BOOK: Yun Hyong-keun, Paris, David Zwirner Books

From 1980 to 1982, the renowned Korean abstract painter, Yun Hyong-keun resided in Paris, seeking both peace from the violent political turmoil that exploded in South Korea in 1980 and a new, artistic center in which to create work. His brief but illuminating stay in the city became the locus of his freedom of expression. The book “Paris” by David Zwirner Books is an exploration of his work during a transformative period in Paris in the early 1980s, Yun’s signature abstract compositions engage and transcend Eastern and Western art movements and visual traditions, establishing him as one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century. He is the most prominent figure associated with the Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting) movement, the name given to a group of influential Korean artists from the 1960s and 1970s. Using a restricted palette of ultramarine and umber, Yun created his compositions of monolithic swathes by adding layer upon layer of paint to raw canvas or linen and to hanji (Korean mulberry paper), often applying the next coat before the one below had dried. Published on the occasion of the artist’s exhibition at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2023, this limited-run cloth-bound catalogue focuses on his paintings and works on hanji made in Paris. In an accompanying text, the art historian Oh Gwangsu considers Yun’s work prior to his move to Paris, particularly the artist’s shift toward his signature works in the 1970s.-Dimitris Lempesis