ART-RHEE-SEU
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Seundja Rhee
Systems of Clarity
Gesture as System
ART-RHEE-SEU
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Gesture as System
Seundja Rhee
ART-RHEE-SEU
Gesture as System
Index Code:
ART-RHEE-SEU
Orgin:
Korea → France
Field Notes:
Gesture as procedure • Repetition without climax • Discipline over expression • Structure held through repetition
Defining Moment:
Late 1950s–early 1960s — Rhee reduces painting to repeated linear units and calibrated gesture, establishing a practice where variation emerges through disciplined repetition rather than expression.

Seundja Rhee

( 
1914–1988
 )
sun-jah ree

Seundja Rhee builds a world where gesture functions as structure rather than expression.

Through repeated linear marks and calibrated movement, form emerges through rhythm and constraint.

What appears spontaneous is governed by long-term discipline, where variation comes from repetition rather than invention.

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How does gesture become structure rather than expression here?
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In Seundja Rhee’s work, gesture is separated from expressive intent and used as structure. Marks repeat within strict limits, allowing rhythm to generate form.

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Movement never resolves into image or climax. It simply continues.
What feels spontaneous is regulated, and what reads as intuitive is the result of long-term discipline. Structure holds through repetition, not assertion.

Position

Process as Form

The method of making defines the structure. Repetition, accumulation, or procedure becomes the visible logic of the work.

In Seundja Rhee’s work, form is sustained through repeated linear gesture rather than expressive mark or compositional emphasis.
Hard Systems
Form is governed by rigid rules, limits, and non-negotiable constraints.
Systems of Clarity
Order and coherence arise through disciplined systems and constraints.
Structure
Structure holds the work through rules, joins, and controlled relationships between parts.
Gesture
Gesture functions as structure through disciplined, repeatable action.
Material
Material behavior governs form through weight, resistance, and constraint.
Art
Form operates as a site for material, perceptual, and conceptual inquiry.
Image Credits
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1. Seundja Rhee in the studio. Courtesy of the Seundja Rhee Foundation.

2. Seundja Rhee in the studio. Courtesy of the Seundja Rhee Foundation.

3. Seundja Rhee in the studio. Courtesy of the Seundja Rhee Foundation.

4. Seundja Rhee. White Mirror. 1960. Oil on canvas. 116 × 81 cm. Courtesy of the Seundja Rhee Foundation.

5. Seundja Rhee. Subitement la loi. 1961. Oil on canvas. 146 × 114 cm. Courtesy of the Seundja Rhee Foundation.

6. Seundja Rhee. Superimposition No. 1. 1969. Oil on canvas. 116 × 89 cm. © Seundja Rhee Foundation.

7. Seundja Rhee. The City of January 74. 1974. Woodcut print on Arches vellum. 38 × 62 cm. © Seundja Rhee Foundation.

8. Seundja Rhee. Cité de mars 72. 1972. Oil on canvas. 130 × 162 cm. © Seundja Rhee Foundation.

9. Seundja Rhee. Yin et Yang (avril 75). 1975. Acrylic on canvas. 200 × 200 cm. © Seundja Rhee Foundation.

10. Seundja Rhee. Yin et Yang (juin 75). 1975. Acrylic on canvas. 250 × 200 cm. © Seundja Rhee Foundation.

11. Seundja Rhee. Towards the Antipodes. ArteNova, Venice. Courtesy KoRICA (Korean Research Institute of Contemporary Art), the Seundja Rhee Foundation, and Gallery Hyundai. Photograph by Mark Blower.

12. Seundja Rhee. Towards the Antipodes. ArteNova, Venice. Courtesy KoRICA (Korean Research Institute of Contemporary Art), the Seundja Rhee Foundation, and Gallery Hyundai. Photograph by Mark Blower.

Cover: Installation view: Seundja Rhee, Yin and Yang series, 1970s, MMCA Gwacheon.

Portrait: Seundja Rhee in the studio. Courtesy of the Seundja Rhee Foundation.

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All images © their respective rights holders.  
Image rights & attribution →

Structual Relations
The following practices are connected through shared structural decisions in form, material, and spatial logic.

By Structural Focus

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How are these related?
Quiet Modernism relates practices through how form is organized rather than how it appears. Connections emerge through shared structural conditions — such as repetition, constraint, spatial organization, material behavior, or duration — even when outcomes differ.

A single grouping may reflect multiple overlapping structural concerns.
Etel Adnan
landscape as inner form
Nasreen Mohamedi
Line as devotion

In Dialogue

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