Artwork Description:
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 his early Conjunction works, Ha often employed white paint on brown hemp but later began using earthy tones closer to the hemp’s natural color to further highlight the interplay between paint and its support. By the mid-1980s, he expanded his palette to include deeper colors—dark drowns, blues, and near-black tones—advancing the series’ evolution. Created in 1983, Conjunction 83-007 features a rich, subdued black that fills the canvas. This black was inspired by Ha’s exploration of traditional Korean hues, reminiscent of weathered giwa, or traditional Korean roof tiles. This color evokes a uniquely Korean aesthetic and cultural resonance, capturing the passage of time and a deep, native sense of heritage.