HUMAN

Many of Hwang Yong-Yop's expressive, semi-abstract paintings deal with his early memories of growing up within the confines of a dictatorial regime. Born in Pyongyang, Hwang Yong-Yop spent his early years living in North Korea. After the Korean War, Hwang and his family defected to the South, where Hwang transferred to Hong Ik University in Seoul and graduated with his BA in 1957. Much of Hwang's work is characterized by a haze of fine intersecting lines that resemble crosshatching, blurring the geometric forms and figures that populate the frames of his canvases. Unlike other Korean artists who aligned themselves with various art movements and trends, Hwang's work bears little resemblance to that produced by Korean Informel and dansaekhwa artists. Instead, his work is distinct in its focus on humans, and the depiction of humanity's eternal struggle against tragedy and the forces representing oppression.