Join Asia Society for the launch of Dansaekhwa: Korean Abstract Art and Its Cultural Impact, with author and art historian Dr. Yeon Shim Chung and Andrew Russeth, art critic and Editor-in-Chief of Artnet News.
Emerging in the 1970s, Dansaekhwa — literally translating to "monochrome painting" — was a major abstract art movement in postwar South Korea that pushed the boundaries of painting – and color – outside the canvas into fields that included drawing, craft, sculpture, installation, and conceptual and experimental art. Shaped by by rapid industrialization, authoritarian politics, and the enduring trauma of the Korean War, its practitioners turned inward, away from both Western academic styles and traditional pictorial storytelling, and treating art-making as a disciplined, almost spiritual daily practice. The repetitive and process-oriented nature common of Dansaekhwa treated the finished canvas as a physical record of time, labor, and bodily endurance.
This discussion will dive into the historical contexts, philosophical underpinnings, and enduring international legacy of the movement, examining how these artists navigated global art currents while carving out their own autonomous, abstract vocabulary.
Dansaekhwa: Korean Abstract Art and Its Cultural Impact will be available for sale during the event with a book signing to follow.
Speakers
Dr. Yeon Shim Chung is Professor of Art History and Theory at Hongik University in Seoul. An expert on modern and contemporary Korean art history, she received her Ph.D. in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and is the author and co-editor of Korean Art from 1953 (2020) and The Making of Modern Korean Art (2025).
Andrew Russeth is Editor-in-Chief of Artnet News. An art critic based in New York, Russeth has contributed to the New York Times, the Financial Times, and Parkett. In 2019, he was awarded the Rabkin Prize for arts journalism.
Dansaekhwa: Korean Abstract Art and its Cultural Impact
Host
Tue, Nov 17, 06:30 PM - 07:30 PM (EST)
To be shared on approval (New York)
20 attendees
Join Asia Society for the launch of Dansaekhwa: Korean Abstract Art and Its Cultural Impact, with author and art historian Dr. Yeon Shim Chung and Andrew Russeth, art critic and Editor-in-Chief of Artnet News.
Emerging in the 1970s, Dansaekhwa — literally translating to "monochrome painting" — was a major abstract art movement in postwar South Korea that pushed the boundaries of painting – and color – outside the canvas into fields that included drawing, craft, sculpture, installation, and conceptual and experimental art. Shaped by by rapid industrialization, authoritarian politics, and the enduring trauma of the Korean War, its practitioners turned inward, away from both Western academic styles and traditional pictorial storytelling, and treating art-making as a disciplined, almost spiritual daily practice. The repetitive and process-oriented nature common of Dansaekhwa treated the finished canvas as a physical record of time, labor, and bodily endurance.
This discussion will dive into the historical contexts, philosophical underpinnings, and enduring international legacy of the movement, examining how these artists navigated global art currents while carving out their own autonomous, abstract vocabulary.
Dansaekhwa: Korean Abstract Art and Its Cultural Impact will be available for sale during the event with a book signing to follow.
Speakers
Dr. Yeon Shim Chung is Professor of Art History and Theory at Hongik University in Seoul. An expert on modern and contemporary Korean art history, she received her Ph.D. in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and is the author and co-editor of Korean Art from 1953 (2020) and The Making of Modern Korean Art (2025).
Andrew Russeth is Editor-in-Chief of Artnet News. An art critic based in New York, Russeth has contributed to the New York Times, the Financial Times, and Parkett. In 2019, he was awarded the Rabkin Prize for arts journalism.