Contemporary Korean artist Park Dae Sung (b. 1945) works in the traditional medium of ink painting while transforming familiar Korean landscapes with his modern and imaginative interpretations of the natural world. Park, who lost his left arm and both parents at the age of five and is entirely self-taught, has said, “Nature is my teacher.” He devoted sixty years to mastering traditional brush and ink techniques and established his own innovative landscape style, broadening his knowledge through extensive global travel and endless practice. His visually striking paintings are gigantic in size yet contain an aesthetic sensibility.
Ink Reimagined illuminates the artist’s paintings through 150 full-color images, an interview with Park, and six scholarly essays exploring his diverse subjects, such as calligraphy, landscape, animals, and still life. In addition to telling the artist’s remarkable life story, the contributors trace the rich history of Korean ink painting from the 1950s to today. This book will enlighten Western readers, deepen the understanding of Park’s modernized style of Korean ink painting, and inspire interest in the long tradition of East Asian ink painting, as well as contemporary Korean art and culture.
Exhibition dates: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, July 11, 2022; The Center for Government and International Studies at Harvard University, September 15, 2022–December 8, 2022; Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, September 24, 2022–March 19, 2023; Charles B. Wang Center at Stony Brook University, September 14–December 10, 2023; Ridderhof Martin Gallery and duPont Gallery at the University of Mary Washington, October 26–December 10, 2023
