Kyu Nam Han
b. 1945 -
Times Square in Blue -
Central Park Boogie Woogie
Dream on 9
Carriage in Central Park
Times Square
Kyong Bok Palace
Times Square at Night
Kyong Bok Palace
Long Island City in Rain
Plaza Hotel - 59th Street - Fall
Downtown New York
Venice Grand Canal
Manhattan Boogie Woogie (sold)
Plaza Hotel and the Skating Link (sold)
Times Square from Above (sold)
Biography
Han interprets Korean Modernism within the Western context and vice versa – Western Modernism within Far Eastern cultural context.
He incorporates traditional values and methodologies, such as perspective and chiaroscuro of the West, and Chun (passage and grid)
from the East. He blends Eastern isometric perspective with traditional Western linear perspective painting to create a fusion of
both depth and flatness, and then apply calligraphic principles to recreate new pictorial images.
There are continuous processes of forms deconstructed and reconstructed of their meanings occurring between the elements of hues, gradation, textures, strokes, broken lines, etc. Han creates his own form of pictorial hieroglyphs. He highlights the drama of his paintings by introducing dots on dots, orchestrating a symphony with a theme – a synthesis of opposites: a) figure/ground; b) image/structure; c) signifier/signified; d) internal/external; e) language/being; f) perspective/flatness. Together, these ambivalent elements are converging into one single totality. Han is a Formalist and Multicultural Pluralist. He has searched for new generative sources within a global cultural context in order to invent a new way of making an art form from his past and present, which, in art vernacular, can be deemed Modernist, Post-Modernist, or Neoclassical Modernist. Perhaps a better way of saying this is that he is a “genetic engineer in the painting”. Exhibitions: 2003 Atelier International Art Group, New York 2002 Anne French Fine Arts, Miami – Gold Key of the City of Bay Harbor was given to the artist by mayor Atelier International Art Group, New York 2000 Michail Lombando Gallery, New York 1999 Artsforum Gallery, New York 1998 Blue Hill Cultural Center Ellen Kim Murphy Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1996 Mi Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1995 Hong Kong International Art Exposition, Hong Kong Walker Hill Art Center, Seoul, Korea 1992 Yuna Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1991 Sun Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1990 Azart Gallery, Seattle WA 1988 Sun Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1984 John Harms Performing Center,Englewood, New Jersey 1977 Hopkins Hall, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Commissions & Collections: L.H. Funk Foundation, Basel Switzerland American Express Headquarters, New York Supreme Court, Seoul, Korea Samsung Corporation, Seoul, Korea Hoam Museum, Seoul, Korea Sun Kyung Corporation, Seoul, Korea Commercial Bank of Korea, New York Han IL Bank, Seoul, Korea Sung San Corporation, Oregon WA Tristar Corporation, Seoul, Korea Gana Art, Seoul, Korea Link to New York Times coverage – New York Times
In his works, Han mixes two cultural genes together. The images of the street include cars, buildings, lights, etc. and the mosaics
of fragmented color are masterfully demonstrated on the canvas. Han repeatedly superimposes and substitutes structures and images
by overlapped lines of contours. The images, the whole drama of the surface come under the relationship of deconstruction resulted
from the effective usage of various grids.
At the same time, Eastern conventional calligraphic methodology has been employed as a key element in Han’s painting:
1) Hieroglyphic images correspond with structure and meaning.
2) Signified becomes signifier.
3) Meaning correlates with form resulting in an altered sense of totality, providing both irony and ambivalence.
4) Calligraphic gesture creates action.
5) Binary opposition issues transform into new perceptions.
There are continuous processes of forms deconstructed and reconstructed of their meanings occurring between the elements of hues, gradation, textures, strokes, broken lines, etc. Han creates his own form of pictorial hieroglyphs. He highlights the drama of his paintings by introducing dots on dots, orchestrating a symphony with a theme – a synthesis of opposites: a) figure/ground; b) image/structure; c) signifier/signified; d) internal/external; e) language/being; f) perspective/flatness. Together, these ambivalent elements are converging into one single totality. Han is a Formalist and Multicultural Pluralist. He has searched for new generative sources within a global cultural context in order to invent a new way of making an art form from his past and present, which, in art vernacular, can be deemed Modernist, Post-Modernist, or Neoclassical Modernist. Perhaps a better way of saying this is that he is a “genetic engineer in the painting”. Exhibitions: 2003 Atelier International Art Group, New York 2002 Anne French Fine Arts, Miami – Gold Key of the City of Bay Harbor was given to the artist by mayor Atelier International Art Group, New York 2000 Michail Lombando Gallery, New York 1999 Artsforum Gallery, New York 1998 Blue Hill Cultural Center Ellen Kim Murphy Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1996 Mi Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1995 Hong Kong International Art Exposition, Hong Kong Walker Hill Art Center, Seoul, Korea 1992 Yuna Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1991 Sun Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1990 Azart Gallery, Seattle WA 1988 Sun Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1984 John Harms Performing Center,Englewood, New Jersey 1977 Hopkins Hall, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Commissions & Collections: L.H. Funk Foundation, Basel Switzerland American Express Headquarters, New York Supreme Court, Seoul, Korea Samsung Corporation, Seoul, Korea Hoam Museum, Seoul, Korea Sun Kyung Corporation, Seoul, Korea Commercial Bank of Korea, New York Han IL Bank, Seoul, Korea Sung San Corporation, Oregon WA Tristar Corporation, Seoul, Korea Gana Art, Seoul, Korea Link to New York Times coverage – New York Times