Universal works reach global audience of K-Art - Trường Đại Học Quốc Tế Hồng Bàng

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K-art:Universal Works Reach Global Audience

by Korean Culture and Information Service

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

Korean Culture No.10

Universal Works Reach Global Audience

art

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K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience

6 The Place of K-Art in the World

Prologue

Korean Contemporary Art, an Emerging Powerhouse of the Art World

The Place of K-Art in the World

K-Art, Crossing Boundaries

Success of Korean Artists in Foreign Auctions

Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene

Hanguk-hwa, Korean Paintings Western Paintings

Sculpture and Installation Art Photography

Star Artists Attracting Global Attention Contents 13 13 18 25 27 33 51 62 73 Chapter One Chapter Two 87 88 93 95 100 102 107 107 111 114 Chapter Three 119 119 122

History of K-Art

The Characteristics of Traditional Korean Art The Origins of Contemporary Art (1910s–1950s) The Advent of Abstract Art (1960s–1970s) The Search for Koreanness (1980s)

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

K-Art in the Public Space

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

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

Epilogue

The Potential and Direction of Korean Contemporary Art Appendix

Chapter Four

Bae Bien-U SEA1A-050H, 1999 Moon Beom Slow, same, #20005, 1999-2000

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The Place of K-Art in the World

“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

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Prologue 11

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

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12 Prologue 13

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

In the Korean art wave, or K-Art, globalism is approached under the assumption that Korea is not separate from the world but rather a unique yet integral part of the world Korean contemporary artists who have gained international traction since the 2000s have broken away from a Eurocentric prism to adopt a post-modern outlook that blurs the core and the periphery These artists seek recognition for the various original facets of Korean art, while picking up on both domestic and international trends and refusing to be fixed to a single identity To realize these goals, they go to great lengths to invent traits unique to Korean art that are not confined by but transcending the definitions of tradition, identity, and nationalism As they adapt traditional landscape paintings to widen the genre through new abstractions and utilize traditional motifs and brush techniques of Korean calligraphy, they are producing work that suggests a new sense of Asianness that goes beyond Korea

Many such works have gained global recognition The New York Museum

of Modern Art hosted a Lee Bul solo exhibition, and the Guggenheim Museum held a Lee Ufan Retrospective Artists such as Kim Sooja, Suh Do Ho, Lee Yongbaek, and Yang Haegue have been featured in global exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale to much international acclaim Korean contemporary art is making a name for itself in the art world at large Accordingly, the domestic art scene is taking great steps to assess the position and reputation of Korean contemporary art, so as to facilitate publicity and communication in international networks

This book seeks to help readers overseas gain a comprehensive understanding of Korean contemporary art by examining its various features and movements Featured are the artists who have come to represent Korea since the modern concept of art was accepted, especially those active since the major expansion of Korean art overseas in the 2000s The book also discusses the works of artists preceding that time, and finally the various spaces for Korean contemporary art, including exhibition halls, biennales, and art markets

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The Place of K-Art in the World 15 THE PlACE OF

K-ART in THE WoRLd

Chapter One

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

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16 The Place of K-Art in the World 17

by the Korean government have also played a major part in drawing global attention to the country’s art Korean Cultural Centers operating around the world have become important emissaries of Korean art; the Korea Foundation, headