Poster image of 《Water, Fire, Body》 © Daegu Art Museum

The Daegu Art Museum has presented exhibitions focusing on major currents and issues in contemporary art through its “Daegu Forum.” The second iteration of the program in 2023, 《Water, Fire, Body》, invites reflection on the fundamental aesthetic values and spirit embedded in Korean art. Although the world we inhabit constantly changes, its essence remains the same.

This exhibition seeks to explore contemporary art in which water, fire, and the human body—among the primal elements that constitute the universe—enter into relation. 《Water, Fire, Body》 brings together the works of three artists: Kim Taek Sang (b. 1958), who employs water to reveal the essence of Korean Dansaekhwa; Yoon-Hee (b. 1950), who melts mineral masses through fire to investigate sculptural materiality; and Hwang Ho-Sup (b. 1955), who conveys the vitality of nature and the primordial force of the cosmos through bodily movement.

In East Asian thought, the universe operates through the five elements—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Fire erupts outward when it rises above the ground, while water accepts change fluidly as it flows beneath the earth. The human body itself is likewise composed of these elemental energies. By bringing together three artists whose practices embody the qualities of water, fire, and body, 《Water, Fire, Body》 ultimately suggests that the universe is interconnected and intertwined, and that the cosmos and ourselves are inseparable.

All three artists have devoted more than four decades to their practices with the dedication of ascetics. Standing before their works, viewers are led to contemplate the pure aesthetic values and spirit inherent in Korean art, and through quiet observation may enter a state akin to meditation. Through painting, installation, and sculpture, 《Water, Fire, Body》 introduces both the differences and correspondences among water, fire, and body, and the connections that bind them.


Kim Taek Sang, Somewhere over the rainbow-22-1, 2022 © Kim Taek Sang

Growing up in Wonju, Gangwon Province, surrounded by nature, Kim Taek Sang was profoundly influenced by the sensations and impressions of color in the natural world. Through persistent inquiry into the essence of water and careful observation of the beauty concealed within natural color, he arrived at his current practice. To express the luminosity of water, the artist pours acrylic diluted in water into a frame so that the canvas becomes submerged. By adjusting the surface area exposed to immersion and the duration of sedimentation, and then allowing the work to dry, he constructs the pictorial surface.

During this process, light, air, time, and seasonal conditions within the studio all participate in the completion of the work. Kim Taek Sang is regarded as a leading figure of a subsequent generation continuing the tradition of Korean Dansaekhwa. Through this exhibition, viewers encounter a new current of post-Dansaekhwa through the subtle diffusion and layering effects of color achieved through water.

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