SUH SE OK

Featuring four of Suh Se Ok’s groundbreaking ink paintings and drawings, the exhibition commemorates the life and work of the artist, who could not be fully honored at the time of his death due to COVID-19 restrictions. Reflecting on the expansive creative space that Suh Se Ok, along with his wife Minza Chung, created for their sons, artist Do Ho Suh and architect Eulho Suh, this deeply personal project ruminates on themes of connectivity, place, and memory. Celebrating the open and experimental approach to creativity that has been passed down to a third generation of Suhs, the exhibition also includes work made collaboratively between family members of different ages.

From the 1950s onwards, Suh Se Ok–philosopher, teacher, poet and artist – brought forth a new lexicon of gestural painting. The artist, who taught at Seoul National University for four decades, forged an avant-garde movement radically rooted in Korean tradition and philosophy. The exhibition will feature a series of dynamic drawings, paintings, and wall hangings by the artist’s family. These works respond to the lineage of Suh Se Ok’s explorative mark-making and its focus on connectivity between individuals and communities across time and space. A number of films and small-scale sculptural works reveal the far-reaching impact of the artist’s handling of themes including language, parenthood and philosophical importance of shadow.

The artist’s desk will be installed within the gallery space, featuring a guestbook inviting visitors to share their own thoughts on Suh Se Ok.