At 91, Ha Chong‑Hyun is preparing a new solo exhibition at London’s Lisson Gallery that brings together five decades of his pioneering practice. The show, titled “Conjunction,” features works made by pushing oil paint through the reverse side of raw hemp canvas, a method Ha devised in the early 1970s that lets pigment emerge on the front in irregular, tactile layers. The exhibition coincides with a 2026 interview in which Ha told The Guardian that abstraction remains a form of rebellion against imposed forms, saying, “I never thought of stopping. The work keeps changing, and so do I.”
What happened
Lisson Gallery announced that Ha Chong‑Hyun’s exhibition “Conjunction” will open in London later this year. The presentation includes early canvases that established his reputation within the Dansaekhwa movement, as well as newer pieces that demonstrate how his original technique has continued to evolve. Ha’s process involves applying oil paint to the back of an untreated hemp canvas and pushing it through the weave so that colour appears on the front surface in uneven, built‑up ridges. The resulting works are often muted in tone, with dense accumulations of paint meeting large areas of untouched fabric, placing them somewhere between painting and sculpture.
In the accompanying Guardian interview, Ha reflected on his long career and the motivations behind his approach. He described abstraction as a way to resist external constraints, whether they come from political authority or artistic convention. The interview also highlighted his view that his work is never finished, noting that he continues to adjust and develop his method even at age 91.
Why it matters
Analysis: Ha’s sustained productivity challenges the typical narrative of artistic discovery that often focuses on posthumous recognition or retrospective exhibitions. By showing new work at an advanced age, he forces curators, collectors, and scholars to reconsider how artistic movements are assessed over time. The London show also signals a broader shift in the global art market toward Korean modernism, a sector that has attracted increasing attention from Western institutions after decades of relative obscurity.
The exhibition’s timing is significant because it coincides with renewed scholarly interest in Dansaekhwa, a loose grouping of artists who pursued monochrome, material‑focused abstraction during South Korea’s period of military rule in the 1960s‑1970s. For Ha and his peers, abstraction was not merely an aesthetic choice but a strategy of resistance against both state‑sanctioned art and dominant Western modernist trends. The fact that Ha continues to produce work that pushes his original technique forward offers a concrete example of how a movement can remain vital long after its initial historical moment.
Background and context
Ha Chong‑Hyun emerged as a central figure in Dansaekhwa, a term coined later to describe a generation of Korean artists who emphasized process, materiality, and restraint. Working under authoritarian regimes that limited overt political expression, these artists turned to abstraction as a means of exploring personal and cultural identity without directly confronting censorship. Ha’s specific innovation—pushing paint through the back of raw canvas—distinguished his practice from contemporaries who applied pigment to the surface or used other repetitive gestures.
For decades, Dansaekhwa remained largely unknown outside East Asia. International awareness began to grow in the 2010s, when major museums and galleries in Europe and the United States started mounting solo shows and acquiring works by its leading practitioners. This belated recognition has prompted discussions about the gatekeeping mechanisms of the global art world, the criteria used to elevate non‑Western movements, and the role of market forces in shaping art historical narratives.
Ha’s longevity has made him a particularly valuable case study. While many of his Dansaekhwa contemporaries are now primarily studied through historical surveys, Ha’s ongoing output allows observers to see how his ideas have evolved in real time. His continued engagement with the same core technique—while allowing for subtle shifts in density, colour, and scale—demonstrates a balance between consistency and experimentation that is rare among artists of his generation.
What to watch next
The London exhibition will likely attract attention from curators planning future surveys of Korean modernism, as well as from collectors monitoring the secondary market for Dansaekhwa works. Auction houses have reported steady interest in Ha’s pieces over the past few years, and the new show could influence pricing trends for both early and recent works.
Academic institutions may also use the exhibition as a springboard for deeper research into the relationship between artistic technique and political context in postwar Korea. Scholars could examine how Ha’s method reflects broader concerns about materiality, labor, and the body, themes that have resonated in contemporary art practices worldwide.
Additionally, the success of “Conjunction” may encourage other galleries to pursue solo presentations of individual Dansaekhwa artists rather than grouping them under a single label. Such a shift would allow for a more nuanced appreciation of each practitioner’s distinct contributions, potentially reshaping how the movement is taught and exhibited in the future.
Conclusion
Ha Chong‑Hyun’s upcoming London show underscores that artistic innovation is not confined to youth or to the moments when a movement first appears. At 91, he continues to refine a technique he invented half a century ago, proving that the core concerns of Dansaekhwa—material exploration, process‑driven abstraction, and a quiet resistance to external prescriptions—remain fertile ground for creative development. The exhibition not only celebrates his personal perseverance but also invites the global art world to reconsider how it evaluates, historicizes, and sustains artistic movements that emerge outside dominant Western narratives.
Sources
Ha Chong‑Hyun interview, The Guardian, August 2026: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/aug/27/ha-chong-hyun-artist-interview-conjunction-lisson-gallery-exhibition-london
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Story synopsis gathered from: Guardian International — source
