Obangsaek Reimagined: From Park Saeng-kwang’s Brushstrokes to Choi Jeong-hwa’s Urban Sculptures
Jason Yim / Published July 18, 2025 04:05 AM
Jason Yim
SEOUL — The traditional Korean color system known as Obangsaek—a set of five symbolic hues rooted in the East Asian philosophy of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements—is experiencing a vibrant resurgence across South Korea’s contemporary art scene. This revival, which connects historical traditions with modern experimentation, is being showcased through recent exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and the Jinju Lee Ungno Art Museum.
Defined by the colors blue (cheong), white (baek), red (jeok), black (heuk), and yellow (hwang), Obangsaek has long held cultural and spiritual significance in Korean architecture, royal ceremonies, folk rituals, and traditional garments. While similar five-color schemes appear across Asia—in Mongolia as Hadag, in Tibet and Nepal as Lung-ta, and in Japan as Goshoku—Korea’s Obangsaek stands out for its philosophical depth and expressive intensity.
By late painter Park Saeng-kwang
At the forefront of this chromatic legacy is late painter Park Saeng-kwang (1904–1985), whose final artistic phase is widely credited with reintroducing bold color to a modern Korean art world then dominated by monochromatic ink paintings. After initially studying modern Japanese painting in Kyoto, Park dramatically pivoted in 1977, embracing vivid pigments rooted in Korean heritage. His works from this period—often infused with themes from shamanism, Buddhism, and Korean history—are considered the pinnacle of his career.
One of his most renowned pieces, Jeon Bong-jun (1985), depicts the leader of the Donghak Peasant Revolution in a grand narrative composition, layered with Obangsaek hues. Park often inserted himself into his paintings, emphasizing the inextricable link between artist, history, and tradition. His philosophy is perhaps best summed up by a line from his final notebook: “A people without history and tradition has no future.”
The MMCA’s ongoing permanent exhibition, Highlights of Korean Contemporary Art (through May 3, 2026), features a selection of 90 works from its 11,800-piece collection, including Park’s seminal color paintings alongside drawings by Lee Ungno. The exhibition offers a sweeping overview of post-1960s Korean modernism and its diverse stylistic evolutions.
Meanwhile, the Jinju Lee Ungno Art Museum and Jinju Railway Cultural Complex are co-hosting The Flow of Korean Color Painting III: Jinju; Color Embraced (through August 31, 2025), the concluding chapter of a national curatorial series on Korea’s colored painting tradition. The exhibit includes several of Park’s masterpieces and traces the transformation of color-based practices across decades. Veteran curators Lee Won-bok and Jung Jun-mo led the scholarly direction of the show.
Beyond Park, other Korean artists have interpreted Obangsaek in distinct ways. Lee Ungno (1904–1989) incorporated color into his abstract ink works to suggest energy flows and spiritual order rooted in Buddhism and Confucianism. Lee Wal-jong (b. 1952) applied Obangsaek structures to scenes of daily life in Jeju, creating paintings that combine symbolism with decorative boldness.
By Choi Jeong-hwa [MMCA]
Perhaps the most radical evolution comes from Choi Jeong-hwa (b. 1961), who pushes Obangsaek beyond the canvas. Using everyday materials like plastic, fabric, and artificial flowers, Choi’s large-scale installations—including The Tower of Wishes—reinterpret the colors as emblems of collective hope and consumer culture. For Choi, “Color is a cultural DNA, more vivid than language.”
While Western modernists such as Mark Rothko, Yves Klein, and Henri Matisse also explored color as a means of expression, Korean Obangsaek emerges from a different philosophical foundation. Rather than individual emotion, it reflects a cosmological worldview emphasizing harmony between nature, community, and the self.
As Korean contemporary artists continue to reinterpret these traditional hues through digital media, installation art, and global platforms, Obangsaek is proving to be more than a symbol of ethnicity—it’s a living source of conceptual inquiry and cultural identity. Like the intuitive hum of a trot melody known by all Koreans, these colors are embedded in the collective consciousness, promising new life through every reimagining.
