I.

When we discuss the works of a particular artist, perhaps we have things reversed when we say that we are discussing the process by which that artist has become a human being, rather than the works themselves. The old adage that "style is humanity" was long ago relegated to the scrap heap, and since then the state of modern art has moved in the direction of inhumanity and anonymity. Thus, the idea of finding the "human being" in an artist's work seems to be an anachronistic conception.

 

When approaching the works of Yun Hyong-keun, however, I believe that such an anachronistic conception can serve as a very important clue. Perhaps one could even say that such an approach is reactionary. Nevertheless, Yun's works have a "reactionary" elegance to me, and I believe that this is not unrelated to the process of "becoming a human being".

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Among our circle of close friends, Yun Hyong-keun is known as the "giant". First of all, physically he is very large, and both his hands and feet are enormous. But his "giant-likeness" is not simply a function of his external appearance. His heart is also large and magnanimous. There is even a kind of other-worldliness about him and, while at the same time he can be very stubborn, sometimes he seems too naive for his age. His stubbornness is a very simple stubbornness, however, an "idealistic" egotism. Perhaps there is a touch of the lofty spirit of Korea's traditional gentleman scholar in him.

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I used the expression "revival elegance" previously to describe Yun Hyong-keun's paintings. Clearly, this feeling in his work is not unrelated to the "spirit" of a traditional gentleman scholar. When I used the term "revival" to refer to Yun, I did not mean that he simply reverts to things of old. Rather his revivalism is spiritual. Revivalism for Yun is a positive return to our traditional roots inside ourselves. Yun develops anew the "spirit" of those roots in works which echo the feeling of traditional ceramics, such as the white porcelain from the Yi Dynasty.

 

Yun Hyong-keun's attachment of Korea's traditional earthenware, ceramics and wooden implements is unique. In these creations, Yun recognizes coarse "old-fashioned-ness" (to use a theoretical term, I should say "archaism"), and from another perspective, a delicacy. But this "delicacy" does not refer to a sensory emotional delicacy. We often allude to "art without technique", but this is, in the end, a kind of high level of spiritual concentration, a "spiritual state", a natural harmony which is perfect in itself. That harmony is one which Korea's traditional sense of beauty, Korea's own special delicacy.

 

That unaffected natural harmony and that special delicacy perhaps could be called the "character" of traditional Korean crafts. Indeed, that "character" is not something which has been fabricated, nor is it the result of some profound learning or elaborate technique. Sometimes that "character" is something very simple and naive, a form of noble life which has emerged spontaneously as a result of the abundance of " some internal life". It is a kind of "graceful beauty.

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Just as the humanity of Yun Hyong-keun and his art are big-hearted and unaffected, so are his paintings. When I say that his works are unaffected. I mean that naturalness is not limited to his personality alone, but rather his personality is reflected in his unaffected works, or to put it another way, his taste and temperament are unveiled right there on the canvas. And just as his "humanity" makes no attempt to pander to the public, neither does his "art" try to make any particular point. His paintings merely reveal silently what they are going to reveal.

 

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II.

Yun Hyong-keun made his debut as a painter in the early 1960's. At the time of his debut, he was already in his thirties, quite slow by today's standards. The fact that his first one-man show was held in 1966 heightens the impression of slowness (although in Yun's case "slowness" can be seen as one of his virtues).

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Although my memory is somewhat vague now. I believe his works in that early period were characterized by heavy shades and a thick matières and sometimes had a sort of decorative motif. The entire canvas seemed to be circulating around and around. For example, I remember one painting which was very much like a close-up of a portion of one of Monet's later paintings "Water Lilies". (However, we cannot confirm this since none of Yun's early paintings can be found.)

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It appears that the year 1967 marks the beginning of Yun Hyong-keun's early period (although it is not clear whether the artist himself is any more certain of this than we are). Though his works of this period, I believe we can gain a better understanding of Yun's creative wandering, and from this early period we can also find the artistic basis for his works right through to the present.

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I believe that it may be very difficult to draw a distinct line between the various stages in the development of Yun as a painter. Such a periodization would be both artificial and arbitrary because not only has there been a clear continuity through his nearly 30-year career, but also the spiritual basis for his paintings has remained consistent despite minor technical variations which has occurred here and there over the years. If there has been any change in his work as a whole, it has been change growing out of his spiritual maturation.

