Dongkuk Ahn (Daw-non) (1937-2013), also known as Don Ahn, was a South Korean artist and t'ai chi master who resided in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Background

Don Ahn was born in Seoul,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. He studied at Seoul University (BFA), graduate student at Miami University, Oxford Ohio 1962,

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

(MFA), and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(Ph. D, Art History). He was also a student of the T'ai Chi grandmaster Cheng Man-ch'ing in New York City.

Career as artist

Themes and influences

Ahn's work is greatly influenced by nature, specifically the cycles of nature as in Zen and other Eastern philosophies. Ascribing to the Eastern belief that nature is central to everything that exists, Ahn paints natural forms and environments, which he abstracts into brushstrokes, drips, and splatters. Titles of his paintings reference trees, wind, and water, and include Broken Branch in the Rain, Old Zen Tree, and Wind, Rain, & Ocean. His swirls and drips portray the rapid, random, and untamed effects of natural forces.Don Ahn at the Japanese American National Museum
/ref> Another influence or concept in Ahn's work is the dragon, a good and powerful figure from Korean and

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

, whose movements and forms Ahn suggests in whimsical ribbon-like marks and trails of paint. In Korean folk tales, dragons show goodwill to humans by sending clouds and rain, and they tend to live in lakes, rivers, and oceans. Paying tribute to this

Folkloric Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...

legacy, Ahn's paintings bear titles such as Brown Dragon and Yellow Dragon, as well as titles using names of underwater creatures and habitats, like Phantasy in the Deep Sea.

Style and technique

Ahn's ink and

acrylic painting Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depe ...

s on canvas are reminiscent of Zen

Calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

and paintings, with their quick brushstrokes and elegant compositions. Composed of swipes and spatters that course across the pictorial field, these works blend Eastern brush painting with

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

"action painting."Review in The New York Times
/ref> In his catalog essay, Jeffrey Wechsler remarks at "how completely even the most explosive of (the marks) ultimately resolve within the paintings as compositional pivots and Focal points of visual weight, but without reducing their sense of unbound energy" which he calls a "zen-like paradox." He writes, "Somehow, speed becomes the medium for suggesting presence and substance." The white paper background accounts for a large percentage of the surfaces of Ahn's works, but to Ahn, these areas are not characteristic of Western "negative space." Instead, as in Eastern Philosophy, empty space or the void is full of

Tao ''Tao'' or ''Dao'' is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other philo ...

(the fullness of existence) and ch'i (the energy within it).

Exhibitions

Ahn has had numerous solo and group

exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery An art gallery is a roo ...

in the U.S. and abroad, including the solo shows Dragons & Oceans at Ehwa Gallery,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea in 2007, and Zen & Void at Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY in 2004. His work is in private and public collections, including The

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York, the Dayton Art Museum, Ohio, and the Evansville Museum, Indiana. Awards and honors include First Prize (in painting) from the Dayton Art Museum Ohio Regional Art Annual in 1963, the Pratt Graduate Fellowship in 1963, First Prize (in etching) from East Coast

Printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

's Annual in 1964, and the McDowell Artist Fellowship in 1964.

Selected solo exhibitions

* 2014 ''Don Ahn: Spirit'', BBCN Bank, New York, NY * 2014 ''Don Ahn (1937-2013)'', Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 2012 ''Paintings From 1968 Through 2005'', Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 2007 ''Dragons & Oceans'', Ehwa Gallery, Seoul, South Korea * 2004 ''Zen & Vold'', Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 2000 Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 1996 Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 1994 Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 1993 Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 1982 Hankuk Gallery, New York, NY * 1977 Lotus Gallery, New York, NY * 1976 Lotus Gallery, New York, NY * 1975 Lotus Gallery, New York, NY * 1972 Green Mountain Gallery, New York, NY * 1972 Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY * 1971 Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY * 1971 Dalhousie Gallery, Nova Scotia, Canada * 1969 Downey Museum, Los Angeles, CA 1965 Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN * 1963 Dayton Art Museum, Dayton, OH * 1952 Kilbride Bradley Gallery, Minneapolis, MN * 1950 Korean Do-Su-Kwan Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

