Kim Taek Sang’s painting does not begin with color, but with an inquiry into the way light is perceived. Although his early works addressed social themes, after encountering the prismatic waters of the Yellowstone Caldera his focus shifted from the meaning of objects to the operation of natural phenomena. By introducing non-intentional elements—water, air, gravity, and time—into the making of a painting, his practice moves from expression to condition, and from representation to generation.
 
He does not reproduce a specific color. Instead, he constructs a structure in which color comes into being through the relationship between light and surface. Our recognition of an object as having a fixed color is conceptual cognition; Kim’s paintings attempt to reveal the state prior to such cognition—the minute reflections and fluctuations of light. This approach allows color to be understood not as a fixed property but as a relational event.
 
For this reason, while his work is discussed within the lineage of Dansaekhwa, it does not remain within the same category. If Dansaekhwa revealed spirituality through materiality and performative repetition, Kim minimizes human intention by allowing natural processes themselves to form the image. Through painting he recalibrates the hierarchy between nature and human agency, transforming painting from an act of discipline into an environmental occurrence.
 
This is also why he names his painting ‘dàamhwa (淡畵).’ The character dam suggests faintness and restraint, but also a purified state free of impurities. His paintings do not subtract emotion or narrative; rather, they refine the conditions through which the world may reveal itself. In this sense, his practice establishes a distinct identity as a painting of emergence rather than representation.

C.V

- Selected Solo Exhibitions

Since his first solo exhibition at the Total Museum of Contemporary Art in 1994, Kim Taek Sang has continued to present solo exhibitions at major venues in Korea and abroad, including CAIS Gallery (2001, 2004, Seoul), Taguchi Fine Art (2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2023, Tokyo), Gallery Aso (2010-2024, Daegu), Leeahn Gallery (2019-2024, Seoul and Daegu), Lehmann Maupin (2022, Palm Beach), and Johyun Gallery (2026, upcoming, Busan).
 


- Selected Group Exhibitions

He has also participated in group exhibitions at leading museums and galleries, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (2001, 2012), Seoul Museum of Art (2004), Daegu Art Museum (2023), Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art (2009, Chiba), Tsinghua University Art Museum (2018, Beijing), Centre Pasquart (2006, Switzerland), Lehmann Maupin (2023, Seoul), and Esther Schipper (2023, Seoul and Berlin), further expanding the institutional context of his practice.
 


- Selected Collections

His works are held in the collections of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea; Kumho Museum of Art; Leeum Museum of Art; Total Museum of Contemporary Art; Suwon I’Park Museum of Art; and Cheongju Museum of Art, as well as in corporate collections including Yokogawa Electric, Walkerhill Hotel, and Four Seasons Hotel.