I had to approach the concept of painting the other way round. So I had to push the paint from the back of the woven burlap canvas against common sense. I had to make my canvas with burlap that used to be used to transport relief goods across war-stricken Korea as well as oil paint of the right viscosity in order to push the paint from behind. It all led to an unprecedented style.
Enigmatic and contemplative, Conjunction 17-15 is a highly exemplary archetype of Ha Chonghyun’s iconic and acclaimed aesthetic. Executed in deep crimson hues, the thick smears of oils are achieved through a technique called bae-ap-bub, or ‘back-pressing method.’ These works are created through a unique process in which Ha applies thick layers of paint on the reverse of a canvas and then pushes them through to the coarse, woven hemp, brushing or smearing the protrusions on the front in a laborious process. The resulting composition, governed by intuition and chance, manifests the meaning of painting as a tool of mediation and bodily process.
Replacing figuration with varying modes of abstraction, Ha has explored the themes of labour, repetition, material and nature through captivating compositions of monochrome hues. A key figure of the South Korean Informel and the Dansaekhwa movement which began in Korea in the 1960s, the present work is a recent yet timeless example of Ha’s mesmerising practice. Encapsulating Ha’s deeply contemplative energy, Conjunction 17-15 achieves a sublime harmony between nature and control, the inner and outer, and the body and mind.
Commencing on April 23 and running until August 24 2022, Istituzione Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice will host a solo show for Ha Chonghyun, an exciting milestone for the artist. An official Collateral Event of the 59th Venice Biennale, this significant retrospective will exhibit more than 20 works by the artist from the past six decades, a great tribute to Ha’s pioneering role in the development of contemporary Korean art.
我想用另一種方式來探討繪畫的概念。因此我反其道而行，把顏料塗在麻質畫布背面。採用麻布是因為戰時常用它包裝救濟用物資，使用油彩則是因為它的黏性足以穿透畫背。因此成就了前無古人的新風格。
神秘莫名的《接合 17-15》，完美地示範了河鍾賢備受讚譽的獨特美學。在本作中，他以「背押法」堆疊起厚重的深紅色顏料。他先將顏料厚塗於畫布背面，再用力按壓使顏料漸漸穿透粗糙的布面紋理，再從畫面表層擦刮顏料。用這勞心勞力的手法創作的作品，受到藝術家的直覺與偶然的機會率所牽引，體現了繪畫可以成為冥想的工具和充滿動態的實體過程。
河鍾賢以不同面貌的抽象圖像取代具象繪畫，透過充滿冥想色彩的單色畫探討勞動、重複、物質和自然等主題。河鍾賢是上世紀60年代在南韓興起的不定形（Informel）及單色畫（Dansekhwa）運動中的重要人物，他的繪畫手法令人著迷，作品歷久彌新，這幅近年的作品正是一例。《接合 17-15》引人深思，在自然與人為、內在與外在、身體與心靈之間達致和諧完美的平衡。