Don Ahn

Gestural Abstraction, Miniature Abstract Expressionist Korean Modernist Painting

1982

*Card pictured after painting not included. Dongkuk Ahn (1937-2013), better known as Don Ahn, was a South Korean artist and t'ai chi master who resided in New York City. Don Ahn (Ahn Dong Kuk) was born in Seoul, Korea. He studied at Seoul University (BFA), graduate student at Miami University, Oxford Ohio 1962...

Size includes Mat. Without its 8" X 4". Card pictured after painting not included. Dongkuk Ahn (1937-2013), better known as Don Ahn, was a South Korean artist and t'ai chi master who resided in New York City. Don Ahn (Ahn Dong Kuk) was born in Seoul, Korea. He studied at Seoul University (BFA), graduate student at Miami University, Oxford Ohio 1962, Pratt Institute (MFA), and New York University (Ph. D, Art History). Don Ahn was a pioneer of Korean art in America. In the 1950s he was the first Korean artist to move permanently to the US and receive recognition here, beginning with the 1952 exhibition of his work at the Kilbride Bradley Gallery in Minneapolis, the very first exhibition of Korean contemporary art in America. He belongs to the generation of Korean Abstract artists that include Kim Whan-Ki, Park Se-Bo, Lee Ufan, Chung Sang-Hwa, Yun Hyong-Keun and Ha Chong-Hyun. He was also a student of the T'ai Chi grandmaster Cheng Man-ch'ing in New York City. Ahn's work is greatly influenced by nature, specifically the cycles of nature as in Zen and other Eastern philosophies. Ascribing to the Eastern belief that nature is central to everything that exists, Ahn paints natural forms and environments, which he abstracts into brushstrokes, drips, and splatters. Titles of his paintings reference trees, wind, and water, and include Broken Branch in the Rain, Old Zen Tree, and Wind, Rain, & Ocean. His swirls and drips portray the rapid, random, and untamed effects of natural forces. Another influence or concept in Ahn's work is the dragon, a good and powerful figure from Korean and Chinese mythology, whose movements and forms Ahn suggests in whimsical ribbon-like marks and trails of paint. In Korean folk tales, dragons show goodwill to humans by sending clouds and rain, and they tend to live in lakes, rivers, and oceans. Paying tribute to this Folkloric legacy, Ahn's paintings bear titles such as Brown Dragon and Yellow Dragon, as well as titles using names of underwater creatures and habitats, like Phantasy in the Deep Sea. Ahn's ink and acrylic paintings on canvas are reminiscent of Chinese Zen Calligraphy and paintings, with their quick brushstrokes and elegant compositions. Composed of swipes and spatters that course across the pictorial field, these works blend Eastern brush painting with Abstract Expressionist "action painting." Ahn has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad, including the solo shows Dragons & Oceans at Ewha Gallery, Seoul, South Korea in 2007, and Zen & Void at Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY in 2004. His work is in private and public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Dayton Art Museum, Ohio, and the Evansville Museum, Indiana. Awards and honors include First Prize (in painting) from the Dayton Art Museum Ohio Regional Art Annual in 1963, the Pratt Graduate Fellowship in 1963, First Prize (in etching) from East Coast Printmaker's Annual in 1964, and the McDowell Artist Fellowship in 1964. Selected solo exhibitions 2014 Don Ahn: Spirit, BBCN Bank, New York, NY 2014 Don Ahn (1937-2013), Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY 2012 Paintings From 1968 Through 2005, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY 2007 Dragons & Oceans, Ewha Gallery, Seoul, South Korea 2004 Zen & Vold, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY 1975 Lotus Gallery, New York, NY 1972 Green Mountain Gallery, New York, NY 1972 Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY 1971 Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY 1971 Dalhousie Gallery, Nova Scotia, Canada 1969 Downey Museum, Los Angeles, CA 1965 Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN 1963 Dayton Art Museum, Dayton, OH 1952 Kilbride Bradley Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 1950 Korean Do-Su-Kwan Gallery, Seoul, South Korea Selected group exhibitions 2013 Coloring Time, Korean Cultural Service, New York, NY 2013 Friends, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY 2011 Friends, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY 2011 Art Toronto, Toronto, Canada 2011 Art Chicago, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Toronto, Toronto, Canada 2002 Eastern Essence, Gary Snyder Gallery, New York, NY 2001 Abstract Expressionism, Gary Snyder Gallery, New York, NY 1999 Pleiades Gallery, Seoul University Alumni show, New York, NY 1999 Korean New York Art Society Show, Jersey City, NJ 1999 Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Fukuoka, Japan 1999 Artist of the Third Millennium, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY 1998 Kaohsiung Museum Of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 1997 Chicago Institute Of Art, Chicago, IL 1997 Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University 1997 Asian Tradition & Modern Expression: 1945 - 1970, Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University 1976 Lotus Gallery, New York 1972 Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY 1971 US National Print Biennial, Museum Of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan 1969 Cooper Union, faculty show, New York, NY 1968 6th Invitational International Print Biennial, Museum Of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan 1967 International Print Biennial, Grenchen, Switzerland 1967 Audubon, National Annual, New York, NY 1966 Society of American Graphic Artists, National Annual, New York, NY 1966 Ball State College, National, Drawing and Sculpture, Muncie, IN 1966 Traveling U.S. Print Show, Pratt Graphic Arts Center, New York, NY 1965 Traveling U.S. Print Show, Pratt Graphic Arts Center, New York, NY 1964 New York, Institute of Technology, faculty show New York, NY 1964 Evansville Museum, Indiana 1964 East Coast Printmakers, Village Art Center, New York, NY 1963 Ohio Regional Art Show, Dayton Art Institute, OH 1963 Drawing and Prints from the collection of J.Johnson, Cincinnati Museum of Art, OH 1962 Seattle...

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