Cho Yong-Ik is one of the first generation Korean Dansaekhwa (Monochrome painting) artists and is among the contemporaries of Park Seo-Bo (B. 1931), Lee Ufan (B. 1936), Yun Hyong-Keun (1928-2007) and Chung Sang-Hwa (B. 1932). He is a key advocator of the Korean Informel abstract art movement, the first major art movement in the history of Korean modern art.

There have been three significant series in Cho's oeuvre: the Scratch series (1974-1980), the Wave series (1980s) and the Bamboo series (mid 1990s to early 2000s). His Scratch series started in 1974, when Cho's artistic style was concentrated on the exploration of geometric abstraction. The canvas is covered by g...