CHANG Ucchin is the representative artist of Korea, who manifested the lyrical ideology with the formative language full of simplicity, simple beauty and restrained expression, presenting the intrinsic themes and materials of our country, ranging from the 1930s, the time when the introduction of the Western paintings started in Korea, to the 1990s, the era of prosperity of modern arts.
Through subject matters, which are extremely simple and quotidian, such as magpies, families, birds, trees, villages and children, the works of CHANG Ucchin portrays purity and goodness and establishes the original artistic world of his own detached from the outer world. These materials keep appearing in his works, regardless of the changes of style of painting according to trends of each age. This can be considered the concentration of the emotions felt and experienced by the mind and body of the artist himself, beyond the mere indigenous landscape with the visual panorama.
“I am simple”… artist CHANG’s expression does not refer to a mere simplicity, but a process of return as the essence of life of the objet, representing the original and matchless aesthetics of sophistication of the artist.
In celebration of the centenary birth of artist CHANG Ucchin, the present exhibition is composed of four different time sequences of Deokso times (1963-75), in which the artist started his art activities in earnest, Myeongryun-dong times (1975-79), Suanbo times (1980-85) and Singal times (1986-90). CHANGg Ucchin formed the art utopia of his own while moving to different ateliers in four significant occasions. This exhibition intends to explore the development process of his works how his styles and propensities transform and evolve according to the changes of times.