Art of Tansaekhwa 
Park Daa Won 

 Art of Tansaekhwa
Now Here In Blue  /PARK DAAWON


PARK DAA  WON  was born in Daegu in 1957  and studied painting at the College of Design and Art, Yeungnam University.  Park is a petite woman with a gorgeous girly smile.  In contrast to her feminine physical appearance, her work is intriguingly masculine.  The masculinity of her recent body of work such as Now Here In Blue” and “Now Here-Becoming” series is manifested in the boldness, dynamics, vigour and energy which are expressed by her confident brushwork, as well as the carefully staged tensions between the painted image and empty spaces and the mobile and static.  This masculinity is perhaps derived from her aesthetic foundation largely shaped through her early childhood exposure to the Korean literati painting (‘Muninhwa’ in Korean and ‘Wenrenzhihua’ in Chinese), which was traditionally predominately practiced by men, especially scholar-gentlemen during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). 

 Art of Tansaekhwa
Now Here  /PARK DAAWON

 Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here- Becoming / PARK DAA WON

 Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here- Becoming / PARK DAA WON

 Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here- Becoming / PARK DAA WON

 Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here- / PARK DAA WON

Growing up with a mother who ran a gallery, Park was extremely fortunate to see the original works of the last eminent Joseon literati masters like Byeong O Seo (1862-1935) at very early age.  In her first year at university, she had also a rare chance to see the original painting of “A Wintry Scene” (Sehando) is held in a private collection.  Wintry Scene is one of the best known works by by Jeong Hui Kim (1786-1857), who was a powerful scholar-official, an influential art critic and connoisseur, an acclaimed calligrapher and importantly, the most prominent literati painter of the late Joseon period.  Kim painted this piece during his exile (1840-1848) on Cheju Island.  The deliberately sketchy wintry scene, thereby creating an austere atmosphere, is designed to express the artist’s lonely inner self and his integrity.  Park’s “Now Here In Blue” and “Now Here-Becoming” series, despite of their contemporary medium and idioms, are connected to the essence of the Korean literati tradition exemplified by Kim.

 Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here   / PARK DAA WON

 Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here / PARK DAA WON

 Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here- Becoming / PARK DAA WON

Park is,of course, not the only contemporary Korean artist who rediscovered the contemporary relevance of the calligraphy and brush-and-ink painting originated in ancient China and practiced widely in East Asia.  Not only Korean artists but also other Asian artists like Zao Wou-Ki (1920 –2013), as well as Western artists such as the French Art Informel painter Georges Mathieu (1921 –2012) and the American Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline (1910–1962), found inspiration in the tradition of East Asian calligraphy and ink painting in their search for an authentic way to express their emotions, inner world, psychological sates and spirituality.  According to the East Asian literati painting theory, first formulated in the 11^th century by Su Shih (1036-1101), a Northern Sung painter and calligrapher, the distinctive use of an individual artist’s brushwork could and should reveal chi, the spirit of Nature or the spirit of the artist herself or himself.  Park’s “Now Here In Blue” and “Now Here-Becoming” series are a contemporary reinterpretation of this theory.  Each piece of these series captures the arrested momentum of the varied breath, rhythmic energy flow, emotion, spiritual strength and psychological force of the artist, which is meant to animate or be re-produced in the mind of the viewer. 

 Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here in Blue / PARK DAA WON

Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here in Blue / PARK DAA WON

Art of Tansaekhwa  
 Now Here in Blue / PARK DAA WON

To arrive at this state, Park has refined necessary skills and techniques.  Her seemingly spontaneous and ‘natural’ brushwork is in fact a result of numerous rehearsals of swiftly making an image without drawing over the same line twice.  Before the performance of painting she meditates, and thus she has a clear vision of the images she is about to create.  Through this diligent practise regime, she has achieved a fine balance between the opposition of control and freedom or dynamism opposition of control and freedom or dynamism in  the  “Now Here In Blue” and “Now Here-Becoming” series. 

THE PAGE GALLERY ‘Park Daa Won’ Private exhibition of Yin Zhaoyang

THE PAGE GALLERY ‘Park Daa Won’ Private Exhibition of Yin Zhaoyang

Tansaekwha with Park Daa Won 단색화

New drawing style, crushing after drawing figure painting / Yin Zhaoyang Maniac, world's first view After seeing falling leaves, it is the time for thinking 'this year is passed now..' In the exhibition, where can appreciate abstract paintings of Korea and China continuously, How about arranging these thoughts?

Art of Tansaekhwa 
Now Here -PARK DAA WON

In THE PAGE GALLERY,after selecting 2 persons who are emerging as great artists in November, their exhibitions are opened in order.

In the exhibition of 'now, here' by Park 
daa won', pieces embroidered with 
brown and black type spots and lines, which are very suitable with an autumn flavor are best. If the word of 'nowhere' has leaving space next to 'no', its meaning is 'there's no place' but, if it has leaving space next to 'now', its meaning becomes 'now and here', which is very different. It's not unrelated with the massage intended by the author.

Art of Tansaekhwa 
NowHere -becoming  /PARK DAA WON

Usually, the author uses the meditation at the time of art making. If the condition before gaining the inspiration is the condition of 'no where', the condition when she is filled with the inspiration is the condition of 'now, here', which is the subject of this exhibition, 'now, here'. Actually, she said she started to pick up the brush when she felt she was filled with the energy through the meditation.

Art of Tansaekhwa 

PARK DAA WON /THE PAGE GALLERY

After putting down all unnecessary things, her mental energy controlling and concentrating on herself purely is expressed by lines and spots. Is it the reason? If her pieces are examined, the image of passion which beats our heart and neat self-control image are overlapped sometimes. White blank of her pieces strengthens this energy.

Pieces of Park Daa Won were selected as representative pieces for New year's greeting ceremony of Samsung group of this year and when George W Bush, previous American president visited to Korea, she was also selected as a representative artist of Korea and his pieces were donated.

On the other hand, at the same time of finishing private exhibition of Park Daa Won, in THE PAGE GALLERY, from November, 18th to December, 18th, private exhibition of Chinese artist, Yin Zhaoyang will be opened. Yin Zhaoyang who is from Nanyang in Henan and graduated from 'China art academy', national art university became to be one of star artists through Tiananmen, the plaza, front series, and so on.

Seong Ji Eun, a representative of THE PAGE GALLERY explained, "He is the artist who recorded the auction highest price (about 1.7 billion won) among Chinese artists and because he showed universal feelings of human beings after mixing past, present, and future of Chinese history through his own unique drawing methods, he received recognition from the world of art."

Especially, the most important pieces of this exhibition are 'Maniac' series. They are pieces, crushing after drawing figure painting, by which it is possible for you to feel the life and vain of a person in drawing. Maniac series are pieces introduced to the world firstly. Though the artist shows collapsed ego of modern people through Maniac series, he also shows the message, another ego will be created. his pieces are owned by China eastern art gallery, today art gallery, Minseng banking art gallery of China, and so on.

[Journalist, Park Su Ho suhoz@mk.co.kr]

[This is the article from Megyeong economy no. 1631 (issuing date: 11.11.16)]

[ⓒ Maeil business Nespaper &mk.co.kr, All rights reserved and redistribution is prohibited]

Art of Tansaekhwa 

Now Here  in Blue / PARK DAA WON