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ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Born in Sinuji, Korea, in 1937, Kim Chong Hak first worked as an abstract painter in the 1960s and ultimately rejected the adoption of Western-style abstraction, which he viewed as a response to national melancholy brought on by previous decades of hardship and deprivation. In the late 1970s, he settled in Gangwon Province in eastern South Korea and home of Mount Seorak—the highest peak in the country’s Taebaek mountain range. There, he sought out an alternative artistic discourse, moving away from the monochromatic painting popular in Korea of the time and toward his own unabashedly expressive style.
Kim Chong Hak: Painter of Seoraksan features works that span the arc of Kim’s long career and present an aspect of Korean art from the late 20th century that is little known outside of South Korea. Featured artworks include Kim’s drawings and sketchbooks from the 1970s to the present, including a group of recent botanical studies on Korean hanji paper (made from mulberry bark), and an introductory biographical video by award-winning filmmakers Jung Dawoon and Kim Jongshin of Giraffe Pictures.
Kim Chong Hak (Korean, b. 1937), Fall, 1980, watercolor on hanji paper, courtesy of the artist, Seoul, South Korea. © Kim Chong Hak.
Kim Chong Hak (Korean, b. 1937), Untitled, 1987, thinned acrylic on linen or canvas, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.
Header: Kim Chong Hak (Korean, b. 1937), Pandemonium, 2018, acrylic on canvas, courtesy of the artist, Seoul, South Korea. © Kim Chong Hak.
EXHIBITION SPONSORS
Kim Chong Hak: Painter of Seoraksan is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Its presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Colin Pearson, Adjunct Curator of Asian Art.
All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
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