When Brush and Ink Became Contemporary Art

The tendency to regard Korean painting as little more than “ink painting” stems not from the works themselves having remained unchanged, but from the fact that our way of looking at them came to a halt long ago. From the mist veiled ink landscapes of Lee Sang-beom, the vibrant and explosive colors of Park Saeng-kwang, the experimental compositions of Lee Ungno, and the human figures of Suh Se-ok, to the contemporary visual languages reinterpreted in distinct ways by LEE Jinju, CHA Hyeonwook, Kwon Sejin, and Lee Jeong, these works are, strictly speaking, not part of a single genre.

4 June 2026