Park Seo-Bo's Écritures Series at White Cube Paris

White Cube Paris presents the first exhibition in the French capital dedicated to Park Seo-Bo's Écritures series, on view until May 30, 2026. The show spans over five decades, from early works conceived during a stay in Paris in the late 1970s to later pieces exploring different materials and colors. Park began the Écritures in the late 1960s, shifting his focus from what to paint to how to paint, influenced by Taoist and Buddhist philosophy. The series involves repetitive pencil marks on monochromatic backgrounds, often on damp surfaces, as seen in early works like Écriture No. 5-71 and Écriture No. 8-71 (both 1971). During a winter break from teaching at Hongik University in the late 1970s, Park lived in a modest hotel room in Montparnasse and experimented with newspapers used to clean brushes, frustrated by the humid air that prevented paint from drying. He inscribed pencil marks on Le Monde pages, creating immediate, single-breath gestures. In 1972, Park began a rigorous documentation system, keeping diaries and compiling newspaper and magazine archives. The Écritures can be seen as an extension of this diaristic impulse, a form of self-knowledge through inscription.