Buy new:
-12% $35.16
FREE delivery Saturday, May 11
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$35.16 with 12 percent savings
List Price: $39.95

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
FREE Returns
FREE delivery Saturday, May 11
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 9. Order within 20 hrs 5 mins
Only 18 left in stock (more on the way).
$$35.16 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$35.16
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$28.47
Very Good - Crisp, clean, unread book with some shelfwear/edgewear, may have a remainder mark - NICE Standard-sized. Very Good - Crisp, clean, unread book with some shelfwear/edgewear, may have a remainder mark - NICE Standard-sized. See less
$3.99 delivery May 13 - 17. Details
Or fastest delivery May 9 - 14. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$35.16 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$35.16
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by midtownscholarbookstore.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Joan Kee
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method Paperback – July 18, 2013

by Joan Kee (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 29 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$35.16","priceAmount":35.16,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"35","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"16","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"oh2wwZrNQZ1tIOgkB4Xyf1qTGpK3lR7LIN885xhOl0PAsB4qIelavYuT3qUstiDrQdIf5LQy5UGQSHjJM8OtehiCI7lJFXhY8TatMpTGd%2BC08VbWgVrOuoUAKfpMIwj1bWY6nb6G9OJtMrSx6gYmbQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$28.47","priceAmount":28.47,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"28","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"47","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"oh2wwZrNQZ1tIOgkB4Xyf1qTGpK3lR7LQCBrYSm%2BY%2BlwGGlTrrJhk7Y%2BtuMmPSwJ6t1Auq2V1QXNAdSa29eqbKgRblcWyrXPL95VR5bKbORCsWfRidu3aCd3k8Jt1yVQ73V58lrGzk%2FeFmTXPmhywdvLdvGS%2FHRadiqaTRFdbYg%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons



Starting in the mid-1960s, a group of Korean artists began to push paint, soak canvas, drag pencils, rip paper, and otherwise manipulate the materials of painting in ways that prompted critics to describe their actions as “methods” rather than artworks. A crucial artistic movement of twentieth-century Korea, Tansaekhwa (monochromatic painting) also became one of its most famous and successful. Promoted in Seoul, Tokyo, and Paris, Tansaekhwa grew to be the international face of contemporary Korean art and a cornerstone of contemporary Asian art.


In this full-color, richly illustrated account—the first of its kind in English—Joan Kee provides a fresh interpretation of the movement’s emergence and meaning that sheds new light on the history of abstraction, twentieth-century Asian art, and contemporary art in general. Combining close readings, archival research, and interviews with leading Tansaekhwa artists, Kee focuses on an essential but often overlooked dimension of the movement: how artists made a case for abstraction as a way for viewers to engage productively with the world and its systems. As Kee shows, artists such as Lee Ufan, Park Seobo, Kwon Young-woo, Yun Hyongkeun, and Ha Chonghyun urgently stressed certain fundamentals, recognizing that overwhelming forces such as decolonization, authoritarianism, and the rise of a new postwar internationalism could be approached through highly individual experiences that challenged viewers to consider how they understood their world rather than why.


Against the backdrop of the Cold War, decolonization, and the declaration of martial law in South Korea, these artists asked questions that continue to resonate today: In what ways can art matter to the world? How does art exert agency when its viewers live in times of explicit or implicit duress? How can specific social and political conditions inspire or influence methods and styles?
Previous page
  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Univ Of Minnesota Press
  4. Publication date
    July 18, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    7 x 0.8 x 10 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0816679886
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0816679881
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method
$35.16
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11
Only 18 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Geometries of Afro Asia: Art beyond Solidarity
$29.60
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Models of Integrity: Art and Law in Post-Sixties America
$45.00
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Kee] displays throughout the book a rare sensitivity to
formal qualities of the visual materials before her and exhaustive knowledge of theoretical discussions that surrounded and gave rise to the movement, all while writing a refined but accessible prose without a shred of excess." --Journal of Asian Studies

"Rich in analysis and description, Kee's book traces the development of Korean painting and issues of national artistic identity as a reflection of the country's economic growth and political turmoil over the past five decades. This pioneering, generously illustrated tome deserves a place in every serious collection of books about modern art in Asia.--Art Asia Pacific

"Kee does an excellent job of placing Tansaekhwa artists in context, giving the reader a greater understanding of how the artists fit into contemporary Korean art and the international art world. Readers who are not familiar with Korean history will be well-served by the historical context that the author provides." -- Art Libraries Society

"Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method is an in-depth discussion of a specific art movement developed during the post-colonial period, which reached its pinnacle during the 1970s. The clever narrative structure of the book enables the reader to approach this movement from various angles, looking at different contextual rather than chronological works of art." -- Art Newspaper

"Kee successfully carves out a definable and cultivated place for the Tansaekhwa artist in the global history of modernist abstraction and contemporary art." --Orientations- "A thorough examination of documentation on the artists, paintings, institutions and critiques empowering the discussion on Tansaekwha, giving it both historicity and objectivity." -- Journal of Korean Studies

About the Author


Joan Kee is associate professor of art history at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Univ Of Minnesota Press (July 18, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0816679886
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0816679881
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.37 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 0.8 x 10 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 29 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Joan Kee

Joan Kee

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
29 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ami
5.0 out of 5 stars The Urgency of Method
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2019
Verified Purchase
I have a Korean friend who had trouble picking art for his home. At first I was going to try to find him a piece of art, but that seemed a bit personal. Instead I found this book.

