201401 k art

Korean Culture No.10

K art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

K ART

Korean Culture No.10

K-art: Universal Works Reach Global Audience Copyright Š 2013

by Korean Culture and Information Service All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

First Published in 2013 by Korean Culture and Information Service Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Phone: 82-2-398-1914~20 Fax: 82-2-398-1882 Website: www.kocis.go.kr ISBN: 978-89-7375-580-6 04650 ISBN: 978-89-7375-578-3 04080 (set) Printed in the Republic of Korea For further information about Korea, please visit: www.korea.net

K ART Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Chapter Three

History of K-Art

87

The Origins of Contemporary Art (1910s–1950s)

88 93

The Advent of Abstract Art (1960s–1970s)

95

The Search for Koreanness (1980s)

100

The Age of Postmodernism and Pluralism (1990s–present)

102

The Characteristics of Traditional Korean Art

Chapter Four

K-Art in the Public Space

107

Moon Beom. Slow, same, #20005, 1999-2000

Art Museums, Galleries and Alternative Spaces Art Markets: Where the Public and Experts Meet

107 111

Contents

Big Art Shows: Gwangju Biennale, Busan Biennale, and Mediacity Seoul

114

119

Epilogue

09 Prologue

The Potential and Direction of Korean Contemporary Art

119

Korean Contemporary Art, an Emerging Powerhouse of the Art World

Appendix Chapter One

122

13 The Place of K-Art in the World 13

K-Art, Crossing Boundaries

18

Success of Korean Artists in Foreign Auctions

Bae Bien-U. SEA1A-050H, 1999

Chapter Two

25 Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 27

Hanguk-hwa, Korean Paintings

33

Western Paintings

51

Sculpture and Installation Art

62

Photography

73

Star Artists Attracting Global Attention

6 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

The Place of K-Art in the World 7

“Korean Eye is set to play a key role in shaping our understanding of the works of these artists, and provide a rare glimpse into the culture of their homeland. The artists have absorbed many aspects of the contemporary lives in Korea and took very individual approaches to express them... the particularly vital way that those artists choose to communicate... makes their work impactful and interesting to a modern audience... They showcase extraordinary talent and energy.”

Nigel Hurst, CEO of the Saatchi Gallery

“While Korean artists each have their own unique sources and characteristics, the themes that appear in their works are very global. I believe that Korean artists have a great deal of potential.”

Doryun Chong, chief curator of M+ in Hong Kong, former associate curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

“Korean contemporary artists are very internationally oriented...It still has its own roots and its own characteristics but at the same time topics are much more globalized.”

Yilmaz Dziewior, director of the Kunsthaus Bregenz

Kim Whanki. Jars, 100x81cm, 1956

The Place of K-Art in the World 9

PROLOGUE

Korean Contemporary Art, an Emerging Powerhouse of the Art World Fundamentally, art and culture are consumed and enjoyed for the expansion of one’s vision through new visual and sensory experiences.

The current state of Korean contemporary art is the culmination of its complicated history of exchange, conflict, and synthesis with foreign cultures throughout the 20th century. Whereas Korea’s age-old traditions were refined by various influences throughout its dynamic modern history, Korea’s native art forms clashed and negotiated with Western art, which was introduced to Korea in the 1920s, and whose diverse styles were embraced in its many forms by the domestic art scene.

Only in recent history has Korean contemporary art been engaged with the outside world and promoted. Some Korean contemporary art was introduced abroad in the 1960s, but it was not until the 1980s when Korea’s economic growth was in full swing that Korean art really began to spread out into the world. Today, Korea is not only participating in numerous international biennales, art fairs, auctions, exhibitions, and exhibition exchanges, but also hosting such international events. These efforts are paying off in the rising presence and influence of Korean Lee Yongbaek. Angel Soldier_Photo No.2, 2011

Prologue 11

A Lee Rim captures the eyes of vistors at the Korean Eye.

Mediacity Seoul 2012, Spell on You

contemporary art, to the extent that there is growing mention of a Korean

of Modern Art hosted a Lee Bul solo exhibition, and the Guggenheim

Wave in the art world.

Museum held a Lee Ufan Retrospective. Artists such as Kim Sooja, Suh

In the Korean art wave, or K-Art, globalism is approached under the

Do Ho, Lee Yongbaek, and Yang Haegue have been featured in global

assumption that Korea is not separate from the world but rather a unique

exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale to much international acclaim.

yet integral part of the world. Korean contemporary artists who have

Korean contemporary art is making a name for itself in the art world at

gained international traction since the 2000s have broken away from a

large. Accordingly, the domestic art scene is taking great steps to assess

Eurocentric prism to adopt a post-modern outlook that blurs the core and

the position and reputation of Korean contemporary art, so as to facilitate

the periphery. These artists seek recognition for the various original facets

publicity and communication in international networks.

of Korean art, while picking up on both domestic and international trends

This book seeks to help readers overseas gain a comprehensive

and refusing to be fixed to a single identity. To realize these goals, they go

understanding of Korean contemporary art by examining its various

to great lengths to invent traits unique to Korean art that are not confined

features and movements. Featured are the artists who have come to

by but transcending the definitions of tradition, identity, and nationalism.

represent Korea since the modern concept of art was accepted, especially

As they adapt traditional landscape paintings to widen the genre through

those active since the major expansion of Korean art overseas in the

new abstractions and utilize traditional motifs and brush techniques of

2000s. The book also discusses the works of artists preceding that time,

Korean calligraphy, they are producing work that suggests a new sense of

and finally the various spaces for Korean contemporary art, including

Asianness that goes beyond Korea.

exhibition halls, biennales, and art markets.

Many such works have gained global recognition. The New York Museum 12 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Prologue 13

Choi Jeong Hwa. Flower Tree, Lyon, 2004

Chapter One

the Place of k-art in the World

K-Art, Crossing Boundaries A relaxation of import and travel restrictions in the mid-1980s resulted in Western art having a greater influence over the the Korean art scene. This was possible through the rise in the number of Koreans who understood and relished global art, which was facilitated by the greater availability of information on the subject. At the same time, Korean artists began to hold more exhibitions overseas. In particular, an increasing number of people took part in biennales around the globe, which raised the profile of Korean contemporary art significantly.

Domestically, the Gwangju Biennale in the mid-1990s kicked off a series of other biennales and exchange exhibitions with foreign artists. An international biennale of major scale, it had a significant role in boosting worldwide awareness of Korean art. Additionally, the offering of Korean art pieces at major auction houses, such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, attracted a lot of attention. Exhibitions and events hosted or sponsored

The Place of K-Art in the World 15

ripples of which could be felt well into the late 1970s.

The next major transition in Korean art occurred surrounding the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which triggered rapid development and globalization in the country. Beginning with the International Open-Air Sculpture Symposium held at Seoul Olympic Park, a succession of international art events were held, including the Gwangju Biennale, which laid the foundation for the formation of Korea’s own contemporary art by engaging with the outside Gwangju Biennale, 2012

art world.

This period saw a boom in domestic conglomerates constructing art museums and collecting foreign artwork, which led to the growth of art facilities and art communities. Around the same time, new metropolitan

by the Korean government have also played a major part in drawing

buildings were required to install public art, causing skyrocketing demand

global attention to the country’s art. Korean Cultural Centers operating

for large sculpture pieces and precipitated greater demand and support

around the world have become important emissaries of Korean art; the

for creative processes. Economic growth and an

Korea Foundation, headquartered in Seoul, has also given support to

improved standard of living led to an increase in

museums around the world. Clearly, a variety of government projects are

foreign museum tours, which generated public

spearheading promotional efforts to publicize Korean art.

interest in art and changed perceptions of art.

One of the earliest efforts through which Korean contemporary art’s

As a consequence of these developments, Korean

distinct character was made known outside of Korea was the milestone

contemporary artists have made grand advances into

exhibition Contemporary Art of Korea, held by the National Museum of

foreign markets in the 2000s, and their works grew

Modern Art in Tokyo in 1968. Critics said that while Korean contemporary

markedly more colorful and diverse. The New York

art was similar in context to its Western counterpart, it carried a unique

Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum,

twist. Following this exhibition, Korean contemporary art based its identity

London’s Tate Modern, and the Saatchi Gallery are

on monochrome painting, the motif of the exhibition, and consciously

all world-renowned galleries and museums that

began to shape contemporary art with uniquely Korean aesthetics, the

show the works of Korean artists. A rising number of 1988 Seoul Olympics

16 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

The Place of K-Art in the World 17

Korean artists are being invited to take part in prestigious art fairs such as the Venice Biennale, the Kassel Documenta, and Art Basel in Switzerland. the Korean Eye, which showed the works of young Korean contemporary artists, was received with much enthusiasm around the world. Originally conceived to highlight the growth and potential of Korean contemporary art on the global stage, the exhibition attracted a combined 1.26 million visitors to its sites in London, Singapore, and Seoul under various headings: Korean Eye: Moon Generation in 2009, Korean Eye: Fantastic Ordinary in 2010, Korean Eye: Energy and Matter in 2011, and Korean Eye:2012 during the Olympic Games in London. Nigel Hurst, CEO of the Saatchi Gallery and collaborating partner of the Korean Eye since 2009, said, “The exhibitions were a great opportunity to showcase the works of Koreazws key artists, who have kept the world on the edge of their seats,” adding, “These shows are important for familiarizing the world with not only Korean contemporary art, but also its wider culture.”

Lee Jae-Hyo. 0121-1110=107041, 2007 at the Korean Eye 2012 (Photo credit: HADA Contemporary)

Hong Sung Chul. String Mirror Eye, 2009 at the Korean Eye 2012 (Photo credit: HADA Contemporary)

The Place of K-Art in the World 19

Success of Korean Artists in Foreign Auctions Art auctions are such an effective and inviting market system that they are considered as the crowning glory of the art market. As a site of public transactions, they raise the interest level of the public as well as that of experts. In Korea, auction companies such as K-Auction are becoming more numerous, and the market has been growing fast since the 2000s.

In addition to the Korean Eye, the work of artists such as Kim Sooja and Nikki S. Lee in New York has created hype around Korean contemporary art. The impact was such that the two largest auction houses in the world, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, began to offer Korean art regularly. In particular, Christie’s regularly hosts two to four Day Sales and Night Sales Suh Do Ho. Cause & Effect, 2009

Suh Do Ho. Some/One, 1998

Kim Dong-Yoo. Marilyn Monroe v.s.

Chairman Mao, 2005

of Contemporary Asian Art, in which, 20 to 40 Korean art pieces are sold.

One artist making great strides in this climate is Suh Do Ho, who is based in New York. In 2007, his work Some/ One, a sculpture crafted from hundreds of dog tags, first appeared on the auction market and fetched USD 50,000, twice the expected price. In 2010, Gate was sold for USD 200,000, which further promoted Suh’s value, and Cause & Effect went for a record-breaking USD 257,600 at Christie’s Hong Kong in May 2012. He was dubbed “the artist who made the greatest impression” by an editor at Artprice, a leading provider of art market information.

Another impressive sale was of Kim Dong-Yoo’s painting Chairman Mao vs. Marilyn Monroe, which fetched a whooping GBP 290,000 (USD 576,520) at Sotheby’s in February 2008. In 2012, his Diana vs. Elizabeth sold for USD 79,980 at Christie’s Hong Kong.

20 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

The Place of K-Art in the World 21

Lee Ufan, whose works were shown at the Guggenheim in solo exhibitions, takes the prize for having created the most expensive works traded on the Korean contemporary art market. According to Ar tprice, he was the country’s top selling contemporary artist in 2009, and 174th in the world.

