Ha Chong-hyun finds conjunction between spirit and performance

Artist Ha Chong-hyun, 84, introduces his "Conjunction" series at his studio in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, on June 11. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Dansaekhwa artist strives for innovation, reinvention in abstract painting

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Throughout his career, artist Ha Chong-hyun, 84, has been searching for an answer to a burning question: What are the fundamental elements of a painting?

He has explored various challenges and experiments in his well-known "Conjunction" series, which redefines the notion of conventional wisdom of painting by tackling the canvas from behind, in order to answer the question.

"When people think of painting, whether they are from the East or the West, they immediately relate it to filling up the blank space on canvas or paper. However, I wanted to escape these basics," Ha said during a recent interview with The Korea Times at his studio and showroom in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul.

Born in the mountainous Sancheon, South Gyeongsang Province in 1935, Ha graduated from the department of painting at Hongik University, one of the top art schools in Korea and later served there as a dean.

In the 1960s, Ha explored abstract art in the improvisational Art Informel style and led the art movement through the Korean Avant-Garde Society, a pioneering collective of artists who first embraced abstract art in Korea. In the mid-'70s, Ha delved into materiality in fine art using plaster, lumber and newspaper.

"Back then, I was at the forefront of the contemporary art world. I tried to destroy the existing order, including the concept of painting on a canvas," Ha said. "I wanted to find a Korean form of abstract art ― not the European or Japanese style."

Ha employs a variety of materials that reflect the era he lives in.

"After the Korean War, most Koreans suffered from a shortage of commodities. I had to look for the residue of the war to find materials for my work," Ha explained. "I was always interested in novelty and materials that change with the times. Barbed-wire was a familiar material for me as I lived through the postwar years and I placed the wire on the canvas."

The artist has ambivalent feelings toward barbed-wire. "It has a certain charm, but at the same time, it suppressed people during the war. Postwar life was the subject of my work, but expressed in an abstract way," he said.

Ha Chong-hyun's "Conjunction 15-169" (2015) / Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery

Ha's signature series "Conjunction" began in 1974 and the artist still pursues the style, while adding and deducting a variety of elements.

"Conjunction" is characterized by "baeapbeop," or the back-pressure method, invented by Ha.

"I had to break away from Western painting methods, so I chose to paint from the back," he said.

Instead of applying paint on the front, Ha pushes paint through the back of his hemp canvas. The oil paint seeps from the back and through coarse weave and creates beads of paint, of which he has little control. Each bead has its own form and Ha accepts the shapes without trying to alter them.

Ha's use of hemp cloth also came from his effort to break away from the tradition of Western painting.

"I thought if I continued to use Western materials, I might just become an imitator of Western art. So I wanted to become liberated from the conventional canvas," he said. "Hemp cloth was derived from burlap bags that carried grains such as wheat and barley after the war. For me, hemp cloth is a revolution against traditional canvas."

Ha Chong-hyun's "Conjunction 17-95" (2017) / Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery

"I have been working on 'Conjunction' for about half a century, but it has been constantly shifting and changing," he said.

Ha is constantly trying to bring new compositions to his work. The artist never makes sketches, but accepts chance, or the other elements, coming through during the process.

A few years ago, Ha started to tarnish the surface of his paint beads with smoke to create a gradation of natural colors.

"I cannot control how much the paint seeps through or how much the smoke blackens the canvas," the artist said. "I am not an artist who plans meticulously beforehand, I just start painting. I can't estimate how long it will take to complete or how much paint I will need. I don't know what composition I am going to create until I make it."

Ha Chong-hyun's "Conjunction 18-52" (2018) / Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery

Constant changes

Art historian Joan Kee of University of Michigan said Ha's "Conjunction" series is a response to Korea's perception of the international art world, as an attempt to discover originality in Korea's modern art.

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In his mid-80s, Ha still works every day, experimenting with new techniques. "I have been fiddling with hemp, paint and wire for decades. It is tedious and boring, but I survived the hard times," Ha said. "My works are abstract and the changes in my paintings might be subtle. But they encompass all my joy and sorrow."

If there is one principle he follows, Ha works in a natural and organic way. "The paint bead is the first opportunity for oil paint to take shape on its own. Small differences in how tight the hemp is woven and how much pressure I apply make big differences in how the paint seeps through," he said.

Ha also leaves the traces of oil that oozes out of the paint onto raw hemp canvas. "The oil shaped itself that way and I leave it as it is."

