Suh Se Ok, Korean Modernist Artist Who Blended Calligraphy and Abstraction, Dies at 91

Suh Se Ok, a South Korean poet and artist who passed away in 2020, created a unique artistic style that blended modernist abstraction with traditional Korean ink painting and calligraphy. Born in 1929, he established the Mungnimhoe (Ink Forest Society) in 1960 to advocate for innovative ink painting techniques grounded in literati traditions. His People series, initiated in the 1960s, showcases stylized human forms made from varying dashes and lines on large sheets of rice and mulberry paper, resembling Korean ideographs. This work served as a conscious critique of Japanese nihonga painting, influenced by his upbringing in a family of traditional Korean artists during the Japanese occupation. Suh articulated his artistic vision as capturing “the forms that I find in the infinite space beyond objects,” where presence and absence are in perpetual flux. He is the father of installation artist Do Ho Suh, recognized for his fabric recreations of architectural environments. His recent solo exhibitions took place at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul and Gwacheon (2015, 2005), Museum of Fine Arts Houston (2008), and Maison Hermes in Tokyo (2007). In 2012, he was honored with the Order of Cultural Merit – Silver medal by the Korean government.