Selected group exhibitions

* 2013 ''Coloring Time'', Korean Cultural Service, New York, NY * 2013 ''Friends'', Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 2011 ''Friends'', Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 2011 Art Toronto, Toronto, Canada * 2011 Art Chicago, Chicago, IL * 2010 Art Toronto, Toronto, Canada * 2008 ''Gallery Artists Part V'', Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 2002 Eastern Essence, Gary Snyder Gallery, New York, NY * 2002 500 Best Works On Paper, Gary Snyder Gallery, New York, NY * 2001 Abstract Expressionism, Gary Snyder Gallery, New York, NY * 1999 Pleides Gallery, Seoul University Alumni show, New York, NY * 1999 Korean New York Art Society Show, Jersey City, NJ * 1999 Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Fukuoka, Japan * 1999 Artist of the Third Millennium, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 1998 Kaohsiung Museum Of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan * 1997 Chicago Institute Of Art, Chicago, IL * 1997 Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University * 1997 Asian Tradition & Modern Expression: 1945 - 1970, Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University * 1995 Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 1993 Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY * 1976 Lotus Gallery, New York * 1972 Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY * 1971 US National Print Biennial, Museum Of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan * 1969 Cooper Union, faculty show, New York, NY * 1968 6th Invitational International Print Biennial, Museum Of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan * 1967 International Print Biennial, Grenchen, Switzerland * 1967 Audubon, National Annual, New York, NY * 1966 Society of American Graphic Artists, National Annual, New York, NY * 1966 Ball State College, National, Drawing and Sculpture, Muncie, IN * 1966 Traveling U.S. Print Show, Pratt Graphic Arts Center, New York, NY * 1965 Traveling U.S. Print Show, Pratt Graphic Arts Center, New York, NY * 1964 New York, Institute of Technology, faculty show New York, NY * 1964 Evansville Museum, Indiana * 1964 East Coast Printmakers, Village Art Center, New York, NY * 1963 Ohio Regional Art Show, Dayton Art Institute, OH * 1963 Drawing and Prints from the collection of J.Johnson, Cincinnati Museum of Art, OH * 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair, Korean Booth, Seattle, WA * 1958 Korean National Art Annual (Kuk-Jun), Seoul, South Korea * 1954 Korean National Art Annual (Kuk-Jun), Seoul, South Korea

Awards and honors

* 1964 First Prize (in Etching), East Coast Printmakers Annual * 1964 McDowell Artist Fellowship, NH * 1963 First Prize (In Painting), Dayton Art Museum, Ohio Regional Art Annual, Juror: Howard Arnason, Vice President, Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY * 1963 Pratt Graduate Fellowship, New York, NY

Selected public and private collections

*Museum Of Modern Art, New York, NY *Dayton Art Museum, Dayton, OH *Evansville, Museum, Evansville, IN *C.W. Post College, Brookville, NY *Farrington Collection, Calgary, Canada *Campbell Collection, Cold Spring, NY *Collection D.J. Nam, Seoul, South Korea *Collection of Thomas W. Thompson, Dayton, OH

Career as t'ai chi master

Master Ahn studied with the late Professor Cheng, Man Ching (6 years from 1964), followed by study with Yang, Sui Chong (the eldest son of Yang, Cheng Fu) in 1970 Hong Kong. He teaches several

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

disciplines: he has trained in Korean Tae Kwondo (1949-1953), Korean Zen (1955-1959), and has practiced other

disciplines for over 30 years. Master Ahn learned acupressure techniques in his childhood from his grandfather, and studied Korean and Japanese Shiatsu intermittently from 1953, as well as various Western forms of body work since 1960. Ahn's Chi Bodywork is the result of this harmonizing of both the Eastern and Western methods. He was known for his focus on Dantian and Rooting power, and taught Professor Cheng's 37-form, as well as

Push Hands Pushing hands, Push hands or tuishou (alternately spelled ''tuei shou'' or ''tuei sho'') is a two-person training routine practiced in internal Chinese martial arts such as Baguazhang, Xingyiquan, Taijiquan (tài jí quán), and Yiquan. It is ...

, Sword, Knife, Double Knife, Da Lu, Wu Chi Breathing, and

Taoist meditation Taoist meditation (, ), known in Chinese as "Xiu Dao", refers to the traditional meditative practices associated with the Chinese philosophy and religion of Taoism, including concentration, mindfulness, contemplation, and visualization. The ear ...

References

* Cotter, Holland, "Of Asians Among the Abstractionists",''The New York Times'' 2007 * Wechsler, Jeffrey,''Asian Traditions, Modern Expressions 1945-1970'', New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1997. * ''Community Leaders of America'', 1981 * ''Notable Americans'', 1981 * ''Who's who in the East'', 1981

External links

Ahn Tai Chi Studio

Taij Union: About Don Ahn

Claims of Chi: Besting a Tai Chi Master
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahn, Don 1937 births 2013 deaths New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni Artists from Seoul Pratt Institute alumni Seoul National University alumni South Korean artists South Korean expatriates in the United States