A significant exhibition tracing the origins of Korean abstraction is currently on view in New York.

Tina Kim Gallery presents《The Making of Modern Korean Art: The Letters of Kim Tschang-Yeul, Kim Whanki, Lee Ufan, and Park Seo-Bo, 1961–1982》from May 5 to June 21, 2025.

This archive-based exhibition sheds new light on the formation of Korean abstract art through a collection of letters exchanged among four pioneering artists, offering an in-depth look into their artistic dialogue and historical context.
 
Organized in conjunction with the launch of a landmark new publication of the same title, the exhibition brings to life the personal and intellectual exchanges between the four artists who helped shape the trajectory of Korean modern art during the transformative decades following the Korean War. Featuring key paintings by each artist from this period, alongside archival materials, photography, and ephemera, the exhibition illuminates the debates and dialogues that catalyzed the global emergence of Korean modernism.

In the aftermath of the Korean War (1950–53), amid political instability and a lack of institutional support, Korean artists faced the urgent challenge of redefining their cultural landscape and addressing collective trauma and existential displacement. Many turned to abstraction as a means of forging a distinctly "Korean modernity" that resisted both Western ideologies and inherited aesthetic conventions.
 
Among Korea’s earliest abstractionists, Kim Whanki evolved from semi-abstract depictions of moon jars and plum blossoms to the sublime all-over dot paintings of his New York period, seamlessly blending Korean sensibility with global avant-garde influences. Park Seo-Bo and Kim Tschang-Yeul, deeply influenced by European Informel, created early works marked by thick impasto, raw textures, and material experimentation.

This shared visual language laid the groundwork for their later iconic series: Kim Tschang-Yeul’s meditative ‘Waterdrop’ series, informed by Taoist notions of ego dissolution; and Park Seo-Bo’s ‘Ecriture’ series, known for its monochromatic palette and disciplined focus on repetition and process.

Lee Ufan, initially a leading figure in Japan's Mono-ha movement, transitioned in the early 1970s to his ‘From Point’ and ‘From Line’ series, which merge material restraint with philosophical inquiry, rendered through simple, deliberate brushstrokes evocative of East Asian calligraphy.
 
By the mid-1970s, each artist had developed a distinct visual idiom, unified by a shared ambition to position Korean art within a broader global discourse.

Works from these formative series are featured in the exhibition. Though geographically dispersed, the four artists remained closely connected through decades of correspondence. In the absence of a robust cultural infrastructure in Korea, their letters served as vital conduits for critical exchange, exhibition planning, and mutual support.

Park Seo-Bo and Kim Tschang-Yeul, lifelong friends and collaborators, played a pivotal role in organizing the《2nd Exhibition of the Modern Artists Association》in 1957 and corresponded tirelessly to coordinate Korea’s participation in the 1961 Paris Biennale. Lee Ufan and Park Seo-Bo, who began exchanging letters after their joint inclusion in a 1968 group exhibition titled《Exhibition of Korean Modern Painting》at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, became key mediators between the Korean and Japanese art scenes. Kim Whanki, a generation older, served as a mentor figure, encouraging Kim Tschang-Yeul to apply for Rockefeller Fellowship funding, which ultimately brought him to New York in 1965.

From Seoul, Tokyo, Paris, and New York, the four artists exchanged ideas, critiques, and reflections on the practical and philosophical challenges of working from the periphery of the global art world. Their letters offer an unprecedented window into their artistic development and reveal a collective commitment to building a Korean modernism capable of engaging, on its own terms, with the broader narratives of postwar art.

Years in the making, this landmark project coincides with the tenth anniversary of Tina Kim Gallery’s Chelsea space and commemorates the gallery’s co-organization of the Dansaekhwa collateral exhibition at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015—widely regarded as a turning point in the global recognition of Korean modern art.

『The Making of Modern Korean Art: The Letters of Kim Tschang-Yeul, Kim Whanki, Lee Ufan, and Park Seo-Bo, 1961–1982』foregrounds these correspondences—newly translated, previously unpublished, and reproduced at actual size—as vital primary documents in the history of Korean modernism.

Published by Gregory R. Miller & Co., the book is co-edited by Yeon Shim Chung, Professor of Art History and Theory at Hongik University, and Doryun Chong, Artistic Director and Chief Curator at M+, Hong Kong, with a contribution by Kyung An, Curator of Asian Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

In addition to the letters, the volume stands as a major English-language resource on Korean abstraction, spanning the development from Korean Informel to the emergence of Dansaekhwa.

To celebrate the book’s launch, Tina Kim Gallery hosted a panel discussion at Asia Society’s Lila Acheson Wallace Auditorium on May 9 at 6 PM.
The event featured co-editors Yeon Shim Chung and Doryun Chong, contributor Kyung An, and honored guest Lee Ufan, in conversation moderated by art critic Andrew Russeth.

『The Making of Modern Korean Art: The Letters of Kim Tschang-Yeul, Kim Whanki, Lee Ufan, and Park Seo-Bo, 1961–1982』was made possible through the generous support of the Park Seo-Bo Foundation, the Estate of Kim Tschang-Yeul, and Lee Ufan, who provided the letters for translation and publication.

The project was also funded by the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) and the Peter Magnone Foundation, with additional support from the YS Kim Foundation, Kukje Art and Culture Foundation, Gina H. Sohn and Gregory P. Lee, Gay-Young Cho and Christopher Chiu, and Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins.

Founded in 2001, Tina Kim Gallery opened its Chelsea space in 2014. The gallery has played a pivotal role in introducing Korean abstract artists like Park Seo-Bo, Ha Chong-Hyun, and Kim Tschang-Yeul to global audiences, advancing institutional and critical recognition of this influential group of postwar Asian artists. It continues to collaborate with leading curators, scholars, and writers to produce exhibitions and publications of enduring significance.

Tina Kim Gallery is acclaimed for its curatorial programming, which emphasizes international contemporary artists, historical retrospectives, and independent curatorial initiatives. The gallery represents over twenty artists and estates, including Pacita Abad, Ghada Amer, Tania Pérez Córdova, and Mire Lee. Its growing roster of Asian-American and Asian diasporic artists—such as Maia Ruth Lee, Minoru Niizuma, and Wook-Kyung Choi—reflects the gallery’s ongoing commitment to expanding artistic discourse beyond national frameworks.

References

• 티나킴 갤러리 (Tina Kim Gallery)