CHOI MYOUNG YOUNG

In the mid-1960s, he discovered non-substantiality of painting and explored a geometrical harmony with materials. Aware of the limits and contradictions of representation in painting, he was certain that painting does not need to be bounded by forms. The idea was embodied through the process of acceptance and transformation, in a series of experimental works pursuing geometrical patterning of objects.

His work often reminds of a blank space or a wallpaper, leaving a bewildering first impression to its viewers. The empty image comes from the artist’s intention to exclude both the figurative and material properties from his works. He seeks for the nature of non-painting in paintings, and reveals his life on the plane while exploring the essence of painting.

He puts monochrome colors such as black, white, blue, and yellow on flat canvases, and then he approaches conditions of each planes using his fingers, a roller, or a brush on the canvas, or an awl on Korean paper. His meditative way of painting creates calm and deep planes, and his emotions and moments are compressed in his works like a diary.

Courtesy The Page Gallery