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If one must periodize his work through changes in technique or manner, I believe we can divide his career into three basic stages. (As I noted above, the pace of change is slow.) I will add one proviso here. The divisions of periods here are not necessarily a milestone in the linear development of Yun's work, and may in some cases jump over periodic links between works.

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I believe that we can say Yun's “early period" stretched from the mid-1960's through the first half of the 1970's. This period could be called Yun's "exploratory period".

 

The late 1960's were a period of change for the abstract art movement in Korea. On the one hand, the "Informelle" expressionistic abstract movement was in decline, and then in response to this change, a new generation of artists exploring the possibilities of geometric abstractionism was on the rise. Not only does the fact that Yun Hyong-keun's "exploratory period" ended around this time seem quite natural, but I do not believe that having said that we must believe that he is exceptionally sensitive to epochal trends. Chronologically, Yun, a part of the "Informelle Generation", was simply following his "exploratory logic" and attempting to discover himself on his own.

 

From the very beginning, however, Yun Hyong-keun's temperament was not "geometric". Although his works during this early period may have been "structural", they were neither geometric or methodical. 

 

The structure of Yun's work was generally perpendicular constructed with a framework of colored stripes and thick columns evenly distributed across the canvas (At times there were also diagonal stripes of color as well). However, although the distribution of color and shape was even, the stripes of color were not uniform, and instead, the juxtaposed bands acted in concert, much like a space reverberating with an echo. The colors, sometimes made of "columns" (stripes of color) which would touch each other, and sometimes placed at regular intervals, would become entangled and soak together, spreading across the canvas to send to vibrations throughout the painting.

 

The transformation which occurred during this early period and the changes which mark the transition to the "second stage" of Yun's artistic career are related to the subjects as to: 1) how internalized were the spatial vibrations found in his early paintings; 2) how inherent these vibrations are; and 3) to what degree have these vibrations become homogeneous.

 

One thing that is clear is Yun's work definitely expanded in breadth at the beginning of the 1970's. When I say that he expanded in "breadth", I mean that not only did the structure of the canvas as a whole and the stripes of color expand, but at the same time, the width of the stripes themselves also changed.

 

In some way, perhaps this transformation also indicates a broadening of the breadth of Yun's artistic conception as well. In addition, the breadth of his spirit when he looks at the canvas also expanded; more specifically, the color stripes were gradually transformed into "color surfaces". And the structural elements of the painting, on the other hands, gradually thinned out. That is to say, the surface of the painting departed from its previous two-dimensional from which had been delineated by a structural skeleton and background, and become a kind of color-field painting in which several broad perpendicular color surfaces spread outward from the canvas. In this way, the color surfaces which seemed to soak into the canvas took on a space of their own, and as that space became more inherent, the "second stage" of Yun's work began.

 

It is difficult to mark a distinct end to this "second stage", but I believe we can say it occurred somewhere around the end of the 1970's, give or take five years. The foundation for Yun's artistic style was laid during this relatively short period, while at the same time, his inherent vitality and tension roared onto the canvas during this period. During this period, his painting became more taciturn, while on the other hand, "blank spaces" began to fill the canvas.

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On the occasion of Yun Hyong-keun's one-man show at the Munheon Gallery in 1975, I wrote the following for a introduction entitled "Texture as Void", included in the exhibition catalogue. Although the quote may be somewhat long. I have decided to include it here as it reflects much of what I call my theory of Yun Hyong-keun.

 

If I may be permitted use the term "an aesthetic of the void", the works of Yun Hyong-keun clearly fit into this albeit extremely vaguely defined concept in the most basic sense. The concept of "the void" is generally understood to be an intrinsically East Asian notion. But by saying this, I do not mean to include Yun's works under the heading of some East Asian concept. Rather, Yun's case, the problem is how can he transcend the limits of traditional concept, while at the same time, how can he better approximate that 'aesthetic?"

