Tokyo

Empty the Mind: The Art of Park Seo-Bo

2016/3/30–5/14

Tokyo Gallery+BTAP is pleased to announce “Empty the Mind: The Art of Park Seo-Bo”, our sixth exhibition with Park Seo-Bo from March 30 to May 14.
Park Seo-Bo was born in Yecheon County in the province of North Gyeongsang, South Korea in 1931. After his graduation from the painting department in Hongik University in 1954, and his stay in Paris during 1961, Park developed a style incorporating monochrome line drawings with the texture of Korean paper. He is a representative artist of the Korean monochrome movement (Dansaekhwa).
The Tokyo Gallery organized the exhibition Five Hinsek ‘White’: 5 Korean Artists in 1975, including Park. The exhibition has often been referred to as the original presentation of monochrome painting. Since then, we have held five solo exhibitions of Park’s work from 1978 to 2001. This time, for his sixth exhibition, we show not only Park’s recent pieces, but also survey his solo exhibitions beginning with his first, with the publication of a catalogue containing many illustrations and an essay by art critic Toshiaki Minemura.
In this exhibition, we are showing Park’s latest works from the series of Ecriture (描法) series. Park has worked on this series, named with the French word for “writing,” since 1967. In the 1980s, Park newly developed his line drawings with pencil, variously changing the medium and his way of drawing. In the works shown here, the artist uses multiple layers of Korean paper, using his fingers and tools to produce geometrical undulations on the top surface. The limitation of forms and colors created using this technique reminds one of Minimal art, but the work, which reflects via repetitive acts of “drawing,” is a pursuit of a kind of spirituality through a different path than Conceptual art.
We are having an opening reception with the artist at 6 PM on April 5.

WORKS

Title
Ecriture No.160220
Year
2016
Size
130 x 200 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No.150412
Year
2015
Size
130 x 200 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No.150525
Year
2015
Size
130 x 200 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No.150608
Year
2015
Size
130 x 200 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No.140811
Year
2014
Size
130 x 90 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No.151005
Year
2015
Size
130 x 90 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No.140515
Year
2014
Size
46.5 x 35 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No.141005
Year
2014
Size
46 x 35 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No. 140325
Year
2014
Size
46 x 35 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No.140309
Year
2014
Size
46 x 35 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas
Title
Ecriture No. 140421
Year
2014
Size
46 x 35 cm
Material
Mixed Media with Korean hanji Paper on Canvas

Park Seo-Bo is a leading figure in contemporary Korean art and the Dansaekhwa movement. Park was born in 1931 in Yecheon, Gyeongsang, Korea. He graduated from Hongik University, Department of Painting in 1954.

Park is best known for his Ecriture series of paintings. Ecriture is French for “writing”. The series has continuously evolved since its inception in 1967. But the shared simple form of the works in this series reflects Park’s unyielding pursuit of spirituality through repetitive but focused acts of “drawing.”

Park first exhibited at Tokyo Gallery in the 1975 group exhibition Five Hinsek ‘White’: Five Korean Artists. This exhibition has often been referred to as the original presentation of Korean monochrome painting. Since then, Park has now held six solo exhibitions at Tokyo Gallery with the latest in 2016.

Park is highly acclaimed for both own his artistic practice as well as his promotion of contemporary Korean art throughout his career. He received the Korea’s National Medal (Medal of Seokryu) in 1984, Order of Cultural Merit (Silver Crown) in 2011, and Asia Society’s (Hong Kong) Asia Arts Game Changer Award in 2019. His works are collected by public institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum (New York and Abu Dhabi), Museum of Modern Art, New York, Hirshhorn Museum, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea and Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.

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