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| This is a draft article. It is a work in progress open to editing by anyone. Please ensure core content policies are met before publishing it as a live Wikipedia article. Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL Last edited by Zackmann08 (talk | contribs) 10 hours ago. (Update)
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Choi Byung-so | |
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| Born | 1943 South Korea |
| Died | September 11, 2025 (aged 82) Daegu, South Korea |
| Education | Chung-Ang University (B.F.A.) Keimyung University (M.F.A.) |
| Known for | Painting, Conceptual art, Experimental art |
| Movement | Dansaekhwa, Korean Experimental Art |
Choi Byung-so (Korean: 최병소; 1943 – September 11, 2025) was a prominent South Korean contemporary artist.[1] Positioned at the intersection of the Korean experimental avant-garde and the Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting) movement, Choi established a profound and solitary artistic universe. He is internationally acclaimed for his highly performative and philosophical works, most notably his ongoing series in which he completely obliterates the text of newspapers through relentless, repetitive strokes of ballpoint pen and pencil.[2]
Early life and education
editBorn in 1943, Choi Byung-so received his B.F.A. from the College of Art at Chung-Ang University in Seoul in 1974, and later earned his M.F.A. from the Graduate School of Keimyung University in Daegu in 1985. Emerging as a central figure of the Daegu Contemporary Art Festival (1974–1978) in the 1970s, he played an instrumental role in the inception and evolution of the Korean experimental art movement. Until his passing on September 11, 2025, Choi dedicated his life to an uncompromising exploration of materiality and existence, leaving behind a monumental artistic legacy.
Work and philosophy
editChoi's signature process involves an extreme, performative method of drawing over printed newspapers with a black ballpoint pen until the original text entirely disappears. He then layers the surface with a pencil until the graphite yields a dark, metallic sheen.
His "newspaper erasing" work transcends the mere physical act of obscuring text; it is a deep philosophical meditation that systematically erases secular information to return the material to a state of pure emptiness. The grueling labor of applying hundreds of thousands of strokes mirrors a Zen-like ascetic practice of emptying the ego. Through this fierce repetition, the fragile newspaper withstands its physical limits, ultimately transforming into a dense, solid material that resembles oxidized metal or thick leather. Art critics regard his paradoxical aesthetics—drawing forth a new material sublimity from the brink of obliteration—as deeply aligned with the high spirituality pursued by Korean Dansaekhwa, viewing it as a monumental artistic achievement that questions the origin of existence and the essence of objects.[3]
Selected exhibitions
editChoi Byung-so has exhibited extensively in major museums and galleries across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Solo exhibitions
edit- 2026: Untitled, Perrotin, Seoul, South Korea
- 2025: Untitled, Wooson Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
- 2024: Now here, Indang Museum of Daegu Health College, Daegu, South Korea
- 2022: Choi Byung-So, Wooson Gallery, Daegu, South Korea
- 2020: SENS ET NON-SENS, Arario Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
- 2016: Choi Byung-So, Musée d'art moderne et contemporain (MAMC), Saint-Étienne, France
- 2016: Choi Byung-So, Galerie Maria Lund, Paris, France
- 2012: Choi Byung-So, Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, South Korea
- 2012: Nowhere / Everywhere, Gallery IBU, Paris, France
- 1979: Choi Byung-So, Muramatsu Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Group exhibitions
edit- 2024: Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea 1960s–1970s, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
- 2023: Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea 1960s–1970s, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, U.S.A. / National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
- 2022: The 12th Seoul Media City Biennale: Station, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
- 2016: As the Moon Waxes and Wanes, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
- 2016: Dansaekhwa, Domaine de Kerguehennec, Bignan, France
- 1996: Korean Drawing Now, Brooklyn Museum, New York, U.S.A.
- 1979: Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- 1974–1978: Daegu Contemporary Art Festival, Daegu, South Korea
Public collections
edit- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
- Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
- Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, South Korea
- Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan, South Korea
- Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea
- Eastern Michigan University, Michigan, U.S.A.
- Arario Collection, South Korea
External links
editReferences
edit- ↑ Choi Byung-so Biography, Arario Gallery.
- ↑ Choi Byung-so Artist Page, Wooson Gallery.
- ↑ Choi Byung-so: SENS ET NON-SENS Exhibition text, Arario Gallery, 2020.