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The "void" itself is completely meaningless. The one decisive presence which makes the "void" meaningful is the medium known as "relation". In Yun Hyong-keun's painting, relation is found first in the relation-ship between the empty space on the flat surface and the color surfaces. Going one step further, the "relation" is found in the interaction between the color surfaces themselves, and finally there is the relation between the surface of the canvas and the apace which exist beyond it. In most cases, Yun's works up until this point have reflected a rejection of anything which exist beyond the surface of the completed painting. On the other hand, however, Yun's paintings claim as their own the infinity of space which exist outside themselves by pulling inward everything which lies without. In the relationship between the blank spaces and the color surfaces on the canvas, there is no domination or subordination by either side. In short, it is not that color surfaces are placed on top of the blank space and thus fill up the void; rather, the color soaks into the blank spaces and the two then achieve a contrapuntal relationship between themselves. In this way, the dualistic structure of the background and the color surfaces is restored, and the overall surface of the painting achieves a unique texture, "dyed" with emptiness.

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In fact, it seems that Yun Hyong-keun is particularly sensitive to this kind of texture. That is to say, he responds sensitively to the unique "complexion" of the canvas, adapting to it, and when possible, bringing it to life. This tendency is much like that of Korea's traditional gentleman scholars who regarded their rice papers, pens and ink as friends. Technically, Yun has allowed himself to be carried by the natural force of his unaffected impression and brushstrokes.

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However, even if he has permitted himself to flow with the forces of nature, this does not mean that this represents a haphazard or unilateral East Asian recurrence. I say this because the artistic expression of Yun Hyong-keun can be seen as a most unique expression which reflects the realization of a new abstract painting, or to put it another way, abstract painting for the "post-minimal" period. The withdrawal from all sensory and expressed things, the restoration of a kind of solid color, and the complete integration of the surface and space and the color surface and voids all represent an artistic attempt to achieve new possibilities.

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It does not end here. However. In the works exhibited in this show, Yun has brought new meaning to his work through his methodological consistent manner of expressing a new basic question about abstract painting itself. When I use the expression "methodological" here, I mean that he has not borrowed the vocabulary of other painter in his works, but rather has, through an extremely controlled and very personal vocabulary, discovered his own vernacular. (This phenomenon is particularly rare in Korea.) This show provides plentiful evidence that Yun Hyong-keun is indeed the rare artist capable of such exploration.

 

 

III.

In my discussion of "the second stage" Yun Hyong-keun's career, I used the expression "texture as void", and provided a basic explanation of what I mean by this term. I used term to express the idea that color surfaces and the voids found in Yun's works are not simply "filled space" and "empty space", but rather both entities possess a homogeneous spatiality. It is precisely here that we can find Yun's unique "aesthetic of the void" which can be described as an East Asian concept, and it is also here that we can discover Yun's methodology, distinct in the vein we can modern art, a kind of methodology of "exclusion" which is realized on the surface of the canvas. (This methodology of "exclusion" can be seen as part of the "minimalist mode", but it is in its conception distinct, of course. For example, if the minimalism of the West can be called the result of a systematic and rational formal conception, Yun's methodology of "exclusion" is part of an intuitive world which transcends formal conceptions. His handling of color also corresponds to this idea.)

 

The emergence of this methodology of "exclusion" and the complete and natural identification between his aesthetic and the intuitive world constitute the basic qualities of Yun's "third period" (the 1980's). Of cause, what I have called "identification" is not simply something found in the stylistic or technical dimensions, but rather is related to a broader world view and view of nature. It is here perhaps that we can find Yun's pan-naturalistic philosophy of the yin and the yang, that is, his philosophy realized through intuition.

 

This World of painting is not something which is achieved in a short term, however. Rather it is the result of an on-going process behind the scenes which was under way throughout the "second stage" of Yun's development and then the "third stage", leading right up to the present. However, the structural "subdivision" of space still existed in his works from the latter half of the 1970's. For example, one could find the remnants of structural elements in various places, sometimes on both edges of the canvas, sometimes right in the center and sometimes on the perpendicular color surfaces which absorb the empty space in a manner which evenly divided the canvas.

 

In the 1980's, all trace of these structural elements disappears from the canvas. Although color surfaces which fill the canvas perpendicularly appear from time to time, these no longer constitute structural elements, but rather are a type of "spatial function" which expands infinitely. In short, this phenomenon signifies the "exclusion" of all structural elements whether they be on the color surfaces or in the blank spaces. These elements are replaced by a kind of substantive infinite spatial presence which expands indefinitely off the surface of the canvas, a presence which can be neither limited nor controlled. That presence is "nature" in its most fundamental form, and it is together with Yun Hyong-keun's paintings that we, humanity, can become one with "nature".

