MYEUNG-RO YOUN
From the outset, Myeung-Ro Youn’s practice has been directional. Winning the top award at the prestigious National Art Exhibition in 1959 while still a student, Youn rebelled against the institution refusing to exhibit his work. Instead he established a guerilla group of artists who showed their work together on the stone wall surrounding Deoksugung Palace, the very venue of the National Art Exhibition. This liberating gesture is characteristic of Youn’s practice, anti-authoritarian and unconventional, experimenting with new materials and techniques.
Youn joined Korea’s founding Informel abstract art movement, which sought to break free of Japanese influences under colonization. Inspired by Satre, the artist introduced a darker palette and expressive brushwork. His later works replaced traditional oil paints in favour of powdered iron, allowing the natural oxidation of the metal to colour the canvas. Appying the iron with brush and knife, then wiping the powder off with a cloth, Youn created startlingly energetic works that captured the reactionary climate of Korea under changing military dictatorships.
His well known Ruler, Ollegit and Anonymous Land series, alongside his significant contributions to printmaking have recently been commenorated in the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, 2013.
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