art | Sen Chung: Painting, Nothing but Everything

In our life, a sense of hope is something that is never guaranteed. Whether it's God or self-confidence or accomplishing ultimate beauty. There are things you just have to believe and move forward in the dark. Sen Chung's painting is a reminder of that ray of hope that hasn't let go.

 

In the painting of Sen Chung (1963, lives and works in Düsseldorf and Seoul) that I saw for the first time, there was a girl and a bird with rainbow colored wings (“Love Story,” 2009). Although dull colors were dominant, the impression handed down was mysterious, not dark. If it was Sen Chung's painting that I saw a long time ago, the world has now turned into a complete pure abstraction.

Sen Chung, Untitled, 2021, Oil on canvas, 67 x 78.7 inch (170 x 200 cm)

In terms of formality, his pure abstraction reminds his audience of the Suprematism paintings of Russian avant-garde artists. Didn't Malevich, the founder, focus on the "pure sensibility" of each artist pursuit of freedom from all forms given? They elicit a subtle echo of emotion within the very limited elements, the restrained color palette and geometry. However, it’s not a matter whether Sen Chung is aware of this principle.

 

He has developed it into a much broader universe reinterpreting it with his intimate gestures and sensitivity based on his unique view from a completely different world, the East. He says that he is drawn to the monotonous atmosphere contained in oriental ink paintings, and also values the temperature of emotions shown by each artist. The reason why his painting is perceived as an atmosphere beyond visuals must be also because of this "emotional temperature." 

 

Sen Chung, Untitled, 2018, Oil on canvas, 78.74 x 94.5 inch (200 x 240 cm)

 

For the artist, whose hometown is Jeonju, a town that is still popular with its traditional Hanok Village in Korea, memories of his childhood are like a glimpse of eternity in fleeting moments. The only happy memories are limited to the age of four to six approximately. An ordinary daily life of an innocent child, crossing a small stream that connects villages, drawing on the ground next to his grandmother’s vegetable garden, Jangdokdae, pink rose mosses, and morning glories climbing on doors made with bush clover branches. Over time, for him, who has lived away from his native country since his early 30s, this memory became a sense of intact cosmos. Thus, the melancholy "temperature of the rose moss in the courtyard" is dominant in his work. 

Another implicit feature of his paintings is a sense of connection. The elements placed like debris or gems in the painting somehow maintain their relationship with their environment, and complete their own world, whether they are literally connected by lines or through a new way of balancing in the atmosphere. This, too, would be the influence of an oriental worldview based on the relationship and harmony between people and the natural world.

Sen Chung, Untitled, 2016, Oil on canvas, 21.3 x 15.75 inch (54 x 40 cm)

 

Nevertheless, Sen Chung's painting is unique because it pursues a wide-open feeling. It is on the edge of nowhere. One might call it as the feeling of "wandering" in which 20th-century French painter Raoul Dufy referred to his own work, who devised his own unique painting technique with agile lines and decorative colors after having explored various styles. This is also due to Sen Chung's constant research and exploration of the nature of life and art. Sen Chung describes his work as "a repetition of agony that visualizes the vortex and calmness in the forest of thoughts."

After graduating from Hongik University with a degree in Western Painting, there was a period when he had to give up painting for almost 10 years. When he finally came back to painting, there must have been a sense of urgency that it had to be this. "I think it's the only valuable world I can do," says the artist. The idea has kept him pushing forward. 

At that time, his chosen destination was Düsseldorf, Germany, which is now his second home. It was a city that had produced many thinkers he admired since university, and his attention was also focused on German expressionism at that time. From this time on, the exploration of visionaries, from old masters like Turner and Gericault to modern artists like Cezanne, Rothko, and Bacon in the art world as well as the philosophical world, has become another basis for supporting his world. "Art and beauty belong to a middle ground between sensibility and reason" is A. Baumgarten‘s quote, which the artist still uses as a milestone in his work.

Sen Chung, Untitled, 2019, Oil on canvas, 63.8 x 51.2 inch (162 x 130 m)Sen Chung, Untitled, 2018, Oil on canvas, 74.8 x 67 inch (190 x 170 cm)   

Sen Chung, Untitled, 2018, Oil on canvas, 31.5 x 23.6 inch (80 x 60 cm)

 

When he knows what he wants, choice and concentration is simple. Sen Chung intentionally leads a monotonous life. The only daily routine is to take a long walk along the Rhine, work in the studio, or visit museums to appreciate still vivid works of Old Masters. This gives him an unusual life which crosses both worlds, in and off of the canvas, or finiteness and infinity. 

 

The determination towards the ultimate understanding of “What a beauty is” is as solemn as a knight in front of the Matterhorn. The higher the mountain, the more sublime its value is. Everyday, the artist bets everything he has, to grasp the fleeting and eternal world that we call “Painting.”

 

- Written by JODE Team (2023/ 2025) | Images © Courtesy of Sen Chung | Cover Image. Sen Chung, Untitled, 2020, Oil on canvas, 35.8 x 46 inch (91 x 117 cm)