朴栖甫 Park Seo-bo 

박서보(b. 1931)는 단색화 운동의 지반을 다진 대표 작가 중 한 명으로, 한국 현대 미술 발전에 빼놓을 수 없는 중추적 인물이다. 그는 지난 반세기 동안 한국 추상미술 특유의 정신성 및 초월적 세계를 포용하는 회화적 언어를 발전시켰다. 특히 박서보의 작품 세계는 그의 물리적 움직임이 만들어낸 자연적 에너지 뿐만 아니라 “그림은 치유의 도구가 되어야 한다”라는 신념을 절실히 담고있다.  그 중 <묘법> 시리즈는 이러한 특성을 극명하게 반영한 것으로 잘 알려져 있다. 1950년대 후반에서 1960년대 사이 앵포르멜의 영향으로 발표된 <원형질>을 포함하여, <유전질>, <허상> 시리즈 또한 그의 미학을 중심으로 끊임없이 발전된 중요한 결실이며, 동시에 <묘법> 탄생의 근본적인 시금석이기도 하다. 1960년대 후반에 들어 첫 선보인 <묘법> 시리즈는 작가의 단순하면서도 역동적인 제스처를 통해 시간, 공간, 매체 사이의 관계를 끊임없이 제시했다. 작품 초기에는 안료가 덜 마른 캔버스 표면 위에 연필이나 철필로 선들을 반복적으로 긋는 행위를 지향했으며, 이후 전통한지를 적극적으로 수용했다. 이는 한국의 정신성을 반영할 뿐만 아니라, 그의 자기성찰적인 방법론을 대변하는 상징적인 미디엄이기도 하다. 이후 1990년대 후기 <묘법>부터는 평면 공간 위에 자, 막대기와 같은 일상 도구로3차원적인 고랑을 형성하고, 깊고 강렬한 색채를 입히는 것으로 발전한다. 박서보는 이 급진적인 변화 속에서도 단색화 고유의 순수성을 강조하며, 작품을 향한 명상적 접근과 수행적 행위를 한결같이 지속하는 힘을 보여주었다.  

As a pivotal figure in Korean contemporary art, Seo-bo Park (b. 1931) is internationally recognized as one of the leading artists of “Dansaekhwa,” the Korean monochrome movement which emerged in the early 1970s. Over the last 50 years, Park has prolifically developed his distinctive language that embraces the spiritual and transcendental aspects of Korean abstract painting. Park’s oeuvre not only displays his energy but also his belief that “picture must be an instrument of healing.” While the Ecriture series is his most acclaimed works today, there are other notable outputs that resulted from his aesthetics and continuous experiments, including Primordialis, Hereditarius, and Illusion series, all of which were developed between the late 1950s and 1960s. 

The Ecriture paintings were initially created in the late 1960s and were characterized by simple, yet dramatic gestures over the surface that displayed the delicate relationship between time, space, and material. Park’s earlier works were created using repeated pencil lines, still-wet surface, and hanji, traditional Korean paper, which was later used and one of Park’s iconic mediums that not only reflected the Korean spirituality but also his introspective methodology. Later in the 1990s, Park expanded his pictorial techniques of Ecriture using everyday tools including rulers, sticks, and vibrant colors while continuing his quest for simplicity and deep meditative approaches.

Born 1931 in Ye-Cheon, Gyeongsangbuk-Do, South Korea

Lives and works in Seoul, South Korea

Education 

2000   Honorary Doctoral Degree, Hong-Ik University, Seoul, Korea
1994   Founded Seo-Bo Art and Cultural Foundation, Seoul, Korea

1950-54 B.A in Painting, College of Fine Arts, Hong-Ik University, Seoul, Korea

Selected Solo Shows 

2019

Ecriture, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France

Park Seo-Bo, Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany 

Park Seo Bo: The Untiring Endeavorer, The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea 

Park Seo-Bo, Johyun Gallery, Busan, Korea

2018

Ecriture, Galerie Perrotin, New York, USA

ECRITURE 1967-1976, White Cube, Hong Kong

2017

ZIGZAG: Ecriture 1983-1992, White Cube, London, UK

2016

Ecriture, Black and White, Tina Kim Gallery, New York, USA

Empty the Mind: The Art of Park Seo-Bo, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, Tokyo, Japan

Ecriture, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong

Ecriture (描法) 1967-1981: Curated by Katharine Kostyál, White Cube, London, UK

Selected Group Shows

2019

Marking Time: Process in Minimal Abstraction, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA

2018

Korea : Five Artists, Five Hinsek 'White'<white>, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2016

New Beginnings: Between Gesture and Geometry, The George Economou Collection, Athens, Greece

KM 9346 La Creation Artistique Coreennes S'invite En Morbihan, Domaine De Kerguehennec, Morbihan, France

Dansaekhwa et l’abstraction coréenne, Fondation Boghossian,Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium

2015

Dansaekhwa, 56th Biennale di Venezia - Palazzo Contarini-Polignac, Venice, Italy

From Lee Ungno to Lee Ufan: Korean Artists in France, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France

Avant Garde Asia: Lines of Korean Masters, Sotheby's Hong Kong Gallery, Hong Kong

Selected Public Collections

The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Rachofsky Collection, Dallas, USA

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C, USA

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA

M+, Hong Kong, USA

The George Economou Collection, Athens, Greece

Yuz Foundation, Shanghai, China

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, UAE

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

Walker Hill Art Center, Seoul, Korea

The Contemporary Museum of Hong-lk University, Seoul, Korea

Leeum, Samsung Art Museum, Seoul, Korea

Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan

Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan 

Ohara Museum, Kurashiki, Japan

The Museum of Modern Art Toyama, Toyama, Japan

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan

Son JéMuseum of Contemporary Art, Gyeongju, Korea

Gidang Art Museum, Jeju, Korea

POLA Museum of Art, kola, Hakone, Japan

Shimonoseki City Art Museum, Shimonoseki, Japan

Gwangju City Art Museum, Gwangju, Korea        

The Museum of Ewha Women’s University, Seoul, Korea

Busan Metropolitan Art Museum, Busan, Korea

POSCO Art Museum, Seoul, Korea         

Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Mie, Japan   

Han-Lim Art Museum, Daejeon, Korea   

SIGG Collection. Switzerland   

Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea

Steven Cohen Collection. Stanford, USA

Found National d’Art Contemporain, France

Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, Korea