Conjunction No. 97-035 1997

Ha Chong-Hyun made Conjunction No. 97-035, using oil paint on canvas to create this huge, almost architectural surface. It's the kind of work that makes you want to reach out and touch it, to feel the physicality of the paint. The surface has been built up with countless small marks, each one a little gesture, a kind of structural brick. The oil paint is not applied in a way that blends or disappears, it's present, almost proud. There's an area, maybe halfway up, where the texture seems to shift, the light reflecting differently. It’s as if the artist paused there, reconsidered, and then moved on. This makes me think of the work of Lee Ufan, another Korean artist, but whereas Lee is all about emptiness, Ha is about filling every bit of space. Ultimately, it's a painting that celebrates the act of painting itself, a testament to process, and to the beauty of the unfinished.