Koo Bohnchang is the subject of a solo exhibition titled The Allure of Blue, on view at Ivorypress in Madrid, Spain, through July 27, 2019. During the course of his career, Koo's constant investigation into the possibilities of photography has played a pivotal role in establishing the medium as a major genre of contemporary art in Korea. Fourteen years ago, captivated by its elegant yet simple charm, Koo began studying traditional Korean white porcelain ceramics, capturing their still and fragile beauty and attempting to reveal the unseen breath of life. The show, Koo’s second solo exhibition in Madrid after his first in 2013, comprises a selection of delicate photographs of porcelain pieces from the Joseon Dynasty from his latest series including EWB 01 (2019), EWB 02 (2019), EWB 08 (2019), EWB 15 (2019).

The artist visited more than sixteen museums inside and outside Korea to get a closer look at their respective collections of ceramic ware. One of those trips was to a major exhibition entitled In Blue and White: Porcelains of the Joseon Dynasty, held at the National Museum of Korea in 2014, which affirmed his appreciation for the tremendous variety of magnificently pure-colored, blue-and-white porcelain produced in the Joseon Dynasty. The Blue-and-white Porcelain Jar series focuses on the subjectivity of these precious objects and highlights the taste, desire, and value of that time, at the same time engaging the concept of negative space and philosophy of wholeness and emptiness.