THE ALLURE OF BLUE

Ivorypress is pleased to present Bohnchang Koo’s second exhibition in Madrid. The show, entitled The Allure of Blue, comprises a selection of his latest work series: delicate photographs of porcelain pieces from the Joseon Dynasty.

Fourteen years ago, captivated by its elegant yet simple charm, Koo began studying and working on traditional Korean white porcelain ceramics through photography. Always dealing with the passage of time, Koo captures still and fragile moments attempting to reveal the unseen breath of life.

The artist visited more than sixteen museums inside and outside Korea to get a closer look at their respective collections of ceramicware. One of those trips was to a major exhibition entitled In Blue and White: Porcelains of the Joseon Dynasty, held at the National Museum of Korea in 2014. That visit made him appreciate the tremendous variety of blue-and-white porcelain produced in the Joseon Dynasty and the bringing together of so many ceramic pieces that displayed such magnificent and pure colours.

The selection of works included in this exhibition, open until 27 July, highlights the simplistic beauty of Korea’s cultural heritage and reveals the lifestyle of that time and culture, not only by the appearance of the wares but also by the use of blue pigment in the pictures. Unlike Japanese or Chinese ceramics, Korean porcelain had no perfect shape, no exact patterns. Instead, the handmade attribute of these pieces is an additional value that reflects the Joseon Dynasty’s humour, which also left space for more modern charms.

Bohnchang Koo (Seoul, 1953) currently lives and works in Seoul, Korea. His work has been shown individually on more than forty occasions and is included in several public collections such as the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco; the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco; the Museum of Fine Art, Houston; and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea. He was the artistic director of the Daegu Photo Biennale in South Korea, one of the curators collaborating with Photoquai Paris in 2013, and a nominator of the Discovery Award 2014 at Les Rencontres d’Arles. He currently teaches at Kyungil University in Korea.