In 1975 “Five Korean Artists, Five Kinds of White,” a historic group show - was held in a gallery in Tokyo. This major debut of Dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome) artists outside Korea set the tone for their shared aesthetics exploring white as their conscious choice of color, while their foreign promoters emphasized the color’s association with traditional Korean white glazed pottery.

Regarding this work -- a shadowed shot of a hard white surface -- Joo recalls he found “something” that caused him to click the shutter. White may be a special color for Joo and other Korean artists of his generation. As Dr. Haely Chang explains: “White paint over white canvas, or white monochrome, has become a channel for these artists to empty themselves, to comply with nature, and to pursue what art means beyond representation in modern Korea.”