Untitled
1990
This large scale acrylic on canvas presents a grid of hand painted circles transitioning from vivid saturated hues in the upper register to pure white forms below, set against a warm beige ground with visible gestural markings at the edges. The composition exemplifies Kim Yong-Ik's engagement with the visual language of modernism, quietly referencing seriality and color theory while maintaining a deeply painterly, handmade sensibility. As a unique work from 1990, it occupies a significant moment in the artist's career and reflects his ongoing dialogue between Korean artistic identity and Western minimalist and conceptual traditions. The gradual dissolution of color into white invites reflection on absence, perception, and the nature of painting itself.
- Medium
- Acrylic on canvas
- Dimensions
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Kukje Gallery
Notes
Designated as a unique work. Image rights: Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery. Photo credit: Keith Park. Work is not signed.
More by Kim Yong-Ik
Spotted works by Kim Yong-Ik
Artists in conversation
Damien Hirst
British · b. 1965
Hirst's Spot Paintings present serialized grids of hand painted circles in saturated colors against neutral grounds, directly paralleling Kim Yong-Ik's compositional structure of repeated circular forms arranged in a systematic grid with chromatic variation.
Yayoi Kusama
Japanese · b. 1929
Kusama's infinity net and polka dot paintings share the obsessive serialization of circular motifs across large format canvases, with a similarly handmade gestural quality underlying what reads as a systematic geometric composition.
Tatsuo Miyajima
Japanese · b. 1957
As a fellow East Asian artist deeply engaged with seriality, repetition, and transitions between presence and void, Miyajima's conceptual approach to counting and gradation closely mirrors Kim Yong-Ik's shift from vivid saturated forms to pure white in a grid based composition.
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