Sayart.net Jason Yim, yimjongho1969@gmail.com
South Korea’s iconic five-directional colors return to center stage in contemporary art
SEOUL — The traditional Korean color system known as Obangsaek—a set of five symbolic hues rooted in the East Asian philosophy of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements—is experiencing a vibrant resurgence across South Korea’s contemporary art scene. This revival, which connects historical traditions with modern experimentation, is being showcased through recent exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and the Jinju Lee Ungno Art Museum.
Defined by the colors blue (cheong), white (baek), red (jeok), black (heuk), and yellow (hwang), Obangsaek has long held cultural and spiritual significance in Korean architecture, royal ceremonies, folk rituals, and traditional garments. While similar five-color schemes appear across Asia—in Mongolia as Hadag, in Tibet and Nepal as Lung-ta, and in Japan as Goshoku—Korea’s Obangsaek stands out for its philosophical depth and expressive intensity.
By late painter Park Saeng-kwang
At the forefront of this chromatic legacy is late painter Park Saeng-kwang (1904–1985), whose final artistic phase is widely credited with reintroducing bold color to a modern Korean art world then dominated by monochromatic ink paintings. After initially studying modern Japanese painting in Kyoto, Park dramatically pivoted in 1977, embracing vivid pigments rooted in Korean heritage. His works from this period—often infused with themes from shamanism, Buddhism, and Korean history—are considered the pinnacle of his career.
One of his most renowned pieces, Jeon Bong-jun (1985), depicts the leader of the Donghak Peasant Revolution in a grand narrative composition, layered with Obangsaek hues. Park often inserted himself into his paintings, emphasizing the inextricable link between artist, history, and tradition. His philosophy is perhaps best summed up by a line from his final notebook: “A people without history and tradition has no future.”
The MMCA’s ongoing permanent exhibition, Highlights of Korean Contemporary Art (through May 3, 2026), features a selection of 90 works from its 11,800-piece collection, including Park’s seminal color paintings alongside drawings by Lee Ungno. The exhibition offers a sweeping overview of post-1960s Korean modernism and its diverse stylistic evolutions.
Meanwhile, the Jinju Lee Ungno Art Museum and Jinju Railway Cultural Complex are co-hosting The Flow of Korean Color Painting III: Jinju; Color Embraced (through August 31, 2025), the concluding chapter of a national curatorial series on Korea’s colored painting tradition. The exhibit includes several of Park’s masterpieces and traces the transformation of color-based practices across decades. Veteran curators Lee Won-bok and Jung Jun-mo led the scholarly direction of the show.
Beyond Park, other Korean artists have interpreted Obangsaek in distinct ways. Lee Ungno (1904–1989) incorporated color into his abstract ink works to suggest energy flows and spiritual order rooted in Buddhism and Confucianism. Lee Wal-jong (b. 1952) applied Obangsaek structures to scenes of daily life in Jeju, creating paintings that combine symbolism with decorative boldness.
By Choi Jeong-hwa [MMCA]
Perhaps the most radical evolution comes from Choi Jeong-hwa (b. 1961), who pushes Obangsaek beyond the canvas. Using everyday materials like plastic, fabric, and artificial flowers, Choi’s large-scale installations—including The Tower of Wishes—reinterpret the colors as emblems of collective hope and consumer culture. For Choi, “Color is a cultural DNA, more vivid than language.”
While Western modernists such as Mark Rothko, Yves Klein, and Henri Matisse also explored color as a means of expression, Korean Obangsaek emerges from a different philosophical foundation. Rather than individual emotion, it reflects a cosmological worldview emphasizing harmony between nature, community, and the self.
As Korean contemporary artists continue to reinterpret these traditional hues through digital media, installation art, and global platforms, Obangsaek is proving to be more than a symbol of ethnicity—it’s a living source of conceptual inquiry and cultural identity. Like the intuitive hum of a trot melody known by all Koreans, these colors are embedded in the collective consciousness, promising new life through every reimagining.
