Conjunction_1999

Artist Ha Chong-Hyun, a pioneer of Korean monochrome painting called ‘Dansaekhwa’, has continued to experiment with materials and methods throughout his life. The ‘Conjunction’ is his monumental series that began in 1974. The series was produced using the back pressure method, an innovative technique that involves applying a thick layer of paint to the back of a thick burlap sack and pressing it onto the front of the fabric. This was a unique work of artist Ha Chong-Hyun, not entirely a traditional Korean technique or a specific foreign ‘art trend’. This is also the reason why his artwork is said to encompass the East and the West, expressing the Korean era and his philosophy as an artist through atypical materials and methods.

His ‘Conjunction’ paintings continued with the multi-colored ‘Conjunction’ and the ‘Post-Conjunction’ series with a new methodology, and has continued to expand and evolve to this day. The multicolor ‘Conjunction’ series is works that emphasize the artist’s brushstrokes and the gradation of colors mixed with white created on the back of the canvas. Meanwhile, the ‘Post-Conjunction’ series was a work that added three-dimensional elements using wood sculpture. These works are completed by squeezing oil paint into the bottom or edge of a piece of wood and attaching another piece of wood to allow the paint to flow out between them.

Regarding the work, which changes in various ways depending on the paint pushed out in this way, the degree of scraping, and the background color, artist Ha said that just as every human face is different, the work “comes out with its own face.”