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Moonlight Song

Artist Park Yungnam (Korean, born 1949)

Date2017

MediumAcrylic on canvas

Dimensions70 7/8 × 55 1/8 inches (180 × 140 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineAcquired through the Jarret F. Wait, Class of 1980, and Younghee Kim-Wait Endowment for Korean Arts

Terms

Paintings
Acrylic
Canvas
Korean

Object number2018.037

Label CopyPark Yungnam’s works are personal and introspective, conceived of in series that take inspiration from aspects of landscape and natural light. The artist created the Moonlight Song series by pouring paint on the canvas and working it with his fingers to capture the purity of nature. Park prefers the direct working of the canvas with his hands, rather than to use brushes, and likens his technique to feeling the surface of the earth. For him: Painting with fingers is an ultimate bodily gesture, which should be seen as a primitive act of relaying one’s instinct. My gestures rejecting the means of civilization not only comforts me, but also serves as a significant source to expand the realms of expression...Controlling the purity of color is also an important aspect of my work. I start with nature as a motif, but when completed, there are only colors. Park Yungnam graduated from the Art College of Seoul National University and received his MFA from the City College of New York. He lives and works in Seoul, South Korea. (“Moon," curated by Ellen Avril and presented at the Johnson Museum August 25, 2018-January 13, 2019)

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