Put your fears aside and dive into the world of abstract art

"We must not be afraid of this word 'abstract.' All art is primarily abstract." Korean art historian Kim Boggi quoted British art historian and philosopher Herbert Read (1893-1968) in the introduction to a new exhibition titled "Seeking 'Eidos:'..

Artist Yun-hee Toh's painting is on view at Gallery Hyundai in central Seoul as part of her solo show ″Berlin.″ [GALLERY HYUNDAI]

“We must not be afraid of this word ‘abstract.’ All art is primarily abstract.”

Korean art historian Kim Boggi quoted British art historian and philosopher Herbert Read (1893-1968) in the introduction to a new exhibition titled “Seeking ‘Eidos:’ Korean Abstract Painters 7” which Kim curated. Although we tend to think that abstract art is difficult to understand and sometimes boring, all art including children’s drawings, is actually abstraction of real forms and of reality to a certain degree.

Accordingly, it might be helpful in understanding general art to visit the ongoing three exhibitions in central Seoul that feature abstract art. Each of them deals with abstract paintings by artists from different times and spaces — the pioneers of abstract art in Russia in the early 20th century; the artists who were active in Korea in the mid and late 20th century; and a contemporary Korean artist who is active both in Korea and Germany.

Kandinsky, Malevich & Russian Avant-Garde

The exhibition, which started late last month at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul, helps viewers catch a glimpse of the golden age of Russian avant-garde art. Innovative modern art with new forms or subjects flourished in Russia in the early 1900s and suddenly collapsed due to the rise of Stalinism in the 1930s.

The show consists of 75 pieces by 49 Russian artists including renowned ones such as Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935), Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962) and Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956). They have been loaned by the state-run Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts and other Russian museums.

″Improvisation No. 4″(1909) by Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) is part of the ″Kandinsky, Malevich & Russian Avant-Garde″ exhibition at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul. [NIZHNY NOVGOROD STATE ART MUSEUM]

Not all the exhibits are abstract paintings but the highlights are works by two important pioneers of abstract art, Kandinsky and Malevich, whose names are in the exhibition title. Among them are three paintings in Kandinsky’s “Improvisation” series. They are feasts of various colors and forms.

“The artist immersed himself in the ‘improvisation’ paintings that depict images springing to mind from the unconsciousness; the ‘impression’ paintings that are from the observation of external reality; and the ‘composition’ paintings that arrange and reconstruct the images both from improvisation and impression,” art historian and ChungAng University professor Kim Young-ho, who co-curated the exhibition, explained in a press meeting on Jan. 5.

″Suprematism″(1915) by Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935) is part of the ″Kandinsky, Malevich & Russian Avant-Garde″ exhibition at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul. [EKATERINBURG MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS]

And one of the iconic “Suprematism” paintings by Malevich is in the exhibition. The life of the artist shows how even abstract art is related to politics.

Malevich, a supporter of the Russian Revolution (1917-23), thought his geometric abstraction “Suprematism” is in accordance with the Revolution’s spirit as his creations break the norms and conventions of Western Europe’s bourgeois art.

However, after the death of Vladimir Lenin and the rise of Joseph Stalin, avant-garde art, including abstract paintings, was banned because it was regarded as strictly for the bourgeoisie and the elite. Instead, socialist realism works that propagate socialist ideology came to the forefront. Many of Malevich’s paintings were confiscated and he was even arrested.

“It wasn't until the mid-1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, that Russian avant-garde art was brought into the global spotlight once again,” Kim said. “We need to know the art, since it influenced the birth of Korean abstract art and dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting).”

The exhibition runs through April 17. Admission is 20,000 won ($16.80) for adults.

Seeking ’Eidos:' Korean Abstract Painters 7

″Vein of Mudeungsan″(1983) by Kang Yong-un is part of the exhibition “Seeking ’Eidos:' Korean Abstract Painters 7” at Hakgojae Gallery in central Seoul. [HAKGOJAE GALLERY]

The exhibition at Hakgojae Gallery in central Seoul sheds light on seven abstract painters mainly born in the 1920s — the artists in the generation that are lesser-known compared to first-generation abstract artists like Kim Whanki and Yoo Youngkuk born in the 1910s and to dansaekhwa artists born around 1930.

Curated by art historian and Kyonggi University professor Kim Boggi, the exhibition features 58 works by seven artists. They are Ree Bong Sang (1916-1970), Ryu Kyung Chai (1920-1995), Kang Yong-un (1921-2006), Rhee Sang-Wooc (1923-1988), Cheon Pyongkun (1928-1987), Haindoo (1930-1989) and Ri Namkyu (1931-1993).

“They are artists who achieved their unique Korean aesthetic amid the wild flood of abstract paintings from the West after the Korean War (1950-53),” Kim said in a press preview on Jan. 6. He added “Eidos” in the title is a Greek word that signifies the essence of substance in Aristotle’s philosophy.

Among them, paintings such as Ree’s “Tree 1”(1963) and Kang’s “Vein of Mudeungsan (Mount Mudeung)”(1983) show the abstractions of natural landscapes, whereas Ryu’s late-period works such as “Day 85-6”(1985) show “a simple and straightforward geometrical abstract world,” according to Kim.

″Day 85-6″(1985) by Ryu Kyung Chai is part of the exhibition “Seeking ’Eidos:' Korean Abstract Painters 7” at Hakgojae Gallery in central Seoul. [HAKGOJAE GALLERY]

As for Rhee, his paintings from the 1980s including “Work 86”(1986) show “an abstract style that emits a sense of calligraphic impulse, as if writing in cursive with a single brushstroke,” Kim said. “The artist reported being fascinated by the Neo-Confucian idea that all things in the universe return to one.”

The exhibit also includes Cheon’s paintings that seem to have been heavily influenced by Western Surrealists; Haindoo’s paintings of bold colors inspired by Buddhist mandala, shamanic paintings and dancheong (traditional Korean decorative coloring on wooden buildings); and Ri’s paintings and stained glass panels that explore light in the context of his Catholic beliefs.

“As seen in Haindoo’s Buddhism and Ri Namkyu’s Catholicism, abstract art sparked from an indivisible relationship with religion,” Kim said. “Pioneers of 20th century abstract art Mondrian, Kandinsky and Malevich were all greatly influenced by Theosophy.” But Korean abstract paintings “exhibit distinct aesthetics from those of the West in terms of their inherent energy, calligraphic impulse, color and space,” he added.

The exhibition runs through Feb. 6. Admission is free.

Yun-hee Toh: Berlin

Artist Yun-hee Toh's paintings are on view at Gallery Hyundai in central Seoul as part of her solo show ″Berlin.″ [GALLERY HYUNDAI]

Yun-hee Toh, a 60-year-old artist now based in Berlin and Seoul, presents her latest abstract paintings in her solo show titled “Berlin,” which started at Gallery Hyundai in central Seoul last Friday.

The style of her paintings has dramatically changed from those shown in her last solo show at the same gallery in 2015 under the title “Night Blossom.” Her latest works show paints of various colors, in particular, pink and purple, in heavy textures, which demonstrate her action of painting across the canvas.

“My painting is a process in which my thoughts and emotions become material equivalents through my gestures,” the artist said in a press preview. “Rather than expressing momentary feelings, it is about bringing out one by one the inner landscapes that have been accumulated for a long time inside my mind. Accordingly, painting is about how I get to know my true self.”

The solo show runs through Feb. 27. Admission is free.

BY MOON SO-YOUNG [moon.soyoung@joongang.co.kr]