Material and Immaterial in Korean Modern and Contemporary Art

This thematic display explores how artists have experimented with materials and techniques to voice their thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. Yun Hyong-Keun’s Umber-Black (1975), illuminates how materials and processes echo the energy and psychology underneath: here, suppressed anger and frustration about South Korea’s postwar dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. Lee Ufan, known for his minimalist sculptures and paintings, in Dialogue (2016), poetically explores the interrelationships between materials, abstract concepts, and processes. Finally, Écriture No. 22–77 (1977) by Park Seo-Bo, the museum’s most recent acquisition shown here, is an example of Dansaekhwa, or Korean monochrome painting. In it, the artist explored the dynamic interactions between material components by repeatedly inscribing, scribbling on, and scraping the canvas.