Young-Il Ahn (b. 1934, Gaeseong, Korea; d. 2020, Los Angeles, CA) received a BFA from Seoul National University in 1958; in 1966 he resettled in Los Angeles, which remained his home for the following five decades until his death in 2020. In his lifetime, Ahn developed a distinct oeuvre defined by meticulously crafted, abstract monochromes that delve into personal relationships with beauty, nature, music, and grief. Ahn’s enamorment with California’s brilliant light, and the deep, glittering Pacific Ocean resulted in his Water series for which he is best known and first associated him with Korea’s Dansaekhwa movement. Working adjacent to Dansaekhwa, Ahn similarly bridged the space between meditative restraint and gestural freedom. In his Memorial series, Ahn gave form to the shock and inner turmoil experienced in the wake of the national tragedy of 9/11. By incorporating disintegrated forms and thick, black paint spatter to a diagonally gridded image plane, the resulting works are a remarkably intimate expression of mourning—an elegiac homage to the artist’s adopted homeland.

Harper's

Los Angeles

Baik + Khneysser

Seoul

Gallery Hyundai

New York City

Long Beach

Long Beach Museum of Art

Bronx Museum of The Arts

Miami

Ica Miami

Lacma

Young-Il Ahn

Seoul National University

Space 2

G2 12

Water Purple 1

Water LLBG 16

Self-Reflection B

At the Beach 3

Water BLWB 18A

Water WYLR

Water SRPG 19

Water SQYG 19