2022. 7. 14 – 7. 30
CHO, Boo-Soo

An exhibition of his works will be held from July 14 to 30 at Dongsoong Gallery in Daehak-ro, Seoul, to mark the 5th anniversary of painter Cho, Boo-Soo (1944-2017), who received attention at home country and abroad for his abstract expressionist style in the 90s.
Cho, Boo-Soo was an independent writer who made headlines in the 1990s after distinguishing himself in leading international competitions since the high school. He signed an exclusive contract with Dintenfass Gallery(Terry Dintenfass, Inc.), which highlighted Kim, Whan-ki in the U.S. market, and held exhibitions in Europe, including Austria Gallery Vienna and Dwight Gallery in Brussels, Belgium, and gained fame as a Korean contemporary artist overseas. In Korea, the exhibitions were held at modern galleries; Gallery Sun, Gallery Mee, and Dado Art Gallery, emerging as a favorite of abstract expressionism.
The connection between Terry Dintenfass, Inc. and Cho was attributed to an individual exhibition held by the artist at Fordham University in Lincoln Center in 1991. The gallery, which toured the exhibition, showed keen interest in Cho, responded well enough to select the artist himself and sign an exclusive contract in 1993. Furthermore, the invitation exhibit guaranteed the sale of five works and held several more invitation exhibits.

“I think it’s best to be faithful to myself. Only when I am honest with my own feelings can I express myself different from Western emotions. I think deeply about ‘Koreanity’.”, he used to say.

The theme of his favorite work in the late 1980s and 1990s is “Orchestration.” Abstract images are melted into bright, colorful, and intense colors such as yellow, red, and green to harmonize. He was actively worked in the United States and Europe, including New York and Nice, France, and was recognized for his work. This exhibition introduces the artist Cho, Boo-soo and his world of works to visitors, focusing on works from the 1990s, which are considered the most colorful period of Cho Boo-soo.

Lim, Doo-bin, a critic, evaluated his work as “A vivid sense of color, abundant life, and dynamic echo of images are impressive.” and Kim Bok-ki (also a critic) said, “The essence of Cho’s work in the 1990s can be summarized as a dual stock of construction and dissolution or creation and extinction. In other words, the balance and harmony of the act of ‘binding’ and ‘untying’ or its cyclical relationship dominate his work. The basic method of his work is to create a new symbolic shape by spilling, spraying, and bouncing paint on top of the geometric composition as the primary basis of the screen.” he said.

In this exhibition, 25 oil paintings were prepared as an opportunity to shed new light on Cho, Boo-Soo’s most colorful works of 90s.

When Cho, Boo-Soo appeared in a domestic art field, he drew attention by performing an incineration of a work that was called his alter ego, which was like a breeding carnival. At that time, 1,500 pieces were burned on Nanji Island, causing controversy over whether it was “self-denial” or “creative destruction.” At that time, the commercialism and hegemonism that dominated the art field in the 1980s had a clear meaning of resistance, whether arbitrary or unintentional. His strange behavior was greeted by the invitation of domestic oil painting galleries and immediately led to success abroad. Thousands of masterpieces containing erupting energy and rising imagination remain at home and abroad.

Geritt Henry (1950-2003), an art critic and writer who had a great influence on New York art field, “Bravely jumped into a new world of Neo-expressionism based on the world’s art trends, such as Postmodernism.”
And one day, he disappeared from the art field. More than a decade later, surprising news came along with Cho’s death. It is said that he burned out all his energy and died after finishing 3,500 murals with ceramic tiles for about five years at the Revival Scene of the Hwangsaebawee martyrium, where 280 ancestors were martyred.

Dongsoong Gallery director, Heong-Ro Lee, said “Most of his works are sophisticated and as many art critics have pointed out in common, it is a rare achievement made by self-destruction and self-generation for self-expression in the art world.”

DONG SOONG GALLERY
5F, Dong Soong Gallery B/D 18-5, Changgyeonggungno 34gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03077, Korea
+82 2 745 0011

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