Chung Sanghwa (b. 1932)
Untitled 69-5-A
Oil on canvas, framed
Signed by the artist on the reverse
1969
145 x 112 cm
146 x 113 cm (overall)
Further images
An immense mass of deep red dominates the surface of this canvas, pressing down on vaguely rectangular shapes of dark green, and muddy whitish, brown and black hues that cluster towards the bottom of the image. Executed in mid-1969 after Chung Sanghwa’s relocation to Kobe, Japan, this work may still be indebted to the exposure to the Art Informel movement the artist experienced during his two-year stay in Paris from 1967 to 1968.
Although the visual language of Untitled 69-5-A is notably different from the monochrome, patterned style Chung Sanghwa became renowned for, some core features of his later approach are already evident in this work. This concerns the process of removal of paint in certain areas, revealing either another layer of paint just below, or sometimes the bare canvas, as in the area near the bottom right corner where an elongated horizontal form bisects a dark green, almost black shape. Chung eventually went on to take this technique into more elaborate directions, yet what is noticeable already is the conscious effort to break the illusion of a coherent surface. Instead, Chung draws attention to the fact that the painting’s support—a rough, untreated canvas—and the layers of paint that constitute the image are entirely different entities, as if one could be peeled off the other with the image still intact. Upon looking closer, it also becomes evident that the large red area is not as uniform as it seems at first glance, but consists of a smaller, almost square shape that originates right above the green area, surrounded by another red area of virtually the same hue, with the layers of paint often visibly overlapping where they meet.
Chung Sanghwa is regarded as a proponent of Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting), whose recognition as an artistic movement is a comparatively recent phenomenon. As a term created by art critics and art historians rather than the artists themselves, it is necessarily retrospective in describing a group of artists from postwar Korea who embraced a common aesthetic of a reduced color palette and a minimalist approach towards form and composition. As art historians such as Joan Kee have suggested, the generation of Korean artists launching their careers in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War had to negotiate their identity on two different fronts simultaneously: towards Western modernism on the one hand, and the remnants of the institutional frameworks established under Japanese colonial authority on the other. Dansaekhwa is regarded as the answer of young Korean artists to such multifold challenges. This narrative, however, has its own contradictions, as in the case of Chung Sanghwa who spent a major share of his active career outside of Korea (he lived in France 1967–68, then Kobe, Japan, 1969–76, and again in France from 1977–1992). The monolithic perception of Dansaekhwa as defining Korean postwar identity therefore underestimates the internal diversity of the group, and Chung’s artistic persona is perhaps as much shaped by his experiences in France and Japan as by his Korean upbringing. Indeed, early works such as Untitled 69-5-A underscore the vibrant vitality and uniqueness of his approach.
Chung Sanghwa (painter; b. 1932)
Painter, born in Korea. Chung graduated from the painting course of the College of Fine Art, Seoul National University. After an extended stay in France, he moved to Japan in 1969. Living in Kobe, Chung frequently exhibited across Japan. He participated in Asahi Art Now in 1975, and relocated once more to France in 1977. Chung is recognized as one of the representative artists of the Dansaekhwa (“monochrome painting”) movement.
Although the visual language of Untitled 69-5-A is notably different from the monochrome, patterned style Chung Sanghwa became renowned for, some core features of his later approach are already evident in this work. This concerns the process of removal of paint in certain areas, revealing either another layer of paint just below, or sometimes the bare canvas, as in the area near the bottom right corner where an elongated horizontal form bisects a dark green, almost black shape. Chung eventually went on to take this technique into more elaborate directions, yet what is noticeable already is the conscious effort to break the illusion of a coherent surface. Instead, Chung draws attention to the fact that the painting’s support—a rough, untreated canvas—and the layers of paint that constitute the image are entirely different entities, as if one could be peeled off the other with the image still intact. Upon looking closer, it also becomes evident that the large red area is not as uniform as it seems at first glance, but consists of a smaller, almost square shape that originates right above the green area, surrounded by another red area of virtually the same hue, with the layers of paint often visibly overlapping where they meet.
Chung Sanghwa is regarded as a proponent of Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting), whose recognition as an artistic movement is a comparatively recent phenomenon. As a term created by art critics and art historians rather than the artists themselves, it is necessarily retrospective in describing a group of artists from postwar Korea who embraced a common aesthetic of a reduced color palette and a minimalist approach towards form and composition. As art historians such as Joan Kee have suggested, the generation of Korean artists launching their careers in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War had to negotiate their identity on two different fronts simultaneously: towards Western modernism on the one hand, and the remnants of the institutional frameworks established under Japanese colonial authority on the other. Dansaekhwa is regarded as the answer of young Korean artists to such multifold challenges. This narrative, however, has its own contradictions, as in the case of Chung Sanghwa who spent a major share of his active career outside of Korea (he lived in France 1967–68, then Kobe, Japan, 1969–76, and again in France from 1977–1992). The monolithic perception of Dansaekhwa as defining Korean postwar identity therefore underestimates the internal diversity of the group, and Chung’s artistic persona is perhaps as much shaped by his experiences in France and Japan as by his Korean upbringing. Indeed, early works such as Untitled 69-5-A underscore the vibrant vitality and uniqueness of his approach.
Chung Sanghwa (painter; b. 1932)
Painter, born in Korea. Chung graduated from the painting course of the College of Fine Art, Seoul National University. After an extended stay in France, he moved to Japan in 1969. Living in Kobe, Chung frequently exhibited across Japan. He participated in Asahi Art Now in 1975, and relocated once more to France in 1977. Chung is recognized as one of the representative artists of the Dansaekhwa (“monochrome painting”) movement.