GALLERY HYUNDAI is pleased to present the solo exhibition of Suh Se Ok (b.1929), also known by his art name Sanjeong, from April 12 through May 15, 2016. The exhibition carries a great significance, since it is held immediately after the special exhibition at National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, and in 20 years at the Gallery.

Suh, who tried to interpret authentic oriental painting in a modern way, caused a new wave to Korean contemporary art by breaking the traditional approach and pioneering modernized orientalism based on Abstraction. Beginning in the late 1970s, Suh immersed himself in his People series. The exhibition will be featuring Suh’s most recent works along with his earlier pieces from the 1990s, comprised mainly of his People series. The joys and sorrows of life are reflected through wielded brushes with boldness, simplified point and line.

Suh Se Ok was born in Daegu in 1929 and graduated from College of Fine Art, Seoul National University. Suh made his debut as an artist during his college years in 1949 when he won the Prime Minister’s Prize at the 1st Korean Art Exhibition. He founded a progressive group called Mungnimhoe that first led the modernization of traditional oriental painting. Suh’s solo exhibitions were held at the Pacific Asia Museum in California, USA; Daejeon Museum of Art, Korea; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea and many others. He also participated in prominent biennales including Sao Paulo Biennale in 1963, and Cannes International Painting Festival in 1969. He served as a professor at Seoul National University for forty years, from 1955. Owing to Suh’s pivotal contribution to contemporary Korean art scene allowed him to be awarded the Order of Civil Merit−pomegranate medal in 1993, the National Academy of Art of the Korea Prize in 2007, and the Silver Order of Culture in 2012.