Yoong Bae

American, b. Korea, 1928 - 1992

BiographyYoong Bae (1928-1992) was an established Korean modernist in fraphic art known for his sensitive andrefined works when he abruptly left Korea for the San Francisco Bay Area in 1974. He had the reputation of being an accomplished printmaker who worked in International style and dealt with global themes. He looked at life in a contemplative manner, and his works reflected his quiet and serious concerns for the problems of modern men and women. In 1983 he returned to Seoul for the first time with a one-man exhibition. At this exhibition he presented to the Seoul art world a group of paintings entitled the Kuga (Songs of a Tortoise) which he completed in the Bay Area (1994.56-.62). The Seoul art critic, Yi Il, commented that Bae Yoong the printmaker had comeback to Seoul after a long absence in the West as a full-fledged painter. Yi called this group of Bae's work "the poetry of space. "Bae's Songs of a Tortoise series was done with simple parallel lines with subtle crinkled textures which look as if created in the impasto technique at first glance. But they were created by placing a sheet of moistened Korean paper over another sheet of paper and pushing moistened surfaces with his fingernail to form orderly parallel lines. He covered his paintings with muted colors emphasizing the textured lines, and on each painting he added a splash of a bright color or colors which worked as an element of surprise. We see in each work a quiet world of contemplation and hope. The second group of Bae's works was also titled the Kuga (Songs of a Tortoise) (1994.63-.66, 1994.71-.73). Unlike the first group with the same title created in his crinkled, textured line style, these works were painted in the boneless technique. Although his boneless technique can be seen in his 1982 works, most of his works in this style were painted in the late 1980s. His late works from 1988 to his death in 1992 tended to be figurative. He titled them Meditation or Meditator (1994.67-.70, 1994.74-.75). The most memorable motifs which he used over and over in his late works are seated figures in silhouette. Although they are repeated, they appear completely isolated from one another, and each person seems to be meditating alone on his or her own destiny. Because the seated figures are repeated, the human solitude becomes even more poignant. In his late works he was able to capture not only the world of beauty and contemplation, but also of profound human pathos. His delicate treatment of painting surfaces is also noteworthy, which reflects his background in graphic art. Using the Korean paper, in k, and colors, Bae was successful in creating works imbued with formal beauty and his deep concerns for the 20th century man.

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