Suh Seung-Won, Simultaneity 20-0103, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 90.9x116.7cm © Kimdaljin Art Archives and Museum
Kimdaljin
Art Archives and Museum is presenting its second-half 2026 exhibition, 《The Color White, The Nearest Hinsek》,
through December 31.
《The Color White, The Nearest Hinsek》
explores the concept of white in Korean art, focusing on 《Five Korean Artists, Five Kinds of White》,
an exhibition held at Tokyo Gallery in 1975 as part of a series of Korea-Japan
exchange exhibitions following the establishment of diplomatic relations
between Korea and Japan in 1965.
Exhibition Leaflet of 《Five Korean Artists, Five Kinds of White》 held at Tokyo Gallery in 1975 © Kimdaljin Art Archives and Museum
White
has been assigned and invoked with different meanings across various contexts
in modern and contemporary Korean history.
Discussions
of white have been shaped and reconfigured from multiple perspectives,
including mythology and folklore, foreign interpretations of Korean aesthetics
during the Japanese colonial period, nationalist discourse that emerged against
the backdrop of the Park Chung-hee administration and the normalization of
diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan in the 1960s, as well as
subsequent critiques and reinterpretations of these discourses.
《Five Korean Artists, Five Kinds of White》
brought together Korean artists through the commonality of “white (Hinsek),”
presenting a particular discourse on white as its outcome. Rather than being
defined as a singular aesthetic, the notion of white presented in the
exhibition took on multilayered meanings through the intersection of different
historical contexts and interpretations.
Park Seo-Bo, Ecriture No.920320, 1992, Hanji paper and mixed media on canvas, 53x65.3cm © Kimdaljin Art Archives and Museum
This
exhibition brings together materials dating from the 1900s to the 1970s to
examine discussions surrounding white and 15 key figures associated with them,
including Yanagi Muneyoshi, Choe Nam-seon, Yoon Hee-soon, Choi Sunu, and Lee
Yil.
It
also presents works and archival materials by the five artists who participated
in 《Five Korean Artists, Five Kinds of White》:
Kwon Young-Woo, Park Seo-Bo, Suh Seung-Won, Dongyoub Lee, and Hur Hwang. The
exhibition examines the meaning of white amid debates surrounding broader
discourses and seeks to shed new light on “white” as experienced through the
artists’ underlying personal experiences and memories.
This
more intimate exploration beneath the overarching discourse is presented
through previously unpublished works by Dongyoub Lee and Hur Hwang, interview
videos with Suh Seung-Won and Hur Hwang, and related materials including
photographs and signatures of the five artists who participated in 《Five Korean Artists, Five Kinds of White》.
In
particular, visitors can view previously undisclosed annotations that Lee Ufan
left for Lee Yil in the Japanese-language manuscript of White Thinks (白色は考える) (1975), which Lee Ufan translated by hand.
Participating
Artists: Kwon Young-Woo, Park Seo-Bo, Suh Seung-Won, Dongyoub Lee, Hur
Hwang
