Lee Ufan

Lee Ufan (Korean, 1936-) From Point, Oil on canvas 227.5 cm*181 cm 1984 
Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul  

Born in Korea and active in Japan and France, the painter and sculptor Lee Ufan emerged in the 1960s as a leading figure in Japanese minimalist art, particularly within Mono-ha (School of Things). His oeuvre to date, though diverse and expansive, has a distinctive style. The feathery brushstrokes dancing across this canvas evoke a tactile experience not unlike that of the sensuous white slip that is brushed onto buncheong ware. Other works by this artist, identically titled, exhibit a more meticulous repeating pattern of short brushstrokes. A poignant expression of abstract minimalism, this painting explores the tension between contained energy and boundless space. Together with two other twentieth-century Korean paintings displayed in the exhibition, this painting highlights the kinds of intuitive visual connections to buncheong ware that one finds in modern and contemporary art—not surprising, given the bold and of-the-moment aesthetic of that ceramic genre. It could be that these artists were not consciously evoking the earlier Korean tradition; Lee, however, is a known buncheong enthusiast. Nonetheless, the visual resonance is undeniable, attesting to the enduring power and relevance of the art of buncheong ceramics.  
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