Suh Seung-Won

Key works from the 50-year career of the great Dansaekhwa abstractionist

One of the early members of the Dansaekhwa art movement, Suh Seung-Won (born 1941) set the foundations for modernism in Korea. For over 50 years, Seung-Won’s delicate monochrome paintings have explored the concept of simultaneity, using geometric patterns to delineate his aesthetic understanding of time and space.

This lavishly illustrated monograph collects selected works from throughout the artist’s career, presented here alongside historical photographs from the artist’s life and earliest exhibitions. Major new texts from critic Barry Schwabsky and art historian Sohl Lee track the development of Suh’s revolutionary aesthetic since the 1960s and its parallels in the development of the artworld and Korean culture during that time.

Suh Seung-Won is an essential look at one of the most vital artists of Korea’s modernist movement and the subtly powerful monochrome abstractions that have defined his legacy.