His works are popular among collectors, with Artprice listing his number of trades at 694, higher than Paik, who stands at 634. Lee’s From Point (1977) was sold for nearly USD two million at Christie’s Hong Kong in November 2012.

Works by Paik Nam June, a pioneer of video art, despite being difficult to collect by virtue of the medium and therefore having fluctuating prices, nevertheless continue to be traded at high prices, with a combined auction sum of EUR 2.24 million in 2007. When Wright Brothers was offered at Christie’s Hong Kong in November 2007, it was bought for USD Lee Bul, who was widely discussed at the 2013 Art Basel in Hong Kong, is another artist gaining international acclaim. Her work is also popular in the auction market. In 2008, her work Autopoiesis sold for USD 116,000 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. In 2011, her Sternbau No. 25 broke her record, selling for USD 135,000.

The Korean contemporary artists whose works have been traded at the highest prices in recent years are Kim Whanki, Paik Nam June, Lee Ufan, and Kim Chong Hak. Among them, Lee’s work and the late Paik’s works are the most in demand.

22 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

540,120, a record at the time. Perhaps because of his influence, video art is one genre in which Asian artists are making great advances.

Although Korean contemporary art’s presence in the global market lags behind in its vigorous activity in the domestic market, the motherland of one of the world’s greatest video artists is continuing to support a variety of creative and less expensive art genres. Korea’s results at Christie’s Hong Kong in 2012 were promising. One hundred eight pieces by 62 artists reaped a total of USD 6.4 million, and 20 percent of these works exceeded their highest value estimates.

The Place of K-Art in the World 23

Collaborative Masterpiece

by Architects, Scientists, Composers and Designers

News from Nowhere

News from Nowhere: Chicago Laboratory, Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Jeon Joonho (left) and Moon Kyungwon (right)

Two young artist friends, Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho, asked themselves one day what art could do when faced with the prospect of the end of the world. News from Nowhere is the project designed by these two to discover the role and meaning of art. This show was prompted by their doubts about the social function of art and their participation in international exhibitions as a team of well-known Korean artists. Fed up with the hegemony of the West and the expendability of art, they wanted to escape the confines of the fine art world to ask other professionals in the visual arts the question of what art is and the philosophy behind it. This project attempts to reflect on and answer that question.

Named rather ironically after William Morris’ News from Nowhere, a book about utopia, this project earned these two artists an invitation to the Kassel Documenta, the third for Korean artists after Paik Nam June in 1977 and Yook Keun-byung in 1992. Moon and Jeon won the Noon Award at the Gwangju Biennale in 2012, and the 2012 Korea Artist Prize from the National Museum of Contemporary Art, making 2012 a very meaningful year for them.

During the four years that this project was in the works, both artists examined what the future holds for art in this day and age, where everything, including climate, the environment, society and economy, is in flux. This led to an enormous collection of data, travels afar, and meetings with experts in various fields such as art, architecture, and physics. The project ended with a single book, titled News from Nowhere. Within it is a precious message: Their art was the process, not the product, so they created a short film, El Fin del Mundo, to chronicle their quest for the truth behind art. The story focuses on a male artist immediately before the apocalypse, and a female artist of a new human species that emerges from the ashes. For the filming, Moon and Jeon collaborated with architects, designers, and scientists.

Moon and Jeon suggest a new direction for art and a new paradigm of collaboration, which they plan to use to share endless ideas and interact with professionals in other fields to devise new creations. www.newsfromnowhere.kr

24 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

The Place of K-Art in the World 25

Chapter Two

lEADING Figures in the K-Art scene

In this chapter, several of Korea’s most important contemporary artists will be introduced, followed by Korean artists attracting global attention. Korean contemporary art can be defined as a characteristically Korean art, formed through the transmission of Korean cultural traditions and the process of accepting Western art in modern times. Therefore, a key consideration in discussing Korean contemporary art and artists is the acquisition and pursuit of modernity. In other words, the history of Korean contemporary art documents the formation of visual symbols that represent Korean art and identity. In the true sense of the meaning, the contemporary Korean artist envisages a Korean modernism based on contemporary Western thinking, and strives to produce art while agonizing constantly over the relationships between the traditional and contemporary, and between the East and West.

Below are brief descriptions of key contemporary Korean artists who meet the above criteria.

Lee Seahyun. Between Red-155, 2012, How Art Museum, Shanghai

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 27

Hanguk-hwa, Korean Paintings During the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), the term dongyanghwa, (Eastern paintings) was used to refer to traditional brush paintings that reflected Asian views of the world and nature, made with ink and color on hanji, a traditional Korean paper made from mulberry trees. The Japanese used the term dongyang-hwa broadly to differentiate Japanese paintings from other Asian works. In the 1980s, Koreans began using the term hanguk-hwa, meaning Korean paintings, to refer to traditional Korean paintings. The Korean people’s collective desire for a classification that closely reflected national identity necessitated a term that separated Korean art from other Asian art. The term hanguk-hwa continues to be used for paintings that reflect the identity of Korean contemporary art while conveying the spirit and aesthetic of traditional Korean paintings and using traditional paper, ink, colors, and brushes.

The paintings of Chun Kyung-ja (1924– ) probably mark the beginning of Korean art that simultaneously portrays the modern individual and expresses the joys and sorrows of the Korean people. While expressing Korean sentiments, Chun’s paintings are thoroughly autobiographical, and her bold colors represent her emotions and psyche. The world of colors in traditional paintings had been limited to decorative or religious elements, but she uses colors to materialize the ego. The women that appear in Chun’s art are all variations of a self-portrait. With long faces and necks, slanted and glazed eyes, and flowers and snakes over their heads, the women’s expressions are lonesome, plaintive, and melancholy. The faces depicted by Chun narrate the colorful life story of a solitary yet proud woman. Chun’s paintings recover the content, meaning, and narratives neglected by modern art.

Chun Kyung-ja. Page 22 of My Sad Legend, 1977

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 29

Park Saengkwang (1904–1985) was one of the most important figures among Korean painters using traditional colors. In the 1980s, based on his exploration of ethnic heritage, Buddhism, shamanism, and historical portraits, Park began showcasing a distinctive style of painting, using forms and materials inspired by folk paintings, taenghwa (a type of Buddhist paintings; sans. thangka), and dancheong (multicolored patterns on traditional Korean wooden buildings). Until then, Korean contemporary art was often imitations of Western art, leaving aside the power of color

Buddhist, shamanist, and

and iconography and the spirit of traditional Korean art. Park rediscovered

folk paintings and tried to translate the public

Park Saengkwang. Shaman, 1982

sentiments and original styles found in those paintings into modern images. Recalling the charm and narrative of colors found in traditional art, his work resurrected the spiritual world from oblivion. Park’s paintings from the mid-1980s are decidedly some of the most remarkable achievements of Korean contemporary art.

Lee Ungno and Suh Se-ok used materials for traditional ink wash paintings to create a contemporary compositional system. Suh (1929– ) combined points, lines, and planes to create unknown languages and forms that hint at text and images while not being one or the other. His paintings are tidy, with simple lines and light colors filling the space. Line drawings, which are characteristic of Asian paintings, are the focal point of Suh’s paintings. Here the ink itself becomes the target of aesthetic exploration. Suh attempted to create atypical abstract paintings using only ink and controlling the speed of the brush, resulting in highly compressed and restrained compositions.

He believed that through such attempts, Asian paintings could follow current trends and be valued as contemporary abstract paintings.

30 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 31

Kim Ho Deuk. The Wave of Mind, 2009

Kim Ho Deuk (1952– ) materializes the energy and creative forces of

objects, keeping in mind the invisible energy of the universe. Rather than

nature through the effects of ink wash and powerful brushstrokes. His

following the traditions of Asian paintings to depict natural subjects, he

paintings, consistent images of haphazard brushstrokes in dark ink,

focuses on the spiritual connection between the artist and his subjects.

are born out of energetic experiments of the brush and ink. Through his

Kim’s paintings heighten the sensitivity and sharpen the mental acuity of

briliant control of the brush and the darkness of the ink, Kim reveals life

the viewer, offering an edifying as well as pleasurable experience.

force energy in his compositions. He seeks to commune with surrounding 32 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 33

Western Paintings Park Soo Keun (1914–1965) was a larger-than-life figure in Korean contemporary art. Park believed that above all things, art should depict the good-hearted and truthful nature of people. He painted the poorest people in the direst of situations, who were all around him. His paintings portray post-war Korean society in the 1950s and 60s, when almost everyone suffered economic hardship and poverty. He paid loving attention to the lives of people who were marginalized in the process of industrialization.

He chose children and women doing housework as his subjects. The entrance to the village and the side of the road, where Park’s subjects worked and played, corresponded to the artist’s living quarters. Park’s work is monotone and strongly resembles ink wash painting. For this reason, the artist himself said, “Frankly, my work should be considered Asian painting, even though I use oil paints.”

Lee Jung Seop (1916–1956) was a contemporary of Park Soo Keun who was best known for his paintings of bulls. To Koreans, the bull was the most precious animal, integral to farming, survival, and children’s learning.

To Lee, the bull represented the Korean people and his lost country and hometown. After Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule and during the Korean War, he projected onto the bull a man who failed to fulfill his role as a husband and the head of a family, a poignant, lonesome portrait of the artist himself. The bellowing, masculine and solitary bull of his paintings represent his misery. He is not simply reproducing the bull but expressing the observer's emotional state. Lee conveyed in his art the experience of living in a tempestuous era. Painting was a means for the artist to express his desperation.

The tradition of portraying the joys and sorrows of the common people Park Soo Keun. Tree and Two Women, 1962

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 35

Lee Jung Seop.

White Bull, 1954

continued until the 1980s. One artist directly influenced by this tradition was Oh Yoon (1946–1986). Oh was also influenced by the movement for national culture centered in university areas in the 1970s. He drew inspiration from traditional mask dance, pansori (tradtional Korean narrative music), folk songs, shamanism, folk art and crafts, and more.

Integrating forms of art that contemplated the reality facing the nation and forms of traditional culture, he created a sophisticated style of expression that portrayed the lives of the ordinary people in the language of ordinary, popular art. Oh sought to portray the lives of people in poverty and laborers amidst waves of industrialization and urbanization, and his concern for the people and their disintegrating traditions. Consequently, he strongly rejected the ideological and abstract styles of Korean modernist art. Relating strongly to traditional Korean culture and the immaterial expressed in ar t, Oh extracted a unique style Lee Jung Seop.

Three Children Playing with Fish, 1952~3

36 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

of forms and lines.

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 37

Oh’s woodblock prints are particularly well known for their evocative, powerful carved lines and was a crucial media for the people’s movement in the 1980s, heavily employed in various social messages and enlightenment campaigns.

While Oh Yoon’s art focused on the life and sorrow of the poor people of his time, the work of Shin Hak-Chul (1944– ) is a direct commentary on Korean politics. Shin believes that art must be connected to reality and society in some way. In thinking about the problems of reality and its representation, he chose to focus on photography as a media that portrays reality. Shin’s Contemporary Korean History series and his Modern Korean History series assemble images of real historical events to capture contemporary and modern Korean history, reflecting the artist’s unique interpretation and powerful imagination. In these masterpieces, Shin uses astute criticism to give shape to historical events, from the suffering of the Korean people under Japanese colonial rule to the independence movement, liberation, the Korean War, the division of the nation, political and social corruption in the post-war period, and the deluge of foreign culture. Shin uses photographic images as objet d’art, meticulously reassembling them to create a panoramic view of past events, memories, and history, invoking a surreal reincarnation of the past documented in pieces.

