Seoul: The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) is set to open a major retrospective of "water droplet" artist Kim Tschang-yeul, an influential pioneer of Korean contemporary art. Marking Kim's first retrospective since his passing in 2021, the exhibition will have an extensive look into his life and work, bringing together some 120 pieces, including 31 paintings never before shown to the public.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the exhibition seeks to supplement the gaps in existing studies of Kim Tschang-yeul and provide a comprehensive view of the artist's oeuvre, particularly works from under-explored periods. MMCA Director Kim Sung-hee expressed hope that this retrospective will serve as an opportunity to rediscover and reassess Kim as an artist, while offering a rare occasion to encounter the distinctive aesthetics and sentiments inherent in his life and art.

The exhibition is organized into four sections: "Scar," focusing on his early work; "Phenomenon," covering his transitional years in New York and Paris; "Waterdrops," highlighting the period when his water-droplet paintings flourished; and "Recurrence," exploring his use of language and image. Several works are being shown for the first time in Korea, including eight paintings from Kim's New York period, 11 drawings from the same era, and two water-droplet paintings from 1971.

Kim was born in 1929 in Maengsan, North Korea. His artistic education at Seoul National University was cut short by the Korean War in 1950. In 1957, he joined artists to bring Korea's Informel movement to life, adapting European abstract expressionism to Korean art. The 1960s marked his international debut with exhibitions at the Paris and Sao Paulo Biennales. After studying in New York, he settled in France in 1970, where he spent 45 years.

In a 2016 interview with Yonhap News Agency, Kim shared a life-changing moment in the early 1970s when he saw water droplets shining on a canvas in his Parisian studio. This sight inspired him to express the beauty of water droplets on canvas, a task he pursued throughout his life. Kim described painting water droplets as an act of healing, helping him dissolve and erase traumatic memories from the war.

The exhibition, titled "Kim Tschang-yeul," opens on Friday and runs through Dec. 21 at the MMCA's Seoul branch.