine Rech London is presenting ‘Water Drops’, the first posthumous exhibition of Korean artist Kim Tschang-Yeul (1929-2021). The exhibition spans the career of Kim Tschang-Yeul's work, conceived to celebrate the full scope of his artistic legacy.

The hyper-realistic waterdrops, synonymous with the Korean artist Kim Tschang-Yeul, stand alone. Glistening, plump and precious, Kim has a prodigious sensitivity to the poetics of water. To follow Gaston Bachelard, ‘the material imagination of water is a special type of imagination.’ [1] If an element has universally been ascribed the high value of purity, it follows that it must be powerful. As Bachelard said, ‘It is not infinity which I find in waters but depth.’ [2]

Kim’s lifelong commitment to the element in its constituent form—the waterdrop—suggests a similarly profound connection. He invested in this motif beginning in 1972, following his relocation to France after a period studying in New York, and never changed course. Few artists have radiated such faithfulness or aesthetic monogamy. It is a tendency that seems to unite many of Korea’s avant-garde who took from Art Informel in the early ‘60s, including Ha Chong-Hyun and Park Seo-Bo. In this generation of artists there is a ritualistic devotion to a chosen form, process, and, at times, colour. One could venture that, in the context of living in a volatile country ravaged by war, the security of immersion in a singular mode was an empowering choice, and may have been a necessary psychological counterpoint.

Indeed, Kim’s first waterdrop work, Événement de la nuit (1972) was solemn. A stirring dark background was furnished with a tear-like drop. In this polished representation, which held in it a reflection of the moon, a sense of pain, loss and trauma was evoked. Originating as a late-night musing in the studio when Kim noticed a water pattern as he cleaned his canvases, this ‘studio bricolage’ was something of an epiphany. [3]

As Kim’s practice matured, his glassy droplets, in a sense, became a portal. Embedded in each is the promise of a path to healing. Kim has stated that ‘if I tried to make a water drop that was transparent, I would open something up.’ [4] What Kim struck upon in these dewy drops was a confluence of philosophical tenets and personal resonance. It is not just that Kim’s portly orbs are moored to Taoist principles aligning water—an element which gives and expects nothing—with ‘supreme goodness.’ It is also in the process of depicting water that Kim draws on Eastern ideology. To achieve the translucent beads, which sit ripe on the canvas, ready to be swiped, demands the patience associated with Zen Buddhism.




The painterly journey taken to make these drops was a vehicle for Kim’s reclamation of internal peace. He has said that he arrived at a ‘state of release as with Zen Buddhism.’ Each of the works in Water Drops is part of a fastidious observational process. Sponges are soaked and dripped onto canvas, and water is splashed on surfaces, to achieve translucent pellets. At the beginning, these experiments were photographed and scrutinised. Kim dwelt upon the resultant studies, and from them has created a catalogue of cardboard waterdrops. These mockups are the material with which he deliberated. There was always potential that they may be shuffled about, placed according to the Renaissance Golden Section principles, or organised in a grid before his composition was resolved. And then it is on to paint. Kim’s early adoption of an airbrush gradually gave way to brush painting. Watery pigment is the base, and added to it are flourishes of gold and white.

Kim’s steadfast approach is devoid of ennui. Every painting has a distinct character. Where Waterdrops (1974) is minimal, and signals the Zen concept that ‘one equals all’, Waterdrops (1979) is thrumming. In each work, the waterdrop has a different persona, indicated by the intensity of the form and its interaction with the background and all that surrounds it. It is in his exploration of wetness that Kim’s visual provocations reach their zenith. Kim sets up visual riddles. Sodden areas of the canvas are mystifyingly disproportionate to the drops close-by. In a work like Waterdrops (1980) it would be right to challenge the extent of their relationship, and question whether the liquid marks are linked at all.

This is also an exercise in aesthetic disjuncture. In bringing these different visual elements together, Kim deftly melded the worlds of abstraction and realism. The pools of water bear resemblance to an abstract expressionist gesture—intentional and physically involved. Each patch of liquid was created by saturating the back of the canvas with dilute pigment, either sprayed or dabbed with a sponge. Again, and perhaps unwittingly, we see an affinity with an early colleague in Korea, Ha Chong Hyun, whose practice revolves around baeapbeop (back painting method). But whereas for Ha this is the foundation of his work, for Kim it is but one technique taken up to support his core interest: water.

As if sacrificing himself to his chosen form and showing the conviction of a disciple, his dedication is absolute: ‘You do what has to be done with no concept of time, with no concept of finish.’ If time melts away with this form, then Kim’s series should be viewed as one. Kim’s movement through different phases and the fundamental repetition of the form over an extensive period—some 48 years—is to echo the cycles that are fundamental to Zen Buddhism. Clues are found in his titles: Recurrence is just that. This type of work, characterised by a grid background of calligraphic characters taken from the Chinese text ‘Thousand Character Classic,’ ebb and flow across Kim’s oeuvre. His work with newspaper is similar, as are his Decomposition pieces. Working in a cyclical pattern, Kim’s styles are picked up, put down, and revisited.

With Kim’s legacy there is no finality or end point in sight because the need to empty out and vanquish the ego is an eternal pursuit that is sought to be attained through the vision of water.

[1] Bachelard, G. (1983) Water and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Matter, Dallas: The Pegasus Foundation p. 6
[2] Bachelard, G. (1983) Water and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Matter, Dallas: The Pegasus Foundation p. 8
[3] Enrici, M (2019) Kim Tschang Yeul, Actes Sud p. 13
[4] Cohen, R (1993) Tschang Yeul Kim, New York: Hudson Hills Press p. 59

- Dr Cleo Roberts, writer and lecturer










Today's News

March 8, 2021

Toomey & Co. Auctioneers to hold 'Fine Art + Furniture & Decorative Arts' sale

Amy Sherald directs her Breonna Taylor painting toward justice

'Mythological Passions' launches the Museo del Prado's temporary exhibition programme

In Japan, his disaster art saves lives

Sotheby's to offer exceptional Vietnamese masterpieces from the Madame Dothi Dumonteil collection

On a newly designed digital platform, Asia Week New York opens with a virtual preview of major highlights

'Golden Mummies of Egypt' exhibition opens at the North Carolina Museum of Art

New Yorkers rediscover city's pandemic-deserted tourist spots

New book features letters addressed by Édouard Manet to his friend the artist Félix Bracquemond

400-year-old Rubens masterpiece unveiled after extensive conservation work

Slotin Folk Art Auction announces highlights included in its 'Spring Self-Taught Art Masterpiece Sale'

Almine Rech opens the first posthumous exhibition of Korean artist Kim Tschang-Yeul

Immersive van Gogh experiences bloom like sunflowers

Solo presentation of the major Pop Art figure Evelyne Axell on view at Muzeum Susch

Irish novelist Edna O'Brien granted France's highest cultural award

Brooklyn's Domino Park presents immersive public art experience by light artist Jen Lewin

The Long Museum Chongqing opens an exhibition of works by Tomokazu Matsuyama

Thomas Erben opens an exhibition of new paintings by Dona Nelson

Giuseppe Stampone's new solo show opens at MLF │ Marie-Laure Fleisch

UCCA opens a group exhibition proposing new possibilities for the shape of Buddhist art

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Roma opens an exhibition of works by Wolfgang Stoerchle

Paris Latin Quarter booksellers feel the squeeze

Solo exhibition of sculptures and installations by Inge Mahn on view at Galerie Max Hetzler

Only West Coast stop for landmark exhibition reunites Jacob Lawrence narrative series




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful