Lehmann Maupin is pleased to announce the gallery’s inaugural exhibition for Kim Guiline, the first solo presentation of his work in the United States. The lauded Korean artist is one of the foundational members of the Dansaekhwa movement that emerged in South Korea during the 1970s. The exhibition will feature a survey of work that includes rarely shown paintings from the 1960s, his well-known black and white paintings from the 1970s, and bright monochrome paintings from the 1980s-2000s. The gallery will host an opening reception on Thursday, February 16, 6-8 PM.

Dansaekhwa translates to “monochromatic painting,” and is also identified by experimental modes of paint application—scraping or pushing of pigments through canvas—that aimed to break away from classical approaches to art making. The resulting paintings were considered to be avant-garde, both aesthetically and in their criticism of political and art establishments. Kim Guiline’s paintings thus can be seen as a reflection of the sociopolitical landscape of Korea during the 1970s, a period of authoritarian rule and government surveillance. In contrast to propagandistic art praising the government, Kim Guiline produced abstract paintings that connected Korean heritage to the natural environment, often expressing a spiritual relationship to color and materiality.