Young-Il Ahn Korean-American, 1934-2020
61 x 76.2 x 5.1 cm
Further images
Artist Background:
Born in Gaeseong, Korea, in 1934, Ahn is renowned for making intricate, large-scale paintings that explore his relationship with beauty, nature and music. His work is frequently associated with Dansaekhwa, an aesthetic position specific to Korea, which expresses natural processes through a mostly monochromatic palette. As a Korean-born painter working in the U.S., Ahn is unique among Dansaekhwa artists.
Ahn’s work has been featured in many museum shows. But for him,the most important was in 2017, when his monographic exhibition opened at LACMA. The first museum show Ahn saw after moving to the US was at LACMA. It featured the work of Willem de Kooning. About that show, Ahn has said, “I was deeply moved and at the same time greatly challenged. The notion that someday I would have my own LACMA exhibition was simply unfathomable.