 

This substantive "infinite space" as painting, this art to which nothing is added except that which created this spatial presence, is an art form which "forcibly demands silence", to borrow the expression of Nakahara Yusuke, that is, so to speak, the "Painting of the Impossible"; it is a painting in which almost nothing is put on the canvas. (Nakahara used this expression in his comments in the catalogue for Yun's one-man shows in Hiroshima, Osaka and Nagoya from April 27 to June 30, 1989.) Nakahara also noted that the "silence" in Yun's paintings possessed such a strong message that once one had experienced it, one could never forget it.

 

If I were to interpret that message in my own way, I would say that it is the presentation of the world of potential and possibilities, that is, the presence of the most basic nature through the "Painting of the Impossible".

 

I have used the term the "Painting of the Impossible" several times above, but in fact, that expression was the title of my comments in the catalogue for Yun's show at the Inkong Gallery in Daegu and the Soo Gallery in Seoul in 1986. It was my first "confrontation" with his works since an exhibition at the Munheon Gallery back in 1975, and I was amazed at the consistent spiritual underpinning which ran throughout his work over a long period of time. The following is one portion of my thoughts on that occasion.

 

As I sit writing this, I am having a stare-down with one of Yun Hyong-keun's painting which I have set up across from me on my desk. On the left side of the canvas, there is a squarish black surface, and on one side of that, a dark umber color is soaking in from the edge. A slightly brighter umber color is soaking out of the edge of the surface, and then the remainder of the canvas is void.

 

That is the entire painting which sits before me. There are no embellishments, no elaboration. Just a silent, black surface which controls its space like an enormous rock. The colored space abuts, on one side and through part of the center, another infinitely horizontal void, the color surface and the void assailing each other. While this may be a somewhat extreme metaphor, the relationship between the void and the color surface is like that of the heavens and the earth, that of the yin ant the yang. Just as there can be no real "boundary" between the yin and the yang, no boundary exists between the void and the color surfaces in Yun's painting.

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It is my understanding that Yun Hyong-keun loves nature. He enjoys nature and put on no airs. He is a painter who is a bit crude, but who has a fine sense of "taste". Perhaps his uncommon devotion to Korea's ancient earthenware is proof of this. And this is what makes it possible for his simple and intuitive approach to nature.

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For Yun Hyong-keun, "nature" is not a conception, nor is it a sensory condition. It is a "state", one kind of "state" which possess within it a basic reality. And it is something which precedes any specific phenomenon or "creation".

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Yun Hyong-keun is placing that "state" onto the canvas or paper. When he is tired of some particular color, that is in search of the basic existence which transcends that color. In addition, he paints over and over again on one color surface as if the surface will grow on infinitely on its own because he wants to fix that real existence on the canvas.

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It iss impossible to give form to something which cannot be formalized. It is like trying to capture nothing and trap in a jar. This is precisely what Yun Hyong-keun has been trying to do for longer than I can remember.

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He started this endeavor by drawing a few thick columns across the canvas. These columns then seemed to multiply, sometimes crossing each other, or turning into a gently curved color surface. Then that color surface eroded the empty space or void, the two sometimes soaking into each other, and finally creating a spontaneous "nature" which seems as if it has been there from time immortal.

 

This show at the Inkong Gallery, November 6 through December 5, 1989, is taking place three years after the show for which I wrote the above introduction. What kind of changes will we find here? Yun's works over the last three years reflect an on-going assimilation between color surface and void, between limitedness and infinity, between fullness and emptiness amidst a universal harmony. "Umber-blue" which color one portion of the canvas soaks into the empty space as if it were expanding. When I used the term "universal harmony", I meant an eternal natural creation, a creation in which filled space and emptied space like the yin and the yang, or the color surface and the void, come together in "infinity" and participate in creation.

 

If the works of Yun Hyong-keun are truly something from the eternal creation, they are also from the "eternal incomplete". His work is a living world of spontaneous creation wide open in infinity. His work, just like life itself, can never be said to be "complete". Moreover, nature is its most basic form incomplete, and Yun Hyong-keun, understanding this, lives together with nature, anchoring nature in one infinite moment of time. This is precisely where we realize that Yun Hyong-keun is truly a "pan-naturalist" artist.