Kim Chong Hak : painter of seoraksan /
"Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan introduces the work of prolific Korean painter Kim Chong Hak to American audiences for the first time. Born in 1937, Kim lived through multiple conflicts and significant societal upheavals, including the Japanese colonization of Korea (1910-1945), the splitt...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Atlanta, Gerogia : New York :
High Museum of Art Atlanta ; DelMonico Books D.A.P.,
[2025]
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | "Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan introduces the work of prolific Korean painter Kim Chong Hak to American audiences for the first time. Born in 1937, Kim lived through multiple conflicts and significant societal upheavals, including the Japanese colonization of Korea (1910-1945), the splitting of North and South Korea (1948), the Korean War (1950-1953), the turbulent democratic movements of the 1970s and 1980s, and ongoing tensions between the divided nations. Throughout all of this, Kim sought to respond to and express the impact of these often-traumatic changes to daily life in Korea. While many of his peers focused their attention on abstract, formal, and process-based explorations in their art (termed Dansaekhwa or monochromatic art) as a response to limits on sociopolitical representation and agency, Kim rejected this direction and instead turned to the Korean landscape. Combining older Asian landscape traditions and Western-style painting, Kim dedicated himself to interpreting the changing seasons on Seoraksan (Mount Seorak), the tallest peak in the Taebaek Mountains in South Korea. Through a self-imposed isolation on the mountain, he developed an attunement to the natural world and reclaimed a physical, spiritual, and emotional relationship with the landscape once central to Korean society. Though his vibrant, expressive style of representational painting came as a shock against the backdrop of Korean abstraction, he uniquely captures the wildness, energy, and vitality of nature. In addition to his own work, Kim holds a vast collection of Korean folk art, revealing his unique approach to the reclamation and celebration of Korean cultural heritage. By exploring the Korean landscape, nationhood, and diverse artistic, spiritual, and philosophical traditions, Kim has insisted on carving his own path of expression, transcending the boundaries of Korean history and connecting with American audiences. |
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| Item Description: | Published on the occasion of an exhbition at the Hight Museum of Art, Atlanta, April 11-November 2, 2025 and Phoenix Art Museum, September 9, 2026-February 21, 2017. |
| Physical Description: | 167 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm. |
| ISBN: | 9781636811864 1636811868 |