I liked the title. The person whom my gift was for was fundamental to helping me, and my work team quickly create methods of efficiency and consistency to deliver quality results. So “The Urgency of Method” meant something a little different to me.

Before I gave it to him I read through and learned a lot about Korean minimalism. I gained a new perspective on minimalism and it’s purpose whithin society to represent a utilitarian consistency that retains a cohesive structure that combines in multiple forms to represent the culture that this type of art represents.

I don’t know much about art, and ashamedly little about Korean culture, but I do know a little more about Korean art than i ever knew before. I was able to provide a meaningful and sincere gift to someone which, hopefully, showed I appreciated them, and their culture, as well asl how much I care and respect them as a person.

This was a well made book, with lots of full color photos and stories that made each print personalized and placed them in the context of Korean life.

Were the need for this to arise again, I would definitely buy this book again.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Pat Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars A Definitive Resource on Tansaekhwa and History of Postwar Korean Art
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2015
Verified Purchase
Joan Kee, professor of Art History at the University of Michigan, is one of the most important scholars of the tansaekhwa movement and this wonderful book is an absolute must read for anyone with an interest in this field. Her passion and admiration for the works are undeniable and this underlying admiration is palpable throughout.

The introduction is, in my opinion, one of the best English language histories of abstraction in postwar Korea. Kee’s explanation of the socio-political context affecting Korea’s art world and Korea itself are revelatory. The book moves through a history of the various power players, artists, curators, critics, galleries, museums, and historians at work. Not only are tansaekhwa stalwarts Lee Ufan, Park Seobo, Ha Chonghyun, and Yun Hyongkeun discussed in great detail, Kee also provides valuable insights into works by artists such as Kwon Young-Woo, Suh Se-Ok and Kim Whangki to name just a few.

I have revisited this book time and time again and it is a testament to Kee’s wonderful writing style, passion and formidable intellect. A masterful scholarly work presented in an engaging readable form, this is an important book and I believe will be a classic reference for years to come.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
emma son
5.0 out of 5 stars great insight into the world of contemporary Korean art...
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2013
Verified Purchase
wonderful book to learn about the historically important period of artistic movements in Korea known as "Korean monochrome painting" and the artists involved. and it was wonderful to read more about the internationall lesser known Korean artists of this period...
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
kim lakin
5.0 out of 5 stars Insoiring
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2016
Verified Purchase
Amazing artists that I had never heard of.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Rosa Jang
2.0 out of 5 stars Amazon damage
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019
Verified Purchase
Book came with a large dent when I ordered it "New". Wish Amazon handled their books better because this is a wonderfully printed one with great pictures.
Helpful
 Report
HodgeL
3.0 out of 5 stars Urgency of Method
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
Focuses strictly on painting. I would have liked more explanation of urgency of method itself. Rather it was explained as a reaction to the Japanese colonial period.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
NemoDakkar
5.0 out of 5 stars A superb and detailed academic study
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2021
Dr. Joan Kee (a mid-career faculty/ Associate Professor, History of Art, at the University of Michigan) has clearly put in what seems to be a life’s work into this book, a detailed description of Korean art, particularly of Korean monochrome i.e. Tansaekhwa (also spelled Dansaekhwa) Art. I am a non-professional art lover (I.e I merely love art, and attempt to paint, but have no formal training in it) who bought the book to learn more about this spectacular, but under-appreciated/ poorly known body of art. The book is a detailed history of the context in which Tansaekhwa developed, and as it related to the history of Korea’s occupations by Japan, the influences of WWII and the Korean War, the subsequent split into North and South, and how the subsequent administrations influenced (negatively or otherwise) the development of art over there. It covers some of the major artists like Park Seo-Bo and his Écriture series, as well as Lee Ufan and others. While this is not a Taschen publication with gorgeous foldout spreads of artworks, Dr. Kee and the publisher have made their best effort to add color pictures when and where available. Combined with a lecture given to (and uploaded by) The Korea Society, that can be viewed on YouTube, titled “Gallery Talk- The Long Breath: Postwar Korean Art, 1953-1979”, which is complementary to the book, this effort can only be described as a labor of love by Dr. Kee. This should be in the library of every art department as required reading.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
RA
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and fascinating book
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2016
Provides some great insights into the historical context surrounding the many artists discussed, giving plenty of visual examples of their work. The reader is encouraged to see these works as methods, showing us how to visualize labor and process as an aesthetic product and pointing out ways that tansaekhwa artists were visualizing conceptions of time, space, materiality, and the agency of the viewer.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

JR
1.0 out of 5 stars Damaged book delivered
Reviewed in Germany on June 28, 2022
Verified Purchase
even ordering a new book, it was delivered with a dent in one of the corners. This is unacceptable!
Customer image
JR
1.0 out of 5 stars Damaged book delivered
Reviewed in Germany on June 28, 2022
even ordering a new book, it was delivered with a dent in one of the corners. This is unacceptable!
Images in this review
Customer image Customer image
Customer imageCustomer image
Report
RA
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and fascinating book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2015
Verified Purchase
The book provides some great insights into the historical context surrounding the many artists discussed, giving plenty of visual examples of their work. The reader is encouraged to see these works as methods, showing us how to visualize labor and process as an aesthetic product and pointing out ways that tansaekhwa artists were visualizing conceptions of time, space, materiality, and the agency of the viewer.
2 people found this helpful
 Report