'Painter of light' Bang Hai Ja is dead at age 85

Bang Hai Ja, a Paris-based Korean artist often dubbed the "painter of light," passed away in Ardèche, southeastern France, last Thursday at the age of 85. Korea's Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyoon expressed his condolences to..

Artist Bang Hai Ja stands in front of her paintings at her solo show at Gallery Hyundai in central Seouil in 2016. [GALLERY HYUNDAI]

This undated photo shows artist Bang Hai Ja in her studio in Yeongeun Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwangju, Gyeonggi. [YEONGEUN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART]

Bang Hai Ja, a Paris-based Korean artist often dubbed the “painter of light,” passed away in Ardèche, southeastern France, last Thursday at the age of 85.

Korea’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyoon expressed his condolences to her family saying “I pay tribute to the artist for her passion, artistic spirit and outstanding achievements. I hope the peace, love, life and dignity that the artist explored through [her painting of] light during her lifetime will illuminate the world more brightly in the future.”

The Korean Cultural Center in Paris, under the Culture Ministry, will set up a memorial altar for Bang and accept mourners on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yeongeun Museum of Contemporary Art, located in Korea’s Gyeonggi Province, has already set up a memorial altar for the artist in her studio inside the museum and will keep it open to the public until Nov. 3. Bang's studio was part of the museum’s artist residency program.

“She explored the source of light [...] in the brilliant hues of cosmos,” the museum, located in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, said in a statement. “She was such an inspiration to everyone.”

″Birth of Light″(2014) by Bang Hai Ja [GALLERY HYUNDAI]

″Dance of Light″(2013) by Bang Hai Ja [YEONGEUN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART]

Bang was born in Seoul in 1937. She initially wanted to study French literature to become a poet but her high school teacher encouraged her to study art instead, after seeing her talent. After studying art at Seoul National University, she moved to Paris in 1961 and studied at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. There, she attracted the attention of several important European experts including Swiss art historian and critic Pierre Courthion, who became her biggest supporter until his death in 1988.

She was married to Alexandre Guillemoz, an anthropologist specializing in Korean studies, from 1967 until his death in 2021.

Bang is famous for her abstract paintings that shine like stained-glass windows in old European cathedrals, which were actually one of her sources of inspiration.

Her paintings were created with a traditional Korean painting technique and colored in gold and deep blue. Each of her paintings looks as if it has a hidden source of light behind it breaking through the abyss, changing the dark surface into a variety of blue-toned waves.

The secret to the illuminated effect and colors that look as if they have come from the depths of the ocean is “natural colors obtained from minerals and plants [...] I painted both sides of the paper in many layers, applying the baechae technique,” Bang said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily in 2016.

Baechae, or painting colors on the back of paper or canvas, is a traditional Korean technique used to achieve a deep and delicate color effect.

Artist Bang Hai Ja’s works installed at Chartres Cathedral in France [BANG HUN]

“Life comes from light, joy comes from the love of lives and peace comes from joy,” Bang said in the interview. “I want to give viewers light, energy and breaths of nature.”

Her paintings that express life, love and peace through light were chosen in 2018 to decorate the stained glass windows at Chartres Cathedral in France, which is a Unesco World Heritage site. Her works were installed in the cathedral in 2021 but the exhibit has not yet opened to the public.

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