In the 1970s, one of the trends that permeated Western art circles of Korea was attempts to embrace the spirituality and essence of traditional Korean art within Western compositions and conceptual discourses on art. Using Western materials, painters created new styles through reinterpretation of landscapes that portrayed the Asian outlook on nature and Korean worldviews. A key figure among these painters was Chang Ucchin (1917– 1990).

Shin Hak-Chul. Modern History the Geumkang, 1996

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 39

Chang’s paintings correspond to the union with nature depicted in traditional landscape paintings. He sought otherworldliness through his depiction of nature and crosssections of human lives using extremely concise lines and forms.

His paintings are often described as having the most Korean or Asian aesthetic among all Western-style paintings produced in Korea. Using oil paints with high viscosity, Chang created images that look like ink-wash paintings, showing Korean sensibilities through Western materials. In this unique interpretation of the medium lies Chang’s excellence. His compositions are flat, with no change in depth. They exhibit a childlike innocence as well as the Asian emphasis on spirituality. Chang always painted man and nature, portraying people who wish to live in harmony with nature.

Abstractionism in Korea was characterized by the idea of adopting the style of Western art while staying rooted in Korean sentiments. One important abstract painter was Yoo Youngkuk

Yoo Youngkuk. Work, 64x90cm, 1993

(1916–2002), who painted mountains all his life. His mountain images were created by starting with a specific subject and simplifying it with the intention of extracting its essence. Yoo interpreted nature through strict geometric compositions and strong colors. The variations in strong colors and simple planes in his paintings hint at the convergence of traditional landscape paintings and Western modernist abstract art. Nature is reduced into symbols, and thick, even layers of paint are applied to the canvas with a knife to create planes of color. Through the contrast and balance of these planes, a harmonious image is created.

Chang Ucchin. Riverside Scenery, 1987

40 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 41

Yoon Hyong-keun. Umber16, 1991

Another key trend of Korean contemporary art was set by abstractions that aroused strong Asian sentiments and feelings while accepting the logic of contemporary Western art. This trend is exemplified by the work of Yun Hyong-keun (1928–2007). In the 1970s, he introduced paintings that divided the canvas vertically or horizontally to create space, and juxtaposed blue or dark brown planes that suggested abstruse transformations, using various elements such as calligraphic linear compositions, the smearing and spreading of ink wash, and contraction. Yun’s paintings, characterized by simple textures, large negative spaces, soft fields of colors, and strong black-and-white contrast, were praised for their style and depth, which differentiated his work from other monochrome paintings of the time. The dark colors in Yun’s paintings are reminiscent of the primal color scheme of nature, trees, soil, and stone. The term naturalism is typically used to describe Korean abstractionism, in which forms reveal their inherent vitality rather than reproducing or representing a subject.

42 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Song Hyun-sook. 8 Brushstrokes Over 1 Brushstroke II, 2004

Artist Lee Kangso (1943– ) followed Yun Hyong-keun’s footsteps.

Lee’s work is noted for suggestive forms that evoke motifs commonly found in traditional Asian paintings such as ducks, houses, mountains, and deer. These forms, created by the rapid motion of the brush, urge the viewer to contemplate on the relationship between material and image. Lee uses oil paint in shades of only white and light blue. Rather than depicting a specific subject, he seems content to let paint be paint. However, seemingly mindless brushstrokes suggest the shapes of houses, ducks, and mountains. These images vibrate between the abstract and the concrete. Lee’s conceptual paintings deliberate both traditional and contemporary issues, while addressing the problem of reproduction in contemporary art through a conscious negotiation between the abstract and the concrete.

Comparable to Lee Kangso’s works are the modernist paintings of Song Hyun-sook (1952– ), which utilize calligraphic techniques.

What seems like a few rapid movements of the brush done before the background paint dried suddenly reveal a stake, tiled roofs, earthenware, rubber shoes, a tiger, or bamboo. Another stroke of a wide, flat brush leaves the fine grain of fabric, which makes the stationary canvas tremble delicately. While these images seem associated with the reductionism of Western modernism, her calligraphic brushwork immediately recalls in the viewer’s mind the archetypal images at the base of the Korean subconscious. Song captures the indigenous sentiments from the memories of her youth simply and clearly, and the minimal traces of her brush pulsing with magic and spirit.

Lee Kangso.

From an Island-99165, 1999

K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 45

Rhee Kibong. No Air No Distance, 2010

Moon Beom (1955–), a prominent Korean abstract artist, advocates modernism as a “cultural consciousness movement rooted in Korean history and traditions.” Through the act of smearing pigment and floating across the surface of the canvas, Moon strives to arrive at a point between material properties and visual illusions. His works attempt to dismantle the dichotomy between subject and background, center and periphery by using a canvas altered to use all five sides. As Moon moves very slowly across the composition, rubbing oil stick onto the canvas, certain images rise up gradually like smoke. The canvas, which starts as a material, turns into a landscape, becomes flat again, and then is reborn as an image. These abstract forms, created with the hands, feel like a hallucination of a scene from a traditional landscape painting. The deep, mystical spaces created by free handing oil sticks are abstract, but they also seem to be telling a story.

Borrowing the codes of landscape, Moon enchants the viewer with fictional scenery and evokes the charm of paintings that has continued to this age.

Rhee Kibong (1957– ) creates sensuous compositions that are far Moon Beom. Slow, same, #5001, 2003

from typical. Rhee handles his medium with expertise in his conceptual works, which focus on “appearance and disappearance.” His work shows dreamlike scenes filled with fog, and there is no telling clearly whether they are real or fictional, painting or photography. One composition, with a large tree in the middle of thick fog, fills the space between the viewer and the subject with air, moisture, and a heavy feeling of lethargy and weariness.

Water droplets suspended in the atmosphere glimmer between the eye and the object, amplifying the distance between the visible and invisible.

It sparks vague memories from the past, confuses familiar sensations, and stimulates peculiar fantasies. The memories combine real and imaginary spaces, producing familiar yet alien emotions.

46 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 47

Noh Sangkyoon. The Whole Towards the Hole, 1998

Kim Hongjoo. Untitled, 143 x 146 cm, 2009

In a similar context, Noh Sangkyoon (1958– ) uses sequins to cover the

Kim Hongjoo (1945– ) is one of the most influential artists in Korea. He

canvas completely, presenting new possibilities for the world of visual

produces highly conceptual paintings that are unique explorations of form.

art. Instead of paint, he uses the unusual material made for fashion as

He uses traditional painting as a medium to paradoxically criticize the basic

his medium, arranging them densely on the canvas using silicon. Through

premise of painting: illusion. Because the artist does not consider painting

the endless, paranoid repetition of overlapping and spreading of a cheap

as a means of conveying meaning, he pays closer attention to the way he

readymade product, concentric circles are multiplied and separated to

paints than to what he paints. Kim underscores the attractiveness of form

create forms. In Noh’s works, splendor and lust, and decadence and

through the reproduction of his chosen subject, using fine brushwork

commercialism coexist. They are deeply layered with meaning; through

and stylized composition. However, the subject dissolves as the “vacuum

the meticulous process of attaching sequins to the surface one at a time,

of meaning” spreads with the fine brush strokes. The painted subject

the works break away from a modernist emphasis on flatness. It is also

becomes not an independent entity, but an assembly of countless brush

an escape from two-dimensionality that turns the surface into a grand

strokes. Through this process, reveals the estrangement of reality and

spectacle, and form the dichotomy of high-end and low-end art.

painted illusion.

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 49

witnessing maimed bodies that made these paintings possible.

Korea’s most influential conceptual artist is Bahc Yiso (1957–2004).

Bahc dealt sarcastically with the rootlessness of Korean contemporary art, its awkward relationship with Western art, and the resulting confusion about the identity of Korean art. He took a skeptical stance on the themes of the intersection of different cultures and cultural understanding. His masterpiece, called Simply Weeds, is painted not on traditional hanji but rather on plain paper. The picture displays on the canvas a crudely drawn orchid, the scribbled phrase “simply weeds,” and the artist’s chop, which is upside down. The work illustrates Bahc’s remarkable ability to caricature traditions that lack substance. After painting an orchid, the traditional subject of literati paintings, he jotted down the phrase “simply weeds” besides it. The mythicized orchid is suddenly downgraded to a Nam Kwan. Hallucination, 130.3x193.9cm, 1984

simple weed in this sharp criticism of the fallacy of the traditional “Four Gentleman” genre of painting, which Korean artists continue to blindly follow, believe in and replicate. Bahc’s work enabled Korean contemporary

The paintings of Nam Kwan (1911–1990) are exquisite yet restrained, expressing a meditative sense of space through abundant colors. Nam

art to address an entirely different kind of question and ultimately helped it advance to the next level.

found a spiritual expression in the cultural properties symbolizing Korea’s traditional culture, and he sought to combine this with Western abstract art. This could be dubbed “Koreanized abstractionism.” In Nam’s paintings, eerie shapes float in front of a mysterious blue background.

These shapes—which sometimes seem to be ancient letters, masks, and even the human body—are like constellations of stars twinkling in the night sky. The images, which also bring to mind groups of dismembered bodies, bodies that have been segmented and divided, exist within his memory: the bodies of the dead that he saw during the Korean War. Nam himself admitted that it was the awful trauma of the war and the shock of 50 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Bahc Yiso, Simply Weeds, 1987

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 51

Kwon Jinkyu, Pristess, 1967

Sculpture and Installation Art The Western concept of modern sculpture, including modeling of the human body, was largely absent in Korea until modern times. The contemporary Korean sculpture scene began when Kim Bok-jin returned from Japan in 1925 after learning Western sculpture techniques at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Although Kim made meaningful attempts such as combining Western methods and Buddhist sculptures, few pieces of sculpture produced during the Japanese colonial period were more than formal studies of Western art, most of them being small-scale head or bust sculptures.

In the 1960s, Kwon Jinkyu rose to prominence with his extraordinary body of work. He is recognized as one of the most influential sculptors in the history of modern and contemporary Korean sculpture. After a life filled with tragedy, Kwon took his own life. To him, sculpture was more than simply studying Western concepts of sculpture or modeling the human figure. Kwon sought to portray the depths of his inner world, introspection, and meditation through exploration of materials and the human figure. His work is infused with a strong sense of identity. In Kwon’s work, the artist finally becomes magnified as the main subject of his work and emerges as an object of exploration. While many artists of his time concentrated on new sculptural experiments, realistic delineations, or figurative sculpture focusing on technique, Kwon was interested in the psychological exploration of the self through sculpture.

Kwon Jinkyu, Black Cat, 1963

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 53

In particular, Kwon’s terra cotta figures create a singular world from the artist’s vision, creating an atmosphere of ascetic solemnness, eternity, meditation, and stillness.

Korean abstract sculpture was led by Kim Chong Yung (1915–1982), who is remembered as an educator and an austere artist. Kim concentrated consistently on abstraction, and his work placed emphasis on naturalness rather than artificial beauty. To remain close to nature, he used stone and wood as his main materials, minimizing their manipulation. He said, “Creation is not in my vocabulary. My sculptural world must exist as naturally as objects in nature.” Kim produced a body of work with strong, pure forms and textures out of various materials including wood, stone, and steel, and pioneered Korean abstract sculpture through his own aesthetic theory.

Sculpture followed a trend similar to painting in the 1960s, with abstract work forming the mainstream.

Works of sculpture produced before this period were not true abstraction but halffigurative. Most of the

Moon Shin. Ant, 25x127x15cm, 1970

works were voluptuous abstract sculptures,

sculptors sought to pioneer nonrepresentational aesthetics. They rejected

which limited detailed

outmoded and formulaic figure sculpture and promoted an experimental,

representation to express

avant garde consciousness. Moon Shin received attention in Europe for his

love or the beauty of the

abstract sculptures inspired by living forms. Moon’s work demonstrated

human figure through simple but

conciseness through play on symmetry and geometry. Park Chongbae,

sensual forms. In the 1960s, many

Chun Kuk-kwang, and others produced minimalist abstract sculpture.

