Park Seo-Bo

Park Seo-Bo (1931–2023) was a central figure in Korean contemporary art and a founding member of the Dansaekhwa monochrome movement, which emerged in postwar Korea in the early 1970s. Combining Western abstraction with traditional Korean philosophy, Dansaekhwa emphasized material presence and disciplined process within a muted palette. Influenced early on by Art Informel, Park co-founded the Hyun-Dae Artists Association in 1957 and later studied in Paris on a UNESCO scholarship. By the mid-1960s, he turned toward Eastern philosophy and meditative repetition. His mature works focus on repeated mark-making and subtle surface variation, treating painting as a contemplative practice. Through this sustained exploration, Park helped shape a distinctly Korean language of abstraction with lasting international impact.

Park Seo-Bo’s work has been exhibited internationally at leading institutions, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, the Brooklyn Museum, Tate Liverpool, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Venice Biennale. His work is held in major public collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York and Abu Dhabi), the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, M+ in Hong Kong, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.