Tomio Koyama Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of Koo Bohnchang, “White Vessels”. “White Vessels” is a series of photographs of Soetsu Yanagi’s white Korean porcelain collection, captured in 2006. White Korean porcelain vessels, with a long history of hundreds of years, were originally used exclusively by the royal court and later also by the elites, eventually by the public. The beauty in their plain simplicity of these white vessels have fascinated many advocates of the Folk Art movement in Japan including Soetsu Yanagi who actively promoted the “beauty of usage”, as well as collectors from the Western countries. In order to rebuild the collection of home treasures, Koo traveled around the world to visit and capture the spirits of these dispersed vessels at collectors and various museums. He carefully photographed the history and memories contained in these vessels by their delicate texture and details.

This exhibition is consisted of 13 works of “White Vessels” selected and newly printed in platinum and palladium in 2015 by the artist and amanasalto. We strongly encourage you to come and enjoy vessel’s unique texture developed through the passage of time and the delicate beauty in their simplicity.

Born in Seoul, Korea in 1953, Koo graduated from Yonsei University majoring in Business Administration and later studied photography in Hamburg, Germany. His works have been exhibited in over 30 solo exhibitions including Camera Obscura, Paris (2004), Kukje Gallery, Seoul and Kahitsukan Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art (2006), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (2010) and most recently participated in the group exhibition “Simple Forms: Contemplating Beauty” in Mori Art Museum, Tokyo this year in 2015. Koo’s works are collected by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Kahitsukan Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul and many other museums and private collections.