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 55

The Korean sculptor receiving the most attention at present is Cheong Gwang Ho (1959– ). He solders thin wire to create large leaf forms. His lines melt into actual space, rather than being drawn on the surface of an opaque canvas, to represent imaginary space. Cheong’s sculptures work in combination with walls, space, rays of light, and shadows to alter the viewer’s visual experience in real time. Cheong’s works are painterly on the surface because they are made up of lines, but their undeniable material presence in space clearly makes them sculpture. Cheong’s sculptures form pictorial images as well as posess “thingness.” By denying concrete form, Cheong’s work questions the very existence of sculpture. It is not a simple rejection of sculpture, but the artist’s attempt to set his eyes on a wider horizon through a new form of sculpture.

Park Choong-Heum. Untitled, Marble, 5 pieces

Bae Hyungkyung. The Hard to Understand World 2, 2013

Numerous sculptors have made meaningful footprints on the contemporary history of Korean sculpture. Lee Seungtaek rejects previous concepts of sculpture, and worked in a new style he calls “half-sculpture.”

Cheong Gwang Ho. Pot, 2002 Leaf, 2000

Chung Kwan-mo uses Korean totem poles and folk objects in his works.

Park Choong-Heum’s environmental sculpture seeks to become one with nature through the harmony created between organic forms and surrounding space. Choi Insu focuses on the relationship between materials and environment. In the 1980s, the sculpture world began to showcase figurative sculptures that highlighted contradictions in society and human life. Artists such as Shim Jeong-soo, Hong Sunmo, Choi Byungmin, Bae Hyungkyung, and Ryu In rejected modernist sculpture of the past and have committed themselves to the exploration of realism, existentialism, social communication issues, and Korean identity.

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 57

Ahn Kyu-chul (1955– ) is another influential sculptor often discussed

One sculptor who stands out among young

alongside Cheong Gwang-ho. In a concrete and clear language of handmade

Korean sculptors is Ham Jin (1978– ). Ham is

objects, Ahn uncovers the divide between language and object and the divide

interested in the discovery and revelation of

among objects. He makes unlikely combinations of concepts, including

invisible things, thus his sculptures focus

the volition to criticize reality, the sculptural characteristics of handmade

on the invisible and the immaterial;

objects, and linguistic concepts. His peculiar synthesis of understated styles

they are not deterministic forms or

and novel content is conceptual as well as lyrical. Ahn’s work consistently

masses. His sculptures hint at the

contains criticism of reality, literary sensitivity, confessional contemplation,

unknowable; they are imaginative non-

and minimal yet stylish expressions. He creates montages of ideas,

sculptural installations. Ham strategically

conventions, and languages of society, urging introspection by the viewer.

reduces the presence of the sculpture and intentionally rejects definitive forms, pursuing changeable or flowing states, submitting to the law of gravity, allowing his subjects to identify with other objects. Ham’s work focuses on existence rather than material properties, and is not limited to visual effects, but communicates closely with the human body, focusing on the existence rather than the material properties of his subjects. His work can be described as a disturbance, c a u s e d by a f o re i g n material entering a space and reacting with invisible exterior tensions and the unseen elements filling the space.

Ahn Kyu-chul. Love of a Hammer, 1991

58 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Ham Jin. Planet, 2012

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 59

Hong Myung-Seop. Running Railroad, 1982

Hong Myung-Seop (1948– ) entered the Korean sculpture scene in the

viewer’s familiar bodily experience, causing sensory confusion. Not only do

1980s, showcasing unusual installations. He enlightened the Korean public

his installations overturn the ritualistic custom of viewing artwork, they trip

to installation art through his sophisticated work. Hong’s first installation

up the senses through which man understands the world.

was Running Railroad, in which he put black tape up in the exhibition

Lee Bul (1964– ) is a world-renowned artist who is drawing attention

space. This is the piece that best captures the essence of installation art.

for her original sensibilities and unique views on art. Lee’s major works

The black tape on the walls of the gallery runs in straight, horizontal lines,

include Majestic Splendor, an installation of rotting fish encrusted with

rather like train tracks. The exhibit contains nothing but black tape, but the

jewels, showcased at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In time, the

black lines on the white walls instantaneously unify the floor and walls and

fish decomposed and reeked of decay. In an exhibition space which places

evoke the image of a train racing along the tracks. All that Hong did was

emphasis on sight, a non-visual sense is enlisted as the decisive factor

apply some tape. And yet, this brought the whole exhibition space within

for perception. The display of the rotting process of adorned fish distorts

the domain of his artwork and gave a new sense of pleasure to those who

the viewer’s perception of beauty and ugliness. The perversely adorned

came within that domain. Hong’s work obstructs or interferes with the

“grotesque” body loses its original form and exists primarily as a foul smell that reminds the viewer of carcass.

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 61

A contemporary of Lee Bul, Choi Jeong Hwa (1961– ) is a leading installation artist representing Korean contemporary art. Active since the end of the 1980s, Choi is acclaimed for his novel approaches, unusual media, and original ideas. He collects, combines, and rearranges the complex and diverse visual images of modern mass society to arrive at his hodgepodge, chaotic aesthetic. Choi applies the codes of modern mass society to art, blurring the lines between high-end and low-end products, and between art and commerce, while challenging the boundaries of contemporary art. His starting point has consistently been the chaos and contradictions found in the modernization process of Korean culture.

Through the repetitive spreading or piling of archetypal objects of modern mass production such as plastic baskets, synthetic vinyl, aluminum pots, and bath scrubbers, Choi uses irony to expose the falsity of modernization in Korea, with its soaring materialism, speed, and expansion. His work magnifies the situation wherein remnants of tradition and coarse kitsch culture coexist, exposing the superficiality of the illusion of modernization and desire for it.

Choi Jeong Hwa. Kabbala, Daegu, 2013 62 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 63

Oh Hein-kuhn, BY23,1996~2004

photographers returning from their study overseas after the opening of the cultural market and the liberalization of overseas travel in 1989. The effect of this exhibition spread rapidly among the large number of photography majors and contemporary photographers. Without being bound by the traditions and rules of photography, leading photographers of this period sought to find subjects and methods of expression in reality, daily life, and the abundant records of the past. This trend formed a new independent pedigree of Korean photographers in the 1990s. Photography accounts for a significant proportion of the numerous exhibitions around Korea. This medium is prominent among special exhibitions, and the importance of photographs is growing as a commodity in art markets.

The nature and landscape photography of Bae Bien-U and Min Byunghun Min Byunghun. DF040BHM, 1998

Photography

conjure peculiar sentiments. Kim Jang-sup’s photographs stimulate the viewer’s senses through split compositions and overwhelming mass, and contrast the permanence of images as art and the finite nature of

It was not until the late 1980s that modern Korean photography took shape,

printed photographs as material. Chung Dong Suk and Kang Yong Suk

separating itself from amateurism and realism. In 1988, about 150 years

explore the reality of the division of the Korean Peninsula, and Chung Chu

after the invention of photography, the first signs of modern photography

Ha’s landscapes show a unique interpretation of Korean views on nature

appeared in Korea. The exhibition entitled Photography: A New Perspective

through the original nature of photography, presenting the surface layer of

was held at the Walker Hill Art Center in Seoul. This event cast light on the

objects and phenomena. Oh Hein-kuhn manipulates texture and depth to

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 65

create unique portraits, calling the viewer’s attention to the original nature of photography that presents only the surface layer of objects and phenomena.

One major phenomenon observed since the mid-1990s has been the rise of female photographers. Lee Sunmin’s snapshots of family life make sharp inquiries into women’s lives and family systems in Korean society.

Kim Oksun’s photographs reflect on women’s bodies distorted by the male gaze. In these photos, nude models pose in their real living quarters and stare directly at the camera. Kim went on to photograph interracial couples and explore homes with a stranger’s gaze.

Her work has been received favorably for her colorful documentation of contemporary lives on the fringes. The works of Korean female photographers have in common a criticism of the social hierarchy, which has been institutionalized by men. Female photographers who are in the spotlight include Lee Jungjin, whose simple, restrained blackand-white photography captures everyday objects in poetic and suggestive language, and Debbie Han, who satirizes the uniform Kim Oksun. Candie and Ray, 2002

aesthetic senses and values of Korean women.

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 67

Gwon Osang, Gwon Jeong Jun and Yoo Hyun Mi are photographers who are expanding the boundaries of the art through original concepts and artistic methods. Gwon Osang (1974– ) brings photography into space by piecing photographs together into three-dimensional sculpture.

Gwon brought into question the materials used in sculpture and their properties in 1998 with the showcasing of Deodorant Type, which began as an exploration of “light sculpture.” Deodorant Type is a series of photosculptures created by attaching photographs to the surface of forms carved out of light materials, such as styrofoam. Gwon’s photo sculpture drew much attention for achieving three-dimensionality using two-dimensional materials. Rather than simply recording or representing a subject, he questions the medium of photography itself. Gwon deals with the sensory experience altered by the processes of photography, transferring concrete reality onto a flat surface. He crosses the border between photography and sculpture, at the same time embracing both genres in elaborate presentations that unleash the curious charm of photography.

Gwon Jeong Jun. A Spread Apple 03, 60x90cm, 2008

68 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Gwon Osang, Error, 2005

Yoo Hyun Mi’s work not only crosses but also hybridizes genres. The three genres of sculpture, painting, and photography are fused together in a way that they reference and conceal one another, while colluding with one another. Yoo begins her work in the world of concrete objects and facts, from which she produces dreamlike, poetic images. She first fixes various everyday objects with plaster bandages, and then places the resulting three-dimensional sculpture in an artificial space (the artist’s studio). Finally, she captures the image in a painting or a photograph.

Objects turn into sculpture, which turns into a painting or a photograph. In the end, they are all combined into one image. The artist goes through the processes of traditional sculpture and painting to imitate their effects, and then reproduces the resulting image in photographs. Yoo demonstrates the Jung Yeondoo. Bewitched #6, 2002, Courtesy of the artist

Yoo Hyun Mi. Pomegranate (Still Life series), 2007

process wherein different situations and genres come together to be reborn as creative images.

There are numerous examples of production photography. Jung Yeondoo asks sociological questions and tears down the boundary between reality and imagination with photographic images based on a series of role-plays.

Won Seong Won’s fantastic landscapes tacitly show the hidden oppression and suppressed desires of reality. Despite being manipulated by Photoshop, Won’s surreal digital photographs have an analog feeling. Selfportraiture is another notable category. Lee Sang Hyun presents images of cross-dressers, indicating that man and woman are merely names of identities that societies, institutions, and customs require of individuals.

Lee’s self-portraits imply that only when one can distance himself or herself from externally prescribed identities, such as gender, can he or she identify with his or her true self that is neither man nor woman.

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 71

Similarly, Joseub satirizes

Showcasing her work in the U.S. and Korea, Nikki S. Lee (Lee Seung-

warped social conditions

hee) inserts herself in the lives of people in various subcultural layers of

through photomontages of

society in a series of fictional situations. Lee commands a multiplex of

himself. The photographer’s

makeup, dress-up, disguise, and camouflage for her photographs. She

scorn for distorted history

communicates that the ego is reborn at each moment in a different context.

and twisted phenomena is felt

The concept of multilayered ego resembles nomadism in that it rejects

through the narratives in his

the desire of the institution to control the individual by assigning a fixed

images. Joseub is a brilliant

form. Each of her imitations portrays a group of people who form a special

director and he employs his

realm with different values and standards. Lee’s images earnestly depict

talent to extract the most

the identity issues of an artist living abroad and the nomadism of a person

dramatic scenes from stories

roaming the world.

and events, overcoming the limits of still images. Joseub contemplates the nature of Korean society and reflects on the non-autonomous views of history instilled in the collective mind.

