This show will feature Jung’s abstract pieces that combine contemporary ink painting with freely painted forms rather than concentrating on his traditional calligraphy. Through a reading of Jung’s pieces as fine art we hope to dispel any idea of calligraphy as merely craft or adjunct to more widely accepted forms of artistic production. Jung’s calligraphy is not just sign that references the object, but is also artwork or object that appeals to the senses on a formal level. Jung’s Heaven, Earth, and Man, 2007 (63x35”, Ink on paper) is comprised of a vertical, and horizontal line and the dot. This composition can be related morphologically to Piet Mondrian’s many canvases based on the grid said by many scholars to contain Theosophic symbolism. For Mondrian the horizontal line was a sign of the earth and vertical stood for man whereas the void symbolized the heavens. Whereas Jung’s sign for heaven is a horizontal line for Mondrian it is the void, the first referencing the Daoist canopy of heaven and the latter analogizing heaven with the void or spirit. Compositionally, both masters make elegant use of empty space that in Jung’s Daoism is full and empty simultaneously, and in Mondrian’s is immutable essence. Jung’s composition relies on balance to create harmony without producing innocuous paintings. His dynamic lines meet but don’t cross, they’re vertical and horizontal but not strictly aligned but rather slightly diagonally oriented. The red area can be read as dot but also as rosebud whose color echoes that of his signature chop. At the right of this circular red shape appear calligraphic writings that work as shading when seen from afar. These writings echo the area directly below in content and design and are not even rows of calligraphy but rather jagged as if on paper that’s been eaten away by time. This piece is both delicate in its miniature calligraphic printing but also bold in its strong black brush-line and focused punctuation.

This master has won many honors and prizes, has exhibited nationally and internationally and his works are part of countless important public and private collections. He lives and works in Seoul. This show is accompanied by a full color catalogue with essays by the curator Dr. Thalia Vrachopoulos, Dr. Robert C. Morgan and the critic Jonathan Goodman.

For More Information:
Please call Thalia Vrachopoulos, 212-691-7978 or write thaliav@juno.com and/or Michael Yuge at 212-645-2800 or write to tci@tenri.org.