Jung Sang-hwa, a leading figure of Korean monochrome abstraction, died on the 28th at age 93. Born in 1932 in Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang, he graduated from Seoul National University’s painting department in 1957 and developed a signature ‘take-out-and-fill’ technique—tearing painted canvases and refilling them to create grid-like surfaces—that helped define Korean monochrome abstraction (dansekcho). He worked alone throughout his career, insisting that his method produced a unique personal philosophy reflected in his art. Jung gained international attention from the 1960s, exhibiting at events such as the 1965 Paris Biennale and 1967 São Paulo Biennale, and his works are held by institutions including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Samsung Museum of Art Leeum, Seoul Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum (Smithsonian), M+ (Hong Kong), the Art Institute of Chicago, and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