By remaking political and historical events, he ruminates on the barbarism overlooked by the common sense of the past. The exaggerated gestures and expressions of the artist in the pictures and the intentionally crude presentation hint at the ubiquity of certain occurrences in history. Joseub familiarizes the events people label as past or sufferings of others by neutralizing them through humor.

The Korean world of photography is rapidly being changed by the younger generation of photographers. Korean photographers’ presence is growing overseas. Key figures active abroad include Nikki Lee in New York, Chun Kyungwoo in Europe, and Atta Kim, the only Korean photographer to be invited to the Bienal de São Paulo.

72 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Nikki S. Lee. The Hispanic Project (25). 1998

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 73

Star Artists Attracting Global Attention Since the opening of the cultural market in the late 1980s, Korean contemporary art has grown qualitatively and quantitatively through increased exposure to Western art and an inflow of diverse information.

After many artists returned from overseas study in the 1990s, Korean artists joined the ranks of contemporary global artists. Korea produced many international star artists, who rose to fame with original thoughts on art, unique grammar, and distinguished styles, adding a Korean flavor to the contemporary Western language and discourse on art. Up-and-coming artists were discovered in great numbers through large-scale international exhibitions, including the Gwangju Biennale, the Busan Biennale, and Mediacity Seoul, and special exhibitions planned by museums, alternative spaces, and galleries, resulting from curatorial advancements. Rather than using their Korean identity to differentiate themselves, most of these artists treated their Korean identity as an inherent part of their nature, as they processed their inner world in their artwork with a deep understanding of global sensibilities and the international language. These artists are active in the mainstream global art world and are recognized for their individual talents. Below are brief descriptions of Korean artists who are recognized throughout the global art world.

Kim Whanki (1913–1974) was one of the first Korean artists to elevate Korean contemporary art to global standards. He is an important figure in the history of Korean contemporary art who discovered the potential of Korean abstract art and modernism. Kim strove to express Korean sentiments in abstract paintings throughout his life. His formal sensibility and artistic goals have formed the basis of Korean contemporary art. In the beginning, he chose traditional Korean objects as the subject of his Kim Whanki. 16-IV-70 #166 (Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again series), 1970

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 75

paintings and expressed the spirit and sentiments of traditional literati

starting a new current in media art. Rather than trying to deny or destroy

paintings on textured two-dimensional surfaces. In his later works, Kim

the power of television, he altered the system of television to turn it into

interpreted the ink wash medium into complete abstraction, a beautiful

an implementation for communication or a meditative being. He treated

embroidery of colors that expresses the sentiments found throughout

technology and media as materials that stimulate artistic sensibilities and

Korea’s nature. His meditative paintings are representative of Eastern

allow sculptural experimentation as well as philosophical contemplation.

and Korean aesthetic sense. Although the artist has long been deceased, Kim Whanki’s work continues to receive much attention from the world of abstract painting.

Paik Nam June (1932–2006) was a globally renown pioneer of video art.

In the early 1960s, Paik manipulated the television to pervert the unilateral control of information in commercial broadcasting and transformed the televisions in his work into objects of exclusive possession and private enjoyment. After 1965, Paik utilized the newly developed VCR in his art,

Paik Nam June. Electronic Superhighway, 1995

76 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Lee Ufan. From Line, 1977

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 77

Lee Ufan (1936– ) is highly regarded in Asia as well as in the West. He

absorbed into an infinite world. His work depicts the mutual interference

sharply criticizes the egocentric nature of Western modernism and seeks

between the visible world and invisible world. It combines Western

to derive new visual expressions from Eastern philosophy. To Lee, painting

materials with Asian thoughts. Lee is acclaimed for creating a space

is where the ego meets the world. He insists that the moment his brush

through painting and sculpture wherein the ego and the object correspond

touches the surface and creates points and lines, the moment stone is

and interpenetrate each other, contrasting Western rationalism.

placed on steel plate, a new meeting occurs, and individual beings are

Kim Dong-Yoo (1965– ) gained international fame in global auctions and art fairs. Kim criticizes frontality in art and questions the concept by summoning images and forms. Kennedy, one of Kim’s major works, is a peculiar composition that simultaneously shows multiple images in a single composition. To view this painting, the viewer must move around in front of the painting and forget what he sees from moment to moment. This unconventional method of viewing produces a wavering visual experience quite different from the experience of viewing images from a fixed point and giving absolute authority to one subject. While Kim reiterates the painting’s strict dependence on sight, he also demonstrates the subjective and uncertain basis of visual perceptions.

Lee Seahyun (1967– ) works in a style that is a composite of traditional Korean landscape painting and Western landscape painting. In format, Lee’s paintings resemble traditional landscape paintings, but they differ from traditional paintings in overall composition and employ multiple viewpoints and moving perspectives. Synthesizing photographic images of Korean mountains, Lee creates extraordinary red landscapes. To Koreans, red is a color that drives away evil spirits and associated with death. After the Korean War and the separation of the two Koreas, red became a taboo color because of its association with communism. Through its various social implications, red dramatically expresses the artist’s emotions and

Lee Seahyun. Rainbow, 200 x 200cm, 2012

78 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

his vision of utopia. The color is also the most appropriate tool for showing

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 79

and images of white porcelain ware. Kim Sooja is known for her traveling installations of colorful traditional fabrics that double as women’s purses.

Suh Do Ho (1962– ) deals with culture shock, identity issues, and relationships between individuals and society and between nation and ethnicity. Suh reinterprets size and proportion in each project, challenging the viewer’s perspective, while at the same time seeking close communication with him. He recreates his childhood home in calico and builds armor from dog tags. Although he draws inspiration from the most private experiences, the depth of his contemplation gives his private acts cosmic meaning. Since Suh first drew attention at the 49th Venice Biennale, many institutions, including the Whitney Museum, New York Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern in London, Hayward Gallery, Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, and Mori Art Museum, have added his work to their collections.

Suh Do Ho. Seoul Home/Seoul Home/Kanazawa Home, 2012 Kang Ik-joong. Things I Know, 2010

the hidden side of the division between South Korea and North Korea, and the disappearing natural landscape. The “symbolic world” that reflects the subconscious overlaps artfully with ideals immanent in traditional landscape paintings, displaying a complex landscape of utopia and dystopia.

Kang Ik-joong (1960– ) and Kim Sooja (1957– )are globally recognized artists based in New York. These nomadic artists have played key roles in exposing to the international art world the aesthetic sensitivity and artistic creativity of the Korean people. Kang’s compositions are created by connecting countless small canvases on which he paints various symbols 80 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 81

and contemplation. His two-dimensional paintings allow the mind to wander, sparking the imagination and conjuring dreams.

Yeesookyung (1963– ) is one of the most distinguished young Korean artists active today. One of her best-known works, Translated Vase, shows compassion for existence. She binds together pieces of broken pottery abandoned at kiln sites to create new pottery. The process of gluing pieces together with epoxy and gold powder is a reference to new flesh forming as a wound heals. The pieces of pottery, when glued together, form an unexpected structure that resembles a cellular organism m u l t i p l y i n g indefinitely.

Lee Sang Nam. Landscapic Algorithm (Two telescopes), 2009, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art

Lee Sang Nam (1953– ) works under an unimaginably labor-intensive preliminary process. Lee covers a wooden panel with reinforcing agent, then repeatedly spreads acrylic paint or lacquer and sands it down, fifty to a hundred times, to create paint layers. The black background created by many layers of lacquer paint is denser and darker than ordinary black paint.

Lee’s paintings in black and white are landscapes of symbols and codes. He hopes that his work will encourage the viewer to enter a state of meditation 82 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Yeesookyung.

Translated Vase, 2012

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 83

Shin Meekyoung (1967– ) is another young prominent artist inspired by the concept of "translation" but produces a completely different interpretation as she attempts to “translate” existing cultural products into sculpture using soap as the medium. She uses an everyday material to recreate artifacts from the East and West, including ancient Greek sculpture, images of bodhisattvas, and traditional Chinese pottery, commenting on issues of interpenetration and transfer of culture among civilizations, originality, and reproduction. Shin alludes to the transient nature of time by using an ephemeral material. The scent of soap emphasizes the divide between image and reality. These pieces become artifacts as they are displayed in a gallery space. Shin pays attention to the temporal and spatial Shin Meekyoung. Ghost Series, 2011

gaps created as these as artifacts travel from place to place.

Kim Beom (1963– ) is a conceptual artist who uses ready-made objects and installations, contemplating the relationship between object and text, and plays on words. With a remarkable imagination and an uninhibited gaze, Kim pleasingly crosses the boundaries of conventional perceptions in art to create unexpected forms and objects.

Shin Meekyoung. Translation Series, 2010

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 85

Choi Jeong Hwa (1961– ) was earlier mentioned as an installation artist but he is not limited to the field, often working as a graphic designer or interior designer.

Humorous, ambitious and spectatular, he is a favorite of biennale exhibitions and frequently invited to represent Korea in international exhibitions.

Yoo Geuntaek (1965– ) is one of the few artists recognized internationally for works using Eastern painting media. He sublimates the issue of tradition in his own lexicon, seeking universality in painting language. Yoo’s iconic paintings, created through sophisticated control of the brush, colors, and ink, are the hard-earned result of the artist’s stubborn experimentation to find out whether traditional ink wash can be established as an effective medium for contemporary art.

While all of the above artists utilize the spirit and materials of Korean cultural traditions, these elements are dissolved naturally in the medium and direction of their art, rather than being exposed compulsively. The naturalistic, meditative, and contemplative qualities of their work and their expertise in handicraft distinguish these Korean artists from others. While working in the universal language of contemporary art, these artists work in ways that hint at Asian cultural traditions and the spiritual world, bringing the viewer’s attention to the intersection of Eastern and Western culture.

Yoo Geuntaek. Night, 2005

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Chapter Three

History of K-Art

After a long period of confinement, Korean contemporary art finally began to be introduced to the world in the wake of the government’s import and travel liberalization policies in the 1980s. With the art scene much invigorated after the hosting of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the following decade came alive with young artists and the postmodernism debate.

The 1990s were truly a revolutionary era of cultural evolution. Korean contemporary art made giant leaps forward, riding on the art market boom, and inspired by the hope for a new type of art and the rigorous experimentation that it would engender. Even the Asian financial crisis of 1997 did nothing to dampen this boom, as the art world flourished from the sudden influx of artists returning home from their studies abroad.

Their novel sensibilities and original styles lifted Korean contemporary art.

In time, these conditions gave rise to artists with flair and contemporary sophistication, and Korean contemporary art began to change. The second chapter of this book discusses the history of Korean art, from its traditional roots to art from the 2000s, the latter being the greater focus.

Hwang Chang-Bae. Untitled,130 x 95cm, 1986

History of K-Art 89

A rubbing of Bangudae Petroglyphs in Ulsan, National Treasure No. 285

The Characteristics of Traditional Korean Art Korea boasts a long history, and so does its art. Rock carvings from

artifacts are embellished with simple but strong lines and fraught with the

the prehistoric era, such as the Bangudae Petroglyphs, are a type of

mysterious beauty of primitive incantations. All are repositories of boundless

Gesamtkunstwerk (artwork produced by a synthesis of various art forms)

formative possibilities for Korean contemporary art.

