International Art and Artifact Catalogue

[Wu Han]

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TITLE: Avalanche
ARTIST: Bae Woo-hyeon
YEAR: 4459
TYPE: Oil on canvas. 130.7 by 95.6 cm; 51½ by 37⅝ in.
OWNER/COLLECTION: Cheng Clan of Indrala
LOCATION: Unknown, presumably in the private collection of Cheng Clan of Indrala
VALUATION: Est. $77,370 - $103,160; Sold in 4460 for $84,000

OVERVIEW: The fiercely resplendent Avalanche (4459) was created by painter Bae Woo-hyeon after three months spent in deep immersion in the mountains of Northern Dankuk. It was sold at the Bae Foundation Fundraising Gala in Yonseo, Dankuk in 4460, exceeding expectations after being purchased by the Cheng Clan for $84,000, which was $15,000 over the opening bid. According to Indralan art critic Li Gaozhong:

The painting displays not only [Bae Woo-hyeon's] unbridled, virtuosic expressionist aesthetic but also a distinctive trace of her Gao Showan roots. Forsaking outline and brush, Bae threw paint and acrylic on his canvas in thick, spirited spatters, dripping, heaping and layering with knives: the resulting marks and sinewy trails are fluid and lithe as if borne by wind, embodying the vigor and dynamism of splashed calligraphic ink.

Bae's astonishingly complex pictorial surfaces are at once rugged and majestic, exuding a quietly gripping cosmic dynamism that is humble yet transcendent. Mesmerizing sheens of color shimmer through a glossed lacquer finish reminiscent of traditional Gao-Showan pottery. Bae's art is directed toward the sources, and goes back to the primitive elements of Gao Showan art, whose masterpieces formerly realized the perfect unity of signs and matter.

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Originally posted by Wu Han on Sep 26, 2018.