[Gallery Walk] Passing Through the Black Gate, to the Painter’s Home... Re-Reading Yun Hyongkeun

PKM Gallery Opens “Reimagining Yun Hyongkeun”

Thirty Major Works from the 1970s to 2000s on Display

“Yun Hyongkeun’s House” in Seogyo-dong Opens to the Public for the First Time on September 1

Blue and Umber, Paint-Stained Floors, and Treasured Objects... Connecting Art and Life Across Two Spaces

When viewing the works of Yun Hyongkeun (1928–2007) at PKM Gallery in Samcheong-dong, it is the empty spaces that catch the eye before the black. In “Umber-Blue” (1976), a wide expanse of yellowish hemp cloth opens up between two black pillars; in “Blue-Umber” (1979), a streak of space remains between the dark color fields descending from either side. Yun Hyongkeun mixed the blue of the sky (Blue) and the earthy umber to create an almost black tone, designating the empty space between them as a “gate.” This is why, in 1977, he began to call his paintings “Cheonjimun” (Gate of Heaven and Earth).

Hyungkeun Yoon, 'Umber-Blue', 1985. Oil on canvas, 61.5×49.3 cm, Mapo. The overlapped blue and polychrome create a nearly black surface, showing deeper color and bleeding effects that intensified in the 1980s. Sungryul Yoon · PKM Gallery

Opening on August 26, the exhibition “Reimagining Yun Hyongkeun” presents some thirty years of this gate—how it was constructed, narrowed, and ultimately solidified. A total of about thirty works are displayed across PKM and PKM+, ranging from early 1970s pieces to large-scale “Cheonjimun” works, the increasingly austere black squares after the 1990s, and his late works on Hanji. Although the early pieces use the same blue and umber tones, their surfaces are surprisingly clear: blue paint runs freely across the linen, and luminous spaces emerge between the tones. As time passes, the colors grow darker and the forms less fluid.

This transformation is as deeply entwined with a personal life as with art history. In 1947, while studying at the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University, Yun was dismissed for participating in protests against the national university plan. Shortly after the Korean War, he narrowly escaped execution after being dragged off as part of the Bodo League. While working as an art teacher at Sookmyung Girls’ High School in 1973, Yun reported irregularities in admissions and was detained by the KCIA. After leaving teaching later that year, he devoted himself fully to painting. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art noted in a 2018 retrospective that after these incidents, bright colors disappeared from his canvases, replaced by dark tones.

Hyungkeun Yoon, 'Blue', 1972. Oil on canvas, 70×69.7 cm. This early work features deep and clear blue flowing vertically, showing the formation process of the 'Cheonjimun' paintings, which later compress into blue and multicolor. Seongryeol Yoon · PKM Gallery

The following year, his father-in-law and mentor, Kim Whanki, passed away. By marrying Kim’s eldest daughter, Kim Youngsook, Yun became both student and son-in-law, but gradually moved out from his mentor’s shadow to forge his own style. He abandoned flamboyant colors, keeping only blue and earthy umber. Using a large brush soaked in thinned pigment mixed with turpentine, he painted onto unbleached hemp; the paint would seep through the fibers. For him, “black” was not merely a single shade of paint, but a color born of the interplay between heaven and earth.

Moving to the PKM+ venue, the sense of diffusion diminishes. In 1991, Yun met Donald Judd, a leading figure of American Minimalism, in Seoul. Judd purchased Yun’s works and in 1993 invited him to hold a solo exhibition on Spring Street in New York. Afterwards, Yun’s canvases became larger and the rectangles more decisive than before. Although both artists engaged with geometric abstraction, Judd’s mechanical precision stood in stark contrast to Yun’s method of having paint seep into fabric—yet it was these differences that allowed them to recognize one another.

Up to this point, Yun might be summed up as “the master of monochrome who painted Cheonjimun.” For this reason, the press tour that day did not end in Samcheong-dong. After viewing the artworks, visitors took a car to Seogyo-dong in Mapo-gu. This is “Yun Hyongkeun’s House,” which will open to the public for the first time on September 1.

On the 25th, the house of Yoon Hyung-geun in Mapo-gu, Seoul, is being revealed ahead of its opening. Photo by Yonhap News.

Climbing the steps along a red-brick wall leads to the house Yun built in 1983. The land itself was acquired by his father-in-law, Kim Whanki, as part of a public housing project in 1963. After Yun began living here in 1967, he demolished the original house and asked his younger brother, architect Yun Dogeun, to design a structure that would combine a residence and work studio. The high ceilings, exposed piping, and full-length windows feel modernist; upstairs, there are wooden ceilings and traditional lattice windows. Yun himself was deeply involved in the selection of materials and the functional aspects of the building.

The first thing that draws attention is the floor of the studio on the first floor. Before viewing the artworks, one sees old paint stains—dark marks that spread widely across the concrete. One entire wall is open to natural light, a choice made so Yun could paint here. He left behind tools and works from various periods, while the adjacent room holds drawings, notebooks, letters, and photographs. Unlike a recreated studio in a museum, this is the actual space where his works were made, giving a different impression than the black fields seen at PKM Gallery.

On the second floor, the artist recedes and the individual emerges. Antique furniture, ceramics, an audio system, and a wooden sign by Kim Jeonghee remain in the living room. A sculpture by Donald Judd also hangs on the wall—Yun himself collected Judd’s work and kept it nearby for life. The room used by Yun’s wife, Kim Youngsook, contains her collected objects, her own paintings, and letters and photographs from her father Kim Whanki and Kim Hyangan. Although the house is called “Yun Hyongkeun’s House,” it preserves not just the sanctum of an artist but also the traces of a family’s life together.

On the 25th, the home of Yoon Hyunggeun in Mapo-gu, Seoul is being revealed ahead of its opening. Photo by Yonhap News

In a note written in 1977, Yun remarked, “The measure of art is the human scale.” He also described art as a “byproduct” and a “trace” of everyday life. Words that might otherwise sound like solemn declarations of aesthetics shift in meaning when experienced in his home. After seeing the bricks he selected, the worn chair, the paint-stained studio floor, his wife’s room, and artwork by a friend, it becomes clear that Yun’s black pillars were not forms created apart from life itself.

This is why the exhibition is only complete when both locations are experienced together. PKM Gallery shows how Yun’s painting evolved, while his Seogyo-dong house allows us to see why that evolution was inevitable. Expelled from Seoul National University, having faced death, detained in protest, and mourning the loss of his mentor, Yun stripped away colors until all that was left were immense black fields and empty spaces between them.

Hyun-Kun Yoon, 'Burnt Umber and Ultramarine', 1989. Oil on linen, 97.3×162.2cm. This work features a dark color field filling the canvas, leaving a thin background visible between the sections, showcasing the more rigorous style of Yoon Hyungkun's 'Cheonjimon' paintings from the late 1980s. Sungryul Yoon · PKM Gallery

The empty gate first seen in Samcheong-dong appears different after visiting Seogyo-dong. Perhaps what Yun left unfilled was not a void, but a space for all he could never fully express in his paintings during his life.

“Reimagining Yun Hyongkeun” runs at PKM Gallery until October 3. “Yun Hyongkeun’s House” will be accessible by advance reservation from September 1 to October 17, with a docent tour for groups of eight per session. Admission is 20,000 won. From 2027, it will open to the public in spring and autumn seasons.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.