In the late 4th century A.D., after the mythical ages dominated by

that contains a mix of various elements: world views, songs and dances, and human-animal

shamanism, Buddhism crept in by way of China, and religion finally

connections. Janmunigeoul (Bronze Mirror

came to be a significant force in Korea. Ancient Koreans enlightened

with Fine Linear Design) created in the 4th

their world views through the prism of religion, and the resulting moral

century B.C., has a diameter of 21.2 cm and

awakening contributed much to Korea’s social and spiritual maturation.

a thickness of 0.3 mm. Patterned on its back

From the period of the Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje

are 13,000 concentric circles, an abstraction of

(57–668 A.D.) to the end of the Goryeo Dynasty in 1392, Buddhism was

the sun and the universe. Numerous other ancient

the most dominant religion on the Korean Peninsula, and consequently,

90 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Janmunigeoul, 4th century B.C., Korean Christian Museum at Soongsil University

History of K-Art 91

Gumdongdaehyangro, 7th century, Buyeo National Museum, National Treasure No. 287

Buddhist artwork made up the majority of the art of that

the main Buddha statue within the Grotto, elegantly captures the faith’s

time. Goguryeo, which had accepted Chinese culture

spiritual complexity.

ahead of the other two kingdoms, and produced its

Under Goryeo (918–1392)rule, during which Buddhism was still the state

own highly developed and creative art form, had a

religion, the Tripitaka Koreana, Goryeo Buddhist paintings, and Goryeo

great effect on the arts of Silla, Baekje, and also

celadon embodied the Buddhist aesthetic and perfected techniques.

Japan. A representative Goguryeo art piece,

In particular, Chungja Sanggam Unhakmun Maebyeong (Blue Porcelain

Yeongachilnyeonmyoung Geumdongyeoraeipsang

Prunus Vase Inlaid with Crane & Cloud Pattern), an understated celadon

(Standing Gilt-bronze Buddha with Inscription of

piece with a subtle green-blue background inlaid with only essential

the Seventh Year of the Yeonga Era), was heavily

details, is highly symbolic of spiritual enlightenment.

inspired by medieval China, but nonetheless

The Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), which followed Goryeo, was dictated

created with the features typical of ethnic Korean

by Confucianism, and its strict hierarchical society that saw its art

identity. Unlike Goguryeo art, which conveyed a

stratified for the different classes. The scholars of the ruling yangban

strong sense of rhythm and movement, Baekje art

class created many works of poetry, calligraphy, and painting, as did

portrayed a soft human beauty. Key examples

the painters of Dohwaseo (Royal Academy of Painting), who were true

include Gumdongdaehyangro (Large Gilt Bronze

to Confucian principles. Ahn Gyeon’s Mongyudowondo

Incense Burner) and Seosanmaaesamjonbul

(Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land),

(Rock-carved Triad Buddha). Silla, on the other

true view landscape paintings such as Jeong

hand, was renowned for its metalwork,

Seon’s Geumgangjeondo (Painting of

with Geumgwanchong Geumgwan (Golden

Geumgangsan), and calligraphic paintings

Crown found in Golden Crown Tomb) being its

such as Kim Jeonghui’s Sehando (Landscape in

most famous legacy, and Bangasayusang (Gilt-bronze Pensive Maitreya)

Winter) are excellent in their spatial composition

its most widely recognized Buddhist icon. The latter is an exceptional

and use of expressive techniques. Joseon

representation of the bodhisattva agonizing over the question of

portraits, a masterpiece among which is Yun Du-

mankind’s redemption.

seo’s Jahwasang (Self-portrait), are widely praised

In 668, Silla conquered the other two kingdoms and ushered in the

for their excellent representation of their subjects’

period of the Unified Silla, when Buddhist art reached its peak. The

inner worlds, and remain as reminders of kings

Seokguram Grotto is a masterpiece of that period, and is considered to

and ministers of the past. Also famous are Joseon

be the greatest example of Buddhist art in Korea. Its piece-de-resistance,

baekja (white porcelains of Joseon), which in their

92 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Kim Hongdo, Mudong (Dancing Boy), 18th century, National Museum of Korea

Baekja Kkeunmunui Byeong (White Porcelain Bottle with Rope Design in Underglaze Iron-brown), 16th century, National Museum of Korea, Treasure No. 1060

white color and simple forms embody the values pursued by the scholars of the time: moderation and spiritual transcendence. On the other hand, Shin Yunbok and Kim Hongdo, while affiliated with Dohwaseo, are famous for their realistic depictions of the daily life of ordinary people. The works of the court painters of the Joseon Dynasty and minhwa (Joseon era folk paintings) by commoners are full of satire, natural beauty, and iconography, reflecting the traditional belief of praying for good fortune.

Above all, the defining characteristic of traditional Korean art is simplicity. At its core, its sense of aesthetics is guided by philosophical reflection from living in harmony with nature, a belief in following the natural order of things, and the rejection of avarice. The result is that works of this period are unified by a natural elegance; these traditions have been handed down to Korean contemporary art.

94 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Yun Du-seo, Jahwasang, 1710, Goshan Yun Seondo’s Memorial Museum, National Treasure No. 240

The Origins of Contemporary Art (1910s–1950s) The term misul, meaning fine art, was coined at the turn of the 20th century. During the Korean Enlightenment, the 19th century European concept of fine art was imported. While it was welcomed as a fruit of modernity, this acceptance was limited in its scope. Certainly, artistic practices based on the traditional outlook of the universe, the world, and History of K-Art 95

nature existed in Korea before Western civilization knocked on its door,

a r t i s t s t o b e g i n Ko r e a n -

but these practices were entirely disparate from the Western concept of

style art education, thereby

fine art. The introduction of fine art concerned not only form and style, but

attempting to eradicate the

an entirely new world view.

effects of colonization.

More specifically, Korean modern art was a transition from traditional

While the remnants of

painting and calligraphy to the Western, modern sense of art. With the

Japanese influence persisted,

emergence of Western art, traditional Eastern painting became relegated to a

through the onslaught of

genre and was subsumed by art as a whole. Modern art in the West emerged

Western, and predominantly

as a self-conscious search for identity, but for Korea, this was not the case.

American ar t, the Korean

Effectively, Korea was on the horns of an identity dilemma, of whether to

art scene gradually became

accept modern art and abandon its traditional identity. Even in such difficult

enraptured by abstract art. At

circumstances, however, artists appeared and left important footprints. Some

the time, abstract art equaled

examples are Lee In-sung, whose oil paintings illustrated the bucolic charms

global and modern art. As

of Joseon and the difficult lives of its women.

independence was immediately followed by the establishment of a bilateral

Byun Gwan-sik and Lee Sang-beom adapted

military alliance and subsequent military bases, American culture played a

traditional landscape painting techniques

very steady and far-reaching role in the formation of Korean culture. For this

to show the characteristics and ambience of

reason Westernization came to be equated with Americanization in Korea.

Korea’s natural wonders.

This mini-boom in art was short-lived, however, and was soon squelched

In 1945, Korea was liberated from Japan’s

by the outbreak of the Korean War. Countless artists went to war as

colonial rule, and thus Korean contemporary

military painters, and were either killed in battle or kidnapped by North

art finally began. Independence demanded

Korea. Thus, Korean art had to wait until the end of the war for its day in

the building of an identity. Above all,

the sun.

the drive was to remove the vestiges of academism brought in during Japanese rule, revive lost traditions, and build Korean national art. Thus in 1946, the nascent government founded two art colleges at Ewha Womans University and Seoul National University, and sought to create conditions for Korean 96 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

The Advent of Abstract Art (1960s–1970s) It is commonly believed that Korean contemporary art began in the late 1950s, after the end of the Korean War. The time thereafter, when Western influence was full-fledged, was marked by the adoption of Western

History of K-Art 97

Youn Myeungro. Ollejit_86-626, 1986, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

Park Seo-bo. Ecriture (描法 ) No. 120715, 2012

ideologies. When the dust of the war had settled, there began a movement

contemporary art. Abstraction was the spiritual reaction to a defining

against Daehanminguk Misul Jeonramhoe (Korea Arts Exhibition, often

social current, and Art Informel, its offspring. From then on, abstract art

abbreviated as Gukjeon), which was basically an extension of Japanese

became a field of its own, and many organizations of the 1960s borrowed

academism. The objection to Gukjeon was two-fold: 1) opposition to the

from and imitated art trends in the West. Still, Korean art was often a mere

institution and the people behind it, and 2) an objection to its proposed

adaptation of Western styles rather than the full mastery of those forms.

direction for art.

Key Art Informel artists of this period include Park Seo-bo, Youn Myeungro,

Art Informel was the alternative to academism. As a form of abstract painting, Art Informel was not interested in the recreation of an object, but

Chung Chang-sup, Kim Juyoung, Ha Chong-hyun, and sculptor Choi Man Lin.

aimed to maximize the materiality of paint and boldly assert the physicality

The tide turned in the 1970s, when the pursuit of Western materialism

of the painter, while dealing with the young generation’s existential

began to be questioned. The result was a return to Eastern philosophy,

anguish and frustrations with the establishment. Art Informel, which was

and a demand for the development of national culture. Artists sought to

originally the name given to post-war Western Europe’s formless painting,

repair the identity of Korean art, which had eroded as a result of the earlier

came to represent opposition to Korea’s existing art forms, Gukjeon, and

view of Westernization as modernization, through the renewal of the

its preferred style of formal representational painting, and the established

Eastern concepts of nothingness (無) and emptiness (空), and the Joseon

art scene in general. Hence, abstract art took form in the 1960s, this time

preference for the color white. This coincided with a prominent style in the

becoming the turning point for Korean modern art’s transformation into

West, monochrome painting, which led to in Korean monochrome painting.

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History of K-Art 99

Korean contemporary art of the 1970s reached its zenith with the Korean monochrome painting movement. The results became evident in countless smaller movements, as well as larger ones, such as the Salon des IndĂŠpendants. Around the world, minimalism was the order of the day, and monochrome painting was in line with this trend. In the late 1970s, monochrome painting became increasingly popular, led by Lee Ufan, who applied Eastern philosophy to Korean minimalism. While this allowed globalization of Korean art to a degree, the collectivizing effect of the movement caused art to be fairly standardized. Dozens of Korean monochrome painters, including Yoon Hyong-keun, Chung Sanghwa, Lee Dong-youb, and Choi Myung-yeong, participated in large-scale domestic exhibitions and participated in international exhibitions. With the theoretical support of such critics as Lee Yil and Oh Kwang-su, these artists rose to mainstream prominence in Korean contemporary art, exerting great influence on the work of their contemporaries.

Thus, minimalism and monochrome painting clearly represented the art world’s ethos at the time. While minimalism in the West evoked a clear social argument, its Korean counterpart lacked such a concept. The deconstruction of minimalism in the West resulted in the pinpointing of the inherent problems with modernism. In Korea, the effect was a focus on formalism, and conversely the conceptual reinforcement of modernism.

Such a movement was quite appropriate for the political climate of the time, with Korea under military authoritarian leadership, as the focus on form, not content, could essentially separate the artist from the artwork.

Chung Sang-hwa.

Untitled 80-2-14, 1980

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History of K-Art 101

concentrating on the few consumers of their work, aligned their social identity with their individual identity, and based their citations on their personal experiences. Previously overlooked subjects such as national sentiment, social criticism, and the desire for reunification came into focus. New paintings no longer subscribed to the binary of traditional or modern and the East or the West, but tried to reconcile the two. Whereas art movements prior to the 1980s were focused inwards around variations on a theme and formalism, the art of the new decade delved into Korea’s social realities and national identity.

