Kim Tschang-yeul

(Korean, 1929–2021)

Kim Tschang-Yeul is contemporary Korean artist known for his painted depictions of water droplets. This motif stems from traditions of Eastern philosophy, acting both as a therapy for the artist’s traumatic memories and a meditation on eternity. “My water drop paintings are accomplished under the encounters of my life experiences and my plasticizing experiences,” he explained. “Each clear, impeccable water drop is in its initial state since purification, as if it is a recurrence of absolute nothingness; the water drop is also what it finally returns to.” Born on December 24, 1929 in Maengsan, Korea, he served in the military during the Korean War, his experiences of war continue to haunt the artist’s life and work. Kim studied at the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University before helping to found the Korean Art Informel movement in the mid-1950s, alongside Park Seo-Bo, Ha Chong-Hyun, and Chung Chang-Sup. Moving to New York in 1966, Kim attended the Art Students League for a few years before relocating to Paris. His exposure to international movements and schools of thought while abroad, led to his exploration of liquid forms, whose appearance straddles the boundary of abstraction and representation. In 2016, the Kim Tschang-Yeul Museum of Art opened in Jeju, South Korea, in honor of his life’s work. Kim lives and works between Seoul, South Korea and Paris, France. The artist’s works are held in the collections of the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Seoul Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, among others.