Ha Chong-hyun's hand / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

He referred to his process as similar to making pottery as nature goes through chemical changes and Ha interferes in the process in the name of art.

"There are many things behind one finished painting. The exploration of material properties is the beginning of Dansaekhwa (Korean monochromatic painting)," he said.

The artist ceaselessly retraces his oeuvre for inspiration as he claims to learn from himself the most.

At his Ilsan showroom, Ha displayed a variety of his works from early barbed wire and nail pieces to his most recent colored "Conjunction" series. However, the artworks are not necessarily in chronological order as Ha "tests" how his new works to stand up to old works there.

"When I finish a new piece, it goes on view at this showroom and is compared with older works. When a new painting can defy the older ones, I finally give it to the world," Ha said. "The very first principle of me is to be thoroughly creative. I don't repeat my previous work, but create something new from it. This is where I study the most."

Part of Ha Chong-hyun's "Conjunction 08-101" / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

As the artist is influenced by his older works, some old concepts come back. Some of his latest pieces on view at the Kukje Gallery Busan features unseen styles of markings created using steel wires.

The artist added colors to his canvas only a few years ago, taking a bold step into a whole new world.

"About 10 years ago, I encountered the god of the underworld in my dream. He asked me what my profession is and I answered I am a painter. The god stormed at me with, 'What kind of painter does not use color?' and the remark struck my head," Ha recalled.

The oil paints are mixed in the "color kitchen" in his studio, solely by his wife Park Mi-ja. Even Ha is not allowed to enter the color kitchen.

They have been collaborating together for a long time and Park mixes colors upon Ha's request. She is an amateur artist who studied craft at Seorabol Art College, now merged with Chung Ang University.

Ha's journey with colors can be summarized as a search for Koreanness in colors. "They look as if they're just red, but each color is slightly different when compared," Ha said.

One of his recent works, "Conjunction 18-12_2018," features the color "dahong," a kind of vermillion or crimson red. It might look like Ha used more than a few different shades of oil paint, but in fact Ha sticks to one specific color per painting.

He makes a few tweaks to adjust the thickness of the paint, such as smudging and spreading it and scraping it with utensils, making the same color look different.

Ha's rebellious attitude toward art is shown through his tools as well. He uses no traditional instruments but utensils such as sticks and knives.

"I don't use ready-made tools, but make my own instruments. My paintings are literally created by my hand from the beginning to end," Ha said. "I feel like I'm doing something like inventing Hangeul (Korean alphabet), which faced opposition at the time of creation, but took hundreds of years to be properly acknowledged for its formativeness."

Ha Chong-hyun's "Post Conjunction 12-1" (2012) / Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery

Post Conjunction

Though now labeled Dansaekhwa, Ha said the title was only recently given to him and his colleagues including Park Seo-bo and Lee U-fan.

"We didn't collectively form the Dansaekhwa movement, but delved into our own artistic worlds during the '70s. It's like facing a wall while we are all in the same room. After decades, our works share the reflections of the same period, but with individualities, and experts named it Dansaekhwa," Ha explained.

"I had many agonies while I continued 'Conjunction,' but there was no turning back from what I have achieved. So I carried on," Ha said. "There is a Korean proverb that says if you're going to dig a well, then dig one well. I think my well has hit the other side of the earth. This is my lifework."

The 84-year-old artist is expecting a busy year ahead ― a solo exhibition at Cardi Gallery in Milan, Italy in September and at Almine Rech Gallery in London in next February.

His "Conjunction" paintings are also featuring in a handful of group exhibitions, including "Landlord Colors: On Art, Economy and Materiality" at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Mich., U.S. which opened on June 21 and "Abstraction" at the Song Art Museum in Beijing, China, slated for a July opening.

Along with the international Dansaekhwa boom, Ha's simple yet powerful pieces in his "Conjunction" series are the most highly-sought after among galleries, museums and collectors, but Ha has something else in store.

In his "Post Conjunction" series which was revealed at his retrospective at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) in 2012, Ha's artworks burst with vibrant colors, appreciably different from more natural "Conjunction" works while maintaining his signature painting from the back method.

"After being scolded by the god of the underworld, I am using colors as much as I want. The 'Post Conjunction' series features a variety of colors and this is going to be my future," Ha said.

A close-up of the texture of a piece from Ha Chong-hyun's signature "Conjunction" series / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk