by Lauren Long
YOUNG-IL AHN. Photo by Michael Underwood. Courtesy Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago.
On December 12, pioneering Korean-American abstract painter Young-Il Ahn passed away in Los Angeles, aged 86. The details of his death have not been disclosed.
Ahn is known for his large-scale, colorful abstractions that examine the beauty found in nature and music, as exemplified by his
Water (1983–2020) series. He created the oil paintings by using a knife to apply repetitive rectangular blocks of color such as magenta or deep lilac onto blue canvases, depicting the fluidity and majesty of the oceans with a focus on how colors, shadow, and light intermix on the water’s surface. The series was inspired by a near-death experience in July 1983, during which he became lost off the coast of Santa Monica in a small fishing boat amid dense fog. The mediative and emotional works highlight the glimmering light and colors that he witnessed before the fog lifted. In 2017, the Los Angeles Co