Ha Chong Hyun: Conjunctions

The definitive retrospective monograph for Korean master Ha Chong-Hyun, a pioneering figure of postwar Korean art history and leading member of the Dansaekhwa art movement.

Ha Chong-Hyun (b. 1935, living and working in Seoul) is a master artist within the Dansaekhwa art movement—Korean monochrome painting—distinguished by its attention to the formal structure of the picture plane and the incorporation of East Asian spirituality.

Amid extreme material deprivation and the authoritarian political system of 1960s and ’70s Korea, Ha explored the potential of unorthodox materials such as newsprint, scrap lumber, and barbed wire attached to canvas. Working with muted earth tones on burlap and hemp canvases, and combining painting traditions from the East and West, Ha was instrumental in redefining the role of painting. In 1969, the artist cofounded the Korean Avant-Garde Association to generate new directions for Korean art through various art publications and group exhibitions. By the ’80s, his practice centered on the physical act of painting and a turn to darker, more saturated colors. His long-standing focus on form and process position him as a visionary contributor to contemporary painting in the global context. Published to celebrate the artist’s upcoming ninetieth birthday, this beautifully illustrated volume is a fitting tribute to a revelatory figure.

Hyun-Sook Lee is the founder and chairwoman of Kukje Gallery in Seoul. Rosa Maria Falvo is an independent writer and curator, specializing in Asia Pacific and Middle East projects. Philippe Vergne is the director of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, Portugal. Sunjung Kim is the artistic director of Art Sonje Center in Seoul. Minemura Toshiaki is a Japanese art critic, professor emeritus at Tama Art University in Tokyo, and former director of the Tama Art University Museum. John Yau is an American poet and art critic in New York.