Pared -
down aesthetics and the desire to move away from figuration in a manner reminiscent
of minimalism, as well as spontaneous acts
of expression and working with the physical limitations
of materials as in
abstract expressionism, coexist in Korean Monochrome.
But the transition was neither neat nor immediate, nor did everyone suddenly give up
abstract expressionism and jump straight into slimmed -
down forms and conceptual coolness
of later decades.