Ha Chong-Hyun is a pioneering member of the Korean Dansaekhwa, or “Monochrome painting,” movement, dedicating his career to engage with discourses around institutional critique and advocating for the Korean avant-garde. In his hallmark Conjunction series, Ha Chong-Hyun pushes thick paint through the backs of loosely woven hemp canvases, creating a textured surface that is entirely unique to his practice. The term “conjunction” signifies the unmediated meeting of the artist’s two most important elements–his method and his materials–and has been a decades-long project. Ha first began making his Conjunction series in the 1970s in post-war Korea, where his use of hemp, a robust material commonly used for transporting goods during the war and subsequent reconstruction, distinguished his work from the traditional Western canvas.

In Conjunction 14-280, the black paint gathers heavily toward the top of the beige hemp surface, with straight vertical lines extending downward. These lines appear almost as if they are dripping, yet the flow is inverted, with the heaviest paint accumulated at the top. This dense application of paint has a sculptural quality, creating irregular shapes that contrast with the straight strokes descending below. The unpainted hemp surrounding the central painted rectangle acts as a frame, its borders darkened with oil that has soaked into the fabric.