Lehmann Maupin presents a focused presentation of Kim Taek Sang’s work in the gallery’s Palm Beach location, in conjunction with a solo presentation of Helen Pashgian’s work. In recent years, Kim Taek Sang has gained recognition for his extensive exploration of color and its relation to nature, and for developing a unique process of painting, which challenges the traditional notion of two-dimensional painting.

Kim Taek Sang’s near-monochromatic paintings are devoid of forms, descriptions, or narratives. They consist of color fields with varying degrees of gradation that fill the plane surface. Across his post-Dansaekhwa practice, Kim mainly engages with water, light, and time—the by-chance elements that come from nature. Kim began his series, Breathing Light, after he visited the Yellowstone Caldera and was inspired by its reflection of water in the early 1990s. In order to embody a canvas that seemingly holds water, Kim dissolves acrylic color agents into the water, pours the solution inside a frame, and lets the diluted paint particles gravitate to the canvas that is submerged in water. He waits for the natural elements to work for themselves, opening up all the possibilities, and then drains clear water floating on the surface. As a result of this repeated practice of water-dipping and drying the canvas, the artist achieves distinctive visuality of “breathing light,” the layers of transparent colors that shine through the light.