Currently the large abstract paintings of Yoo Young-kuk, mostly bold-colored geometric shapes, are up for display to memorialize the 10th anniversary of the artist’s death. The roughly 60 paintings in the exhibition at Gallery Hyundai’s Gangnam branch in southern Seoul show how the works of one of Korea’s most important first-generation abstract painters evolved over time.

Young Kuk YOO is one of the first generation Korean Modernism. During the late 1930, he tried the most experimental abstract art of that time, and built a foundation for Abstract art in Korean art history. Since then, he had consistently presented his deep and passionate world based on abstract art.

From 1965 to 1990, the artist showed the most prosperous enthusiasm considering his age. The 25 years was the time when the artist continued working with geometrically constructed abstract style he practiced during his early age, and he used strong and bright colors and continuously deconstructed solid space.

His works always give concise impression because they are composed of basic geometrical shapes. He never deviated from using triangles, circles, and geometrical shapes composed of straight lines crossing each other. This type of formational is very pithy and based on just logic.