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Artist Ha Chong-hyun's works to feature in retrospective in San Francisco

Published: 21 Apr. 2026, 18:10

Ha Chong-hyun poses alongside his ″Conjunction″ paintings at the Art Sonje Center in central Seoul in an undated photo. [ART SONJE CENTER]

Korean artist Ha Chong-hyun, celebrated as a pioneer of dansaekhwa, or monochrome painting, while defying artistic boundaries, is set to take center stage at the Asian Art Museum (AAM) in San Francisco, a key art institution dedicated to Asian art and culture, in September.

The exhibition, "Ha Chong-hyun: Retrospective," will bring together some 50 paintings, including works created as recently as this year, highlighting Ha's artistic trajectory over the past 60 years.

Born in 1935, he graduated from Hongik University, majoring in fine arts. He later served as a professor there for over 30 years and worked as dean of the school's fine arts department from 1990 to 1994. He assumed the directorship of the Seoul Museum of Art from 2001 to 2006.

The artist, 90, is best known for his signature "Conjunction" series, where he forces thick oil paint through the back of coarse canvas, leaving textured traces on the front — a process that emphasizes the material itself and fuses physical labor with abstract expression.

“Being labeled a dansaekhwa master does not do him justice," said Lee So-young, the director and CEO of Barbara Bass Bakar, at a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday.

“His diverse body of work and remarkable career deserve far greater attention," she said, adding, "The upcoming exhibition is a meaningful step in that direction."

The exhibition will also span Ha's early informal works from the 1960s, when he prioritized materiality over the act of painting itself, experimenting with paper, paint and mixed media, through to his bold avant-garde pieces of the 1970s.

She also noted that the exhibition, Ha's first in North America, arrives at a particularly significant moment, as this year marks the 50th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Seoul and San Francisco.

“Beyond Ha's upcoming exhibition, another Korea-related exhibition is coming to the San Francisco Modern Art Museum," she said, referring to "RM x SFMOMA," featuring some 200 artworks from the personal collection of BTS leader RM. "This year is shaping up to be a big moment for Korea," she said.

The AAM was the first U.S. art institution to establish a curatorial department focused on Korean art in 1989. It opened a permanent Korean gallery in 2003.

Ha's work is included in major collections worldwide, such as the Museum of Modern Art the Guggenheim in New York as well as the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

“Ha Chong-hyun: Retrospective" is set to open on Sept. 25 and runs through Jan. 25, 2027.

Yonhap