Minjung Art (the people’s art movement) of the 1980s was the Kang Yo-bae, Maparam (South Wind), 1992

culmination of this trend. The Minjung Art Movement began with a small group in the early 1980s, centered on the National Art Association,

The Search for Koreanness (1980s) From the 1980s, Korean art started to ponder art’s greater narrative, and speak out on the reality of the times and the lives of artists. With this trend, art grew to communicate with the public and ruminate on changing circumstances and the choice of media. The big issue was to search for Korean content and form. The art world came to realize the harm of focusing on the mere adaptation of Western art, and the resultant gap with the average citizen. This caused many artists to seek a Korean identity through the medium of traditional Korean culture. Artists began to reinterpret Western art with the knowledge that Korean contemporary art should not be a carbon copy of Western art. They sought a method of inventing contemporary art that was uniquely Korean, while contemplating on the nature of art that reflected the specific social conditions of the time.

In the 1980s, the social identity of art began to be expressed and accepted. Artists identified with the larger public, rather than 102 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

founded in 1985. At first, it was a movement against institutionalized art, and either self-consciously revealed the artist’s personal life or picked a popular subject and represented it in various forms.

Using a creative method grounded in realism, it tried to tell stories through sensuous methods that accurately reflected people’s lives. These tendencies of Minjung Art stemmed from the effort to inspire conversations regarding social realities. Key artists of this period include Western-style painters Oh Yoon, Ahn Chang Hong, Lim Ok Sang and Kang Yo-bae; Eastern-style painters Park Saengkwang, Hwang Chang-Bae, Kim Ho-Suk, and sculptors Shim Jeong-soo, Choi Byungmin, and Kim Kwang-Jin. The Minjung Art Movement of the 1980s declined in the 1990s, when postmodernism grew highly influential.

This new movement gave birth to unprecedented styles, and was led by young artists with fresh sensibilities.

The Age of Postmodernism and Pluralism (1990s–present) The early 1990s was a tumultuous time of global changes, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, election of the Kim Young-sam administration, and the advancement of globalization. With economic growth and consumer culture at their peak, the interest and desire for art and culture became stronger than ever. In conjunction with liberalization of foreign travel and markets, Korean artists participated in a great number of domestic and international exhibitions. As a result, art in Korea began to see faster, greater and wider changes in itself. This was also a time when a generation of young people, who had witnessed and were greatly influenced by drastic changes in their visual environment, consumed culture and eventually became creators of culture. They expressed new sensibilities and a desire to communicate.

By the 1990s, Korea’s definition of modernity and its perception of art had changed drastically. If the criteria for modernity had been limited to the fusion of the modern and the traditional and the realization of nationalism and Koreanness, they now became more varied, with an emphasis on the individual’s everyday experience and visual-cultural phenomena. Instead of a deluge of various -isms, there came about an exploration of various forms and methods. Most of these fall under the category of postmodernism, including genre-mixes, installation art, technology-based art, and the combination of commercial and fine art. Young artists co-opted the visual language of popular culture, and displayed art with deliberately kitschy aesthetics to subvert existing ideologies about what constituted art. Much of their work was conceptual, believing that art was a contemporary medium, not a traditional form

104 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Lee Dongi. Backstage, 140x240cm, 2013

that depended on handiwork. They used technology as a new method of artistic expression and dealt with popular culture or personal stories.

Korean contemporary art was able to accept and adopt postmodernism in real-time because of its fast-paced and receptive culture. As global acumen is considered a necessity in all fields, art has kept an eye out for changing currents and trends. Previously, such openness to foreign influences would have been viewed as cultural flunkyism, but that is no longer the case. Identity and global taste are no longer mutually exclusive according to the postmodern paradigm, which views every single actor to be his own individual center, while having no fixed core and periphery. The art world has also undergone a postmodern globalization of sorts, seeing that various cultures and their identities can be brought in without being corrosive to a culture.

Thus, the art of the 1990s became saturated with pop culture, but fundamentally upended conventional understandings of Korea’s art structure, breathing new life into it and giving new breadth of thinking. Choi Jeong Hwa, Lee Bul, Yang Haegue, Hong Sung Chul, Yeesookyung, Moon Joo, Lee Dongi, Choe U-ram, Lee Yongbaek, Bae Joonsung and Han Soo-jung are among the leading artists of this era.

History of K-Art 105

Son Donghyun.

The Portrait of the Hero, Mr Batman, 2005

Young Artists Who Parodied Traditional Art Traditional art, rife with shamanistic images of hope and wishing, is the systematic representation of traditional life. Such images do not fit the bill for the modern conception of art, but are legacies handed down through time. They contain a view of life and death, a longing for life, a wish for utopia, and the dashed hopes of generations past. Contemporary art aspires to these sentiments, which reflect on such intense desires of life; therein exists a universality that applies today.

Perhaps for these reasons, Joseon era folk paintings (minhwa) continue to be a boundless source of inspiration for contemporary artists. Intensifying interest in Korea’s

106 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

unique tradition and culture has led many artists to continue the succession of national tradition and choose minhwa as their medium. These artists continue to broaden the genre of minhwa as a contemporary art form, using the format to tell personal narratives, or as evidence of meta-criticism of tradition.

Son Donghyun is a prominent young artist who has chosen minhwa as his medium. He has injected numerous cultural symbols and icons into his format. The presentation of unfamiliar icons creates a refreshing clash and an odd twist. His works are contemporary minhwa, in which traditional icons have been supplanted by those of popular Western culture. On the other hand, Sunny Kim adapts photos of girls in clichéd poses against backdrops of embroidered patterns of the Shipjangsaeng (Ten Symbols of Longevity: sun, cloud, mountain, rock, water, crane, deer, turtle, pine tree, and the legendary mushroom of eternal youth); these symbols represent Taoist ideals. The embroidery, a medium traditionally produced by the forced labor of women, serves as a background for the passive female body. Kim’s work highlights the complexities of male-centric world views, female labor in handiwork and embroidery as a therapeutic act, and urges the viewer to regard minhwa from a woman’s perspective. Seo Eun-ae, whose works have a distinctive cheery sense of humor, has modified the folk character painting, replacing traditional symbols with images of her own face and other personal symbols. She reminds the viewer of minhwa’s roots in prayer for good fortune by connecting such religious aspects to her own desires, and emphasizes the genre’s shamanistic foundation. Seo Heehwa transforms minhwa’s bright colors and stylized elements into everyday plastic objects. When they are installed and attached to walls, they become sculptural and relief images. Mundane and kitschy objects of industrialized consumer society are reconstituted as representations of minhwa, and become trite symbols of the modern individual’s longing for good luck.

Rather than fretting over Korean art’s identity, young Korean artists today borrow from and reinterpret tradition freely and creatively. For them, traditional imagery and minhwa are not of original authority, but one of the many texts that may be rearranged and excerpted for their purposes. These artists liberally connect or sever traditional elements according to the myriad of permutations of their desires. In this way, these young artists reassemble Joseon’s minhwa, which conveys the ambitions of yesteryear, into sketches of today’s hopes and dreams.

All art contains the wish for communication and is a vehicle for expression. Minhwa is an open text, echoing the nature of art and brimming with creative potential.t

The Place of K-Art in the World 107

Chapter Four

K-art in the public space

Art Museums, Galleries and Alternative Spaces Art museums, which in the past mainly exhibited artwork from modern history, have become places of mutual communication that reflect visitor’s demands, desires, and preferences. An exhibit is a mediatory act that creates an avenue of communication between the visitor and the display.

This is a method of delivery employs a three-dimensional visual medium to inform the public of information, thoughts, and emotions related to human history and the surrounding environment. Art museums and galleries have been introducing emerging artists and art movements through exhibitions, assigning meaning to them in the context of the overall art world, and presenting a future vision. Museums today should also be concious of the role they play in history, while responding to the viewer’s changing cultural appetite and building their unique identities.

Korea saw a rapid increase in the number of art museums and galleries after the late 1980s. The leading venue is the National Museum of Modern Whanki Museum was built to commemorate Kim Whanki, one of the first Korean artists to achieve international fame.

K-Art in the Public Space 109

Posco Art Museum, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Ilmin Museum of Ar t, and Sungkok Art Museum all put on exhibitions to display various aspects of Korean contemporary art’s latest developments and highlight domestic artists. The museum operated by Coreana Cosmetics, Space*C, specializes in video and media art from both inside and outside the country, and is well known for its excellent planning. Art National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Center Nabi focuses on creative experiments in new media, while the

and Contemporary Art (MMCA), located in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do.

Seoul Museum of Photography showcases photographers and archives

Together with the MMCA Deoksugung Palace, it showcases primarily

Korean photography, regularly releasing important sourcebooks. The

modern and Korean contemporary art, and is dedicated to conservation,

Horim Museum and Gansong Museum collect, study, and exhibit valuable

exhibition, and education. Recently, the MMCA has added another location

ancient art.

in Sagan-dong, Seoul, making it possible to appreciate and enjoy Korean art in the capital’s central business district.

The Kim Chong Yung Museum, Whanki Museum, and Lee Ungno Museum commemorate master artists of the past and support young

The National Museum of Korea is where traditional art is on display.

up-and-comers. The Arko Art Center, Savina Museum, Total Museum of

Private and public museums and galleries exist in every city around the

Contemporary Art, Seoul Arts

country, all of which contribute to the promotion and development of

Center, Ar tsonje Center, and

Korean art. Together, they communicate the status of Korean contemporary

Nam June Paik Art Center are all

art, induce academic discourse, and introduce important artists as part

major museums operated by the

of the effort to publicize Korean contemporary art domestically and

Korea Arts and Culture Education

internationally.

Service.

Leeum Samsung Museum of Art is Korea’s largest private museum,

Commercial art galleries are

owned and operated by its namesake conglomerate. The world-class

another major player in the

museum displays the works of the biggest names in contemporary art,

Korean art world. Key galleries

both foreign and domestic. The Doosan Gallery, Kumho Museum of Art,

include the Gallery Hyundai, Whanki Museum

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K-Art in the Public Space 111

houses, and buildings slated for demolition. The most important of these are the Alternative Space Loop, Project Space Sarubia, Community Space Litmus, and Kukje Gallery, dubbed “Gagosian Gallery of Asia,” represents a most impressive team of contemporary artists.

Brain Factory. The Alternative Space Loop, which was founded in 1992 with the expressed goal of finding and supporting young and talented artists, offers artists

Gana Art Gallery, Hakgoje Gallery, Kukje Gallery, Pyo Gallery, Gallery Ihn, Leehwaik Gallery, One and J. Gallery, Dong San Bang Gallery etc. Especially prominent are Gallery Hyundai and Kukje Gallery. Gallery Hyundai was founded in the 1970s and has become a notable institution that presents influential artists, both Korean and foreign, promotes Korean art by participating in events such as the Art Cologne, Paris’s Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC), LA Art Show, and Art Basel.

an opportunity to show their work and shapes discourse. These alternative spaces brings into light lesser-known artists marginalized by the mainstream and commercial galleries, and organize special exhibitions, competitions, and workshops to provide a foundation for new art.

rising. In 1997, the art world saw the shutdown of numerous exhibition

Art Markets: Where the Public and Experts Meet

spaces as a result of the financial crisis that ravaged the country. Artists,

In today’s society, as wealth accumulates and labor hours are shortened,

theorists, and exhibition managers recognized the need to create their

the desire for cultural consumption rises. Culture is ever more important

own exhibition spaces. Also, there was an urgent need to figure out

as people look to consume more of it in their pursuit of a higher quality of

where to show installation and video art, which was

life. The art market plays a huge role in this equation, leading the way for

gaining popularity at the time. The answer to these

more visual culture and adding to everyone’s lot.

