There's something child-like and innocent about the matchstick figures, wide-eyed animals and simple narratives in Chang Ucchin's works. Critics often liken the South Korean's art to prehistoric rock carvings because of the basic composition and primary colours. His drawings, markers and prints can now be found in museums and private collections.
But Chang, who died in 1990, remains largely unknown outside South Korea. His works are on show for the first time in Hong Kong as part of a charity event today at Kwai Fung Hin gallery. Five works on loan from the Chang family collection will be on display, alongside 13 paintings by Hong Jung-hee, an abstract expressionist painter, and Kim Jong-hak, a postmodern symbolist.
Some of the works by the last two will be privately auctioned on Tuesday by Sotheby's to raise funds for the Hong Kong Juvenile Diabetes Association (HKJDA).
Curator Chang Kyung-soo is the eldest daughter of Chang Ucchin and the director of his foundation. She chose from the family's private collection works by her father from the late 1960s and 70s that aren't normally seen even in South Korean museums. Chang's works have been shown in Europe and the US, but not yet in China.
Born in 1918, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, Chang studied western art at Tokyo's Imperial School of Art. He became a professor of fine arts at Seoul University in 1954, but resigned to paint full-time four years later, even though he had little money. He used ink and oil, the traditional and western media, and chose his subjects from Korean folk paintings such as tigers and birds.
Chang Kyung-soo says her father loved simplicity and nature. He wanted to get away from the materialism and commercialism of the modern world. He moved his atelier four times, further and further from Seoul's city centre to be close to nature. He painted rural landscapes and villages. The strokes are rustic, unpretentious and often humorous.