In the “Tree” (1989), two round-shaped trees are placed symmetrically, above which there are birds and the sun. Even though the planar composition does not adhere to perspective, a sense of distance appears implicitly through the extreme size comparison and hierarchy that piles toward the top like a building among the trees, birds, and the sun. The directivity of the passerby and a dog on the bottom give a small variation to the otherwise symmetric composition that might have been dull and too simple, thus adding vitality to the piece and completing the overall harmony. Such spatial presentation does not give a sense of realism to beholders, yet this landscape―where there is a small house set in nature, inside of which humans and animals live together―is a presentment of Chang’s worldview that aspires toward an ideal life of coexistence and unity among humans and nature.
Chang Ucchin (1918-1990) went to Japan in 1939 to pursue his artistic studies, and studied Western paining at the Teikoku Art School, currently Musashino Art University, Tokyo. Chang held numerous solo exhibitions following his debut solo show in 1964, and was invited to participate in a number of group exhibitions including the “Exhibition of the Past and Present of Korean Contemporary Art” held by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, currently MMCA, in 1986. He worked as a curator at the National Museum of Korea from 1945, and served on the faculty of the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University.
The works by Chang Ucchin depict simple childlike innocence and naive formativeness. Such formativeness is representative of Chang’s unique aesthetic that purely condenses emotion for an object, which is based on Korean sentiment and an eco-friendly attitude, rather than on knowledge. In his early days, Chang presented indigenous subject matter related to his hometown in a simple, plain manner; and later objects such as humans and houses, mountains and trees, dogs, magpies, and the sun and moon, were condensed into images of Mother Nature on his canvas. Such icons transform into simple symbols that reappear in Chang’s pieces, thereby representing the universality of purity. Also Chang abandoned the thick matiere he had often used earlier, in favor of thin, watery oil paints to create a color and ink effect that would show Korea’s original pure and simple sense of aesthetics. Such pure and childlike innocence and the values of Korean painting presented on Chang’s works are the expression of his longing for an ideal life of unworldliness and assimilation into nature.
