[Gallery Walk] Ha Chonghyun’s 60 Years of Experiment Beyond Dansaekhwa... First Major Retrospective in North America

First Major North American Retrospective at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
50 Works Spanning from Ha's Early 1960s Pieces to New Works of 2026
Beyond "Master of Dansaekhwa": Highlighting Ha as an Innovator of Postwar Korean Abstraction
Spotlight on Back-Pressure Technique, Materiality, and Physical Labor

At first glance, the paintings appear to be tranquil monochromatic surfaces. But as you approach, the story changes. Clusters of paint push up through the coarse weave of the burlap, and the traces of hands pushing, scraping, and pressing are visibly embedded on the surface. This is why, during the press preview held on the 22nd (local time) at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, reporters leaned in close to Ha Chonghyun's "Conjunction" series. So-young Lee, the museum's executive director, recalled how even a security guard who had worked there for more than 40 years expressed amazement at the works, saying, "I've never seen painting like this before."

Installation view of "Ha Chonghyun: Retrospective" held at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, USA. Showcasing over 60 years of Ha Chonghyun's work, from experimental pieces from the 1960s to the 'Conjunction' series and his recent works, all in one place. International Gallery

The exhibition "Ha Chong-Hyun: Retrospective," which retraces six decades of the artist's contributions to postwar Korean abstraction, opens at the museum on the 25th. This is Ha's first major solo show at a North American museum. Presenting 50 paintings that span from his early works of the 1960s to pieces from last year and this year, the show reveals the trajectory of experimentation that underpinned his familiar reputation as a master of Dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting). The exhibition will continue until January 25th next year.

The key to understanding this show is "material" rather than "color." Born in 1935 in Sancheong, South Gyeongsang Province, Ha began his career in the aftermath of the Korean War, during a period of scarcity and social upheaval. In the 1960s, he attached paint, paper, and thread to the canvas, and even scorched the surface with fire, shaking up the conventions of painting. In 1969, as a founding member of the Korean Avant-Garde Association (AG), he introduced everyday materials like newspapers and barbed wire into his works. The Asian Art Museum explains that Ha’s works embody the "turbulence, deprivation, and rapid transformations" of postwar Korea through the very essence of their materials.

His 1967 work "Naissance-B" stands in stark contrast to his later monochromatic images: red and blue fields and repeated circular structures sharply divide the canvas. In the same year, "White Paper on Urban Planning 67" translated the sense of industrialization and urban expansion into geometric shapes and lines. Ha was not, from the outset, a painter who simply repeated white or brown. Having traversed art informel, geometric abstraction, and experimental art, he eventually arrived at his current visual language.

Jang Hyung-Hyun, Junction 83-08(A+B) (1983). This is a representative 'Junction' series utilizing the 'back pressure method,' where paint is pushed from the back of the burlap sack to seep through to the front. Oil on linen, 220×220 cm. Kukje Gallery

The decisive turning point came in 1974 with the "Conjunction" series. Ha used coarse burlap, the type once employed for transporting grain and goods after the war, as his canvas. Rather than painting on the front like a conventional artist, he applied thick oil paint to the back and pushed it forward so it would seep through. The process of paint forcing its way between the loose weave left visible traces of pressure, resistance, and the limits of material directly on the surface. This is the technique Ha termed the "back-pressure method."

As such, the "Conjunction" works are not just paintings for the eyes, but canvases that invite viewers to imagine the act of their making. In "Conjunction 83-08(A+B)" (1983), the lower part of the burlap is left exposed, while a clay-brown paint is densely pressed up and through the surface. Instead of covering the material with more paint, Ha makes the struggle between canvas and color the centerpiece of the visual experience. The slender seam running down the center, where the two 220×220 cm canvases meet, physically demonstrates the notion of "conjunction."

Janghyun Ha, "Junction 25-19" (2025). A recent work where blue paint spreads downward across the canvas, showing the current state of the "Junction" series continued by the artist in his nineties. Oil and linen, 182×227 cm. International Gallery

Since the 1990s, color and gesture have become even bolder in Ha's work. In "Conjunction 98-203(A+B+C)" (1998), deep blue paint is powerfully pushed across three burlap panels, with his palette growing more vivid in recent years. In last year's "Conjunction 25-19," blue paint gathers densely at the top of the canvas and scatters downward, while this year's "Conjunction 26-14" features the whole surface dramatically covered with traces of red and orange pigment. Beginning with the restrained hues of 1970s Dansaekhwa, Ha has come full circle, returning to bold, vibrant colors.

His "Post-Conjunction" series, developed in the 2010s, represents yet another variation. Here, canvases wrapped around wooden blocks are pressed with sticks, pushing paint into gaps, while collage and mirror-like materials are also introduced. This year's "Post-Conjunction 26-503" combines oil and ink collage to create long, dripping traces of color. Even in his nineties, Ha demonstrates that he treats "Conjunction" not as a fixed style but as a continually evolving method of experimentation.

So Young Lee, Executive Director of the Asian Art Museum (AAM, left), and Sunjung Kim, Artistic Director of Art Sonje Center, are taking a commemorative photo at the Ha Chonghyun (91) Retrospective held at the Asian Art Museum (AAM) in San Francisco, USA, on the 22nd (local time).

Sunjung Kim, Artistic Director of the Art Sonje Center, and curator of the exhibition, stresses this point as well. Rather than confining Ha to the category of Dansaekhwa, she proposes to view him as an artist who relentlessly tested the boundaries of painting amid Korea’s transformation after the war. The exhibition situates Ha's work alongside that of postwar abstract artists in the West, such as Donald Judd and Agnes Martin. While their practices share a focus on repetition and materiality, unlike the Western minimalism that prized mechanical precision, Ha's surfaces bear the evidence of physical work, resistance of materials, and uneven traces, which remain distinctly visible.

So-young Lee described this as "a practice that redefines abstraction not as a pure visual language, but as an instinctive and embodied experience." Even at the preview, interest was clearly focused on the material qualities of the paintings. According to local reports, journalists commented that what they saw on the surface was very different from what the photographs showed. As the exhibition has yet to open to the general public, it is too early to declare it a hit in the U.S.; however, it is evident that these unconventional production methods—rarely seen in Western abstract art—have drawn initial attention.

Exterior view of 'Ha Chonghyun: Retrospective' at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, USA. The exhibition highlights the artist's over 60 years of work, including the 'Conjunction' series that prominently features the texture of burlap and physical gestures. International Gallery

This retrospective also aligns with a broader shift in how the American art world is viewing contemporary Korean art. Both Lee and Kim note that whereas in the past, Korean institutions would ask foreign museums to "introduce" Korean artists, it is now increasingly the case that international museums are reaching out to collaborate with Korean artists themselves. As Korean culture—including K-pop, film, drama, and food—becomes woven into everyday American life, Korean art is coming to be recognized not as an exotic curiosity, but as an individual artistic voice and a vital part of international contemporary art history.

The fact that the exhibition is being held at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is also significant. The institution houses more than 20,000 works, ranging from ancient to contemporary art, representing both Asia and Asian American artists. In 1989, it was the first museum in the United States to create a dedicated curatorial post for Korean art, and in 2003, it opened a permanent Korean gallery. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Seoul and San Francisco.

Ha Chonghyun himself refuses to call this exhibition merely a "retrospective." Now in his nineties, he says that holding a major retrospective in the U.S. is not about organizing the legacy of the past, but about "showing the living, ongoing traces" of a practice that he continues to pursue, sweating in his studio to this day.

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