How LA inspired a Korean American artist whose place in history is still being written

Southern California’s air, light and space have inspired countless artists — James Turrell, David Hockney and Ed Ruscha to name just a few. And a new exhibit at Perrotin Los Angeles wants to show L.A. transplant Young-Il Ahn as a painter who also has something to say about the poetry of this place.

Much of the Korean American abstract painter’s work was inspired by the natural elements of Los Angeles, a city he immigrated to from Korea in 1966. The centerpiece of the 17-work career survey — on display at the Mid-City gallery until May 24 — comes from the artist's "California" series.

"He writes about those works as trying to capture the light and bright infinity of California — where space is filled with colors, forms, sound waves from living nature. He speaks about his body vibrating with awareness," said Jennifer King, Perrotin’s senior director and the show's curator.

From Young-Il Ahn's "Water" series.

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Courtesy Perrotin Los Angeles

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Light and magic

Ahn was 32 when he arrived in Los Angeles. He was already a working artist and considered a kind of child prodigy in his home country. He lived here until his death in 2020. One of the artist's most well-known series, called "Water," was inspired by a formative experience in a motorboat in 1983, King said. Ahn was temporarily lost in a thick fog off Santa Monica.

" He had to essentially float on the open ocean, cut the engine and just floated until the fog rolled out," King said. "The experience of seeing the sunlight reflecting on the water was something that stayed with him for the rest of his life."

The “Water” paintings sought to capture that wonder and sensation. The series was spotlighted in a one-person show at LACMA in 2018 — his first major museum survey.

Ahn, King said, had titled the series "Santa Monica," before changing the name. Beyond that series, California and its natural vibes continued to be a guiding light.

" He was very influenced just by the light, air and atmosphere of California," she said.

Like pieces from his lesser-known “California” series featured at Perrotin.

One of Young-Il Ahn's "Horse Race" paintings

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Courtesy Perrotin Los Angeles

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Another painting titled "Horse Race" by Young-Il Ahn

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Courtesy Perrotin Los Angeles

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L.A.'s Asian America

With such bona fides rooted in Los Angeles, King wants the show she has curated to position Ahn in a different light — as part of L.A. and Asian American art history.

"What I really wanted to foreground is that even though he was born in Korea, I think of him as an L.A. artist," said King, who is Chinese American. "He lived and worked in L.A. for over 50 years . Someone like Young-Il Ahn still fell through the cracks of that history."

King said Ahn was active as an artist after he arrived in the mid-60s, showing in local galleries, though not spaces that are considered seminal, such as Ferus Gallery, in establishing Los Angeles as an modern art hub.

And since Ahn did not attend art school in L.A., he was never part of a bigger network, such as the Light and Space movement that started in Southern California in the 1960s, whose preoccupations Ahn shared.

"There was always a following for his work,” King said. “But as far as the mainstream art world, as far as thinking about art history and writing him into history, I would say it wasn't until late in his career."

It's a project, she added, that is ongoing.

Details

Perrotin Los Angeles
Young-Il Ahn: Selected Works 1986 – 2019
April 11 to May 24
5036 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles