Associated with the Korean art movement Dansaekhwa of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, Kwon Young-Woo produced emotional abstract works through his manipulation of paper. Kwon scratched and tore dry or wet paper, saturated it with ink, and layered sheets to control the opacity and texture of the surface. Using materials he was familiar with from his training in Korean Oriental painting, Kwon pushed the qualities of hanji paper and ink in search of new, more radical abstract composition, as seen in this 1984 untitled work made during his time in Paris. The rips in the medium accentuate the sense of interior and exterior, with halos of ink and gouache adding to the piece’s depth and offering evidence of the paper’s absorbency. Kwon’s work has been shown internationally since the 1980s, and his monochrome pieces were included in the 56th Venice Biennale exhibition, Dansaekhwa.
and tina kim gallery, new york