DON AHN (Dongkuk Ahn) – Spirit
MAY 22 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2014
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 22, 2014, 5:30-7:30pm
Exhibition Place: BBCN Bank Manhattan Branch
16 West 32nd Street, New York, NY 10001
Curated by Jiyeon Jung | jungjiyeon.com
In Collaboration with AHL Foundation, Inc. and BBCN Bank
The AHL Foundation is proud to announce the solo exhibition by Don Ahn (Dongkuk Ahn) (1937-2013),
Spirit, curated by Jiyeon Jung, from May 22 – September 24, 2014 with an opening reception on Thursday,
May 22, 2014.
Don Ahn was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to New York after graduating from Seoul University
(BFA). Ahn attended Miami University (Graduate course), Pratt Institute (MFA) and New York University
(Ph. D, Art History). Ahn’s work is greatly influenced by nature, specifically the cycles of nature and other
Eastern philosophies. Ahn’s ink and acrylic paintings on canvas are reminiscent of Eastern Calligraphy
and paintings, with their quick brushstrokes and elegant compositions. Ahn paints natural forms and
environments, which he abstracts into brushstrokes, drips, and splatters and these works blend Eastern
brush painting with Abstract Expressionist “action painting.” Another influence or concept in Ahn’s work
is the dragon, a good and powerful figure from Korean and Chinese mythology, whose movements and
forms Ahn suggests in whimsical ribbon-like marks and trails of paint.
Art historian and Senior Curator at Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, Jeffrey Wechsler remarks
at “how completely even the most explosive of (the marks) ultimately resolve within the paintings as
compositional pivots and focal points of visual weight, but without reducing their sense of unbound energy”
which he calls a “zen-like paradox.” He writes, “Somehow, speed becomes his medium for suggesting
presence and substance.”
Ahn has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad, including exhibitions at Art in
Embassies Program for Ambassador Thomas C. Hubbard in Seoul, Korea; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum,
Fukuoka, Japan; Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan; Chicago Institute of Art, Chicago, IL;
Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey; and Walter Wickiser Gallery, New
York, NY. His works are included in private and public collections including The Museum of Modern Art,
New York; the Dayton Art Museum, Ohio; and the Evansville Museum, Indiana. Award and honors include
First Prize for paintings from the Dayton Art Museum Ohio Regional Art Annual in 1963, the Pratt
Graduate Fellowship in 1963, First Prize from East Coast Printmaker’s Annual in 1964, and the McDowell
Artist Fellowship in 1964.
