Kim Whanki retained the expressive force of minimalism and the traditional Korean taste for pointillism. Working in New York since 1963, he can at last devote himself to his art. The titles of his works evoking air, sound, quietness, cosmos, finally forgetting the anguish from the Korean War, strengthen the comparison with Zen art. He is a contemporary of VS Gaitonde and Agnes Martin.
Kim Whanki is a continual experimenter. To achieve his dot paintings of the early 1970s, he uses the absorption of color in the interstices of the fabric, so obtaining a homogeneous effect over a large area.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Seoul Auction sells a dot painting 253 x 202 cm made in 1971, lot 44 estimated HK $ 20M. This artwork has no other title than its date but makes us penetrating with the manner of abstract expressionism into the heart of a nebula of stars. A detail is shown in the release shared by Blouin Artinfo.
The premature death of Kim Whanki in 1974 has certainly prevented the artist to be recognized as one of the most genuine creators of modern abstraction in the experimental path opened by Burri and Klein.