In addition to formal museums, the number of alternative spaces is

problems was to escape the “white cube” and take to

In Korea, the economic boom of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s led

the streets in unexpected street shows. At first, the

to remarkable growth in the art market and the number of collectors with

term "alternative space" referred to exhibition spaces

refined tastes. As a consequence, sales of works by Korean and foreign

that utilized cafes, pubs, libraries, factories, model

artists have soared, as has the Korean public’s interest in major art fairs.

112 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

K-Art in the Public Space 113

As of now, the size of the Korean art market,

becomes. Only through persistent publicity can foreign markets and the

based on annual trade, is approximately KRW 500

general audience recognize Korean art, which in turn creates customers

billion. Its major distribution domains, galleries,

and finally strengthens the base of art and the reputation of the artists.

auction firms, and art fairs, comprise some 380

Among Korea’s art fairs, the most famous are the Korea Galleries Art

companies, with around 2,000 professionals

Fair and the Korea International Art Fair (KIAF). Hosted by the Galleries

working.

Association of Korea, both are grand-scale events that attract all of Korea’s

The price of artworks is determined by a

largest galleries and connect artists and art collectors directly. The first art

mechanism different from that of general

fair in Korea was the Korea Galleries Art Fair in 1979. In the 1990s, three art

consumer products, as it is affected not only by

fairs were held regularly. Since the 2000s,

purchasing power and demand, but also by the unique historicity of the

this number has multiplied to dozens of

art piece in question. Contemporary art is particularly difficult to price

art fairs hosted every year. Korea’s leading

because of its near-infinite supply potential and ambiguous artistic value.

art fair is the KIAF. Begun in 2002, the KIAF

Under such circumstances, the intermediary market is the optimal place

has grown into a major hub of the Asian

for markets to take shape and determine art prices.

art market. Bringing together every major

Among intermediary markets, gallery fairs and art fairs, which are open

Korean gallery and many from outside

not only to industry professionals but also to general art aficionados, are

of the country, the KIAF is the largest art

all the buzz. The more great artists are promoted and galleries participate

market in Korea, attracting art enthusiasts

in international exhibitions and art fairs, the better Korean art’s reputation

and the general public alike. Exhibits are not its only attraction; its various lectures and special programs are in high demand.

Serving as a business forum for leading galleries in Korea, art fairs are a good litmus test for understanding current market trends. They are also an important avenue for Korean artists to make inroads into the global market, and a barometer for gauging art’s acceptance in society and the social implications of its communicative abilities. They provide a chance for new audiences to immerse themselves in the cultural scene, and they also provide the best opportunities for artists to find potential patrons.

114 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

K-Art in the Public Space 115

Big Art Shows: Gwangju Biennale, Busan Biennale, and Mediacity Seoul The biennale is a large-scale international contemporary ar t exhibition that is growing in popularity for its polyvalent nature, encompassing culture and industry.

Its origin is the Venice Biennale, an event with more than a century of history, in which Korea has been participating with its own pavilion since 1995. Korea was the second country in Asia, after Japan, to operate its own booth. This attests to the international standing of Korean contemporary art, and its transition from the periphery to the core of the global art sphere. Korean artist Jheon Soocheon winning the Menzione d’Honore testifies to Korean art’s potential in the global market, and two

tastes, they seek to create works of high quality that confront the issues of the day and propose new forms of expression.

In other words, they search for the point at which their personal philosophies converge with the Korean identity.

Since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and the International Open-Air Sculpture Symposium in particular, innumerable cultural events have allowed Koreans to advertise their achievements in contemporary art to the world. In 1995, the first biennial international fair hosted by Korea, the Gwangju Biennale, took place. International exhibitions are the best way for a country to promote its art and culture. In this age of super-speed communication technology and globalization, international exhibitions are celebrated as a means of reading the tides of cultural change and forming respective solutions. Less than a century ago, Korea was a barren site when it came to international art, but today, the Gwangju Biennale, in size and budget, stands equal to other major international galas held around the world. It is not the only one of its kind in Korea. There is also the Busan Biennale, and the most

more Korean artists have since received the same prize.

recent addition, Pyeongchang

Among the latest artists showcased in the Korea Pavilion, Lee Bul

Biennale. Mediacity Seoul is a

and Suh Do Ho are the greatest success stories. In addition to showing

highly specialized international

their work in the national booth, these two artists were invited to major

exposition with a focus on large-

international exhibits, having already been held in high esteem abroad.

scale media exhibits held at the

The Venice Biennale marked their chance to confirm their positions and

Seoul Museum of Art.

presence in the global art world. Both artists believe that instead of taking the easy road of using Korean and Eastern motifs that appeal to Western

116 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

Busan Biennale 2012

K-Art in the Public Space 117

Bae Bieu-U. PLT1A-043H, 2002

Bae Bien-U. SEA1A-052H, 1999, Ed. of 5 Bae Bien-U. SNM1A-173H, 2008

Bae Bien-U, Photographer of Korean Pine Trees Bae Bien-U (1950– ), one of Korea’s most renowned photographers, has achieved worldwide fame for his black-and-white photographs of pine trees that express the beauty, spirit, and energy of Korea’s nature. These works are highly acclaimed in the global art market. Bae began receiving attention overseas markets in February 2005, when his photograph of pine trees titled Meeting and Departure, was sold at Christie’s Auction in London for USD 13,400, much higher than the expected price of USD 5,600–9,400. His work continues to be well received abroad.

In 2005, world-famous pop artist and art collector Sir Elton John visited the Photo-London show at the Royal Academy in London, and purchased Bae’s 1992 piece, Gyeongju Pine (130×260cm), for £15,000, further boosting Bae’s international fame. Sir Elton John, upon seeing Bae’s photograph at the booth of Korea’s Gana Art Gallery, is said to have expressed an instant attachment to the piece. Europeans also grew enthusiastic about Bae’s work. Nearly all of the eight photographs he submitted to the show were sold, and

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postcards of his work made exclusively for the event sold out on the first day. In July 2006, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, one of the “Big Three” museums in Madrid along with the Museo del Prado and Museo Reina Sofía, chose Bae as the featured artist for its first special contemporary art exhibition.

The reason the world is watching Bae is his magnificient portrayal of Korea’s natural beauty via photographs. He studied design in college and learned photography on his own. After he began to photograph nature, his eyes opened gradually to Korea’s natural beauty. He eventually discovered the allure of pine trees, which speak of traditional Korean aesthetics. Bae’s photographs of pine trees are shot in panorama, giving the images a sense of stability. The light and shade in black and white give off a strong feeling of Asian ink wash paintings. Along with pine trees, Bae has also captured traditional Korean architecture (Royal Ancestral Shrine and the Secret Garden Palace), parasitic volcanos on Jeju Island, the ocean, and rocks in black and white photographs that possess restrained elegance and the enchanting beauty of Korea.

Meeting Korean Art 119

EPILOGUE Han Soo-jung. peony, 130x162cm, 2013

The Potential and Direction of Korean Contemporary Art In this globalized world, cultural barriers are crumbling everywhere. As culture becomes extremely industrialized, art, too, is operated through a global distribution system. For today’s cultural industries, it is critical for even cultural products to be armed with their own independent production systems and keep up active interactions and exchanges with the outside world.

Thus Korea’s most urgent task is to work out how to simultaneously preserve indigenous traditions and make them globally accessible. Moreover, a cultural policy suited to the 21st century is needed. These are urgent missions as important as economic growth. At the helm of these tasks are cultural workers.

Korean contemporary art began to engage the world and its art forms only in the late 1980s, when studying abroad and exchange exhibitions became possible and popular. Since the mid-1990s, biennales and other international expositions have been held frequently in the country. Consequently, the number of museums and art galleries has skyrocketed, and private companies and the Epilogue 121

government have created support programs for Korean artists through which many talented artists have been discovered. These artists are gaining recognition around the world and spreading the word on the excellence and uniqueness of Korean art.

Along with the need for more events around the world that promote Korea’s aesthetics and cultural sensibilities, there is a need for domestic events that inform the Korean public about the works of foreign artists.

For this to happen, the role of art experts is of the utmost importance.

For substantial cultural exchange to occur, Korea must train more experts in the various avenues of art administration and secure advantageous channels of exchange. Art administration is traditionally a battle to ensure more and better channels.

Expansion onto the global stage must be studied from various angles.

To be meaningful on the global stage necessitates understanding of the Western, American, and European models, and transcending them to identify Korean traits, while radically cross-examining all elements. Korean art has a small but meaningful presence on the global art scene. For it to make progress, two things must happen: 1) support for long-term visions with a global mindset, and 2) efforts on the part of individual artists to hone their originality.

Bae Bien-U. OM1A-048V, 1999

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APPENDIX Websites on K-Art

Further Reading

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art www.mmca.go.kr/eng Korean Contemporary Arts Archive www.akive.org/eng/main/index.do Korean Eye www.koreaneye.org

Books on K-Art

Korean Artist Project www.koreanartistproject.com

Anne Wilkes Tucker et al., Chaotic Harmony: Contemporary Korean Photography

Neolook www.neolook.net

(2009), Museum of Fine Arts Houston

MU:UM www.mu-um.com

Hossein Amirsedeghi, Korean Art: The Power of Now (2013), Thames & Hudson

The Artro eng.theartro.kr

Jae-Ryung Roe, Contemporary Korean Art (2001), Craftsman House

ART:MU artmu.mmca.go.kr/2013/201309/english.html

Jin Whui-yeon, Coexisting Differences: Women Artists in Contemporary Korean Art (2012), Hollym International Corporation Joan Kee, Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method

English-language Websites of Korean Artists

(2013), University of Minnesota Press

Yoo Hyun Mi www.hmyoo.com

Kim Hee-Young, Korean Abstract Painting: A Formation of Korean Avant-Garde

Choi Jeong Hwa choijeonghwa.com

(2013), Hollym International Corporation

Gwon Osang osang.net

Kim Youngna, Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea (2005), Hollym International Corporation Lynn Zelevansky et al., Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists from Korea (2009), Museum of Fine Arts Houston Miki Wick Kim, Korean Contemporary Art (2012), Prestel Publishing Serenella Ciclitira, Korean Eye: Contemporary Korean Art (2010), Skira Serenella Ciclitira, Korean Eye 2: Contemporary Korean Art (2013), Skira

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Galleries Kukje Gallery www.kukjegallery.com/index.php Gallery Hyundai www.galleryhyundai.com PKM Gallery www.pkmgallery.com Alternative Space Loop www.galleryloop.com

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About the Author

Park Young Taek Park Young Taek completed his B.A. in art education and M.A. in art history at Sungkyunkwan University, after which he served as a curator at the Kumho Museum of Art. In 1995, Park completed a curatorial training program at the Queens Museum of Art in New York. He was the curator of special exhibitions at the 2nd Gwangju Biennale and director of the 2010 Asian Students and Young Artists Art Festival. Park is a member of the organizing committee for the DONG-A Art Festival and advisory committee for Park Soo Keun Museum, director of the Korean Art Appraisal Association, and a professor in the Department of Arts Management at Kyonggi University. He has organized approximately sixty exhibitions and published twelve books, as well as writing many reviews, prefaces, and studies on artists.

Credits Planner Writer Translator

Korean Culture and Information Service Park Young Taek Mah Eunji, Leah Moonyoung Park

Edited & Designed by Seoul Selection

Images Cover Nam Kwan. Fantasy , 1977 / Choi Jeong Hwa. Wish , Krasnoyarsk, 2012 Front flap Lee Yongbaek. Plastic Fish , 230x360cm, 2011 / Kim Ho Deuk. Water , 2011 Back flap Gwon Jeong Jun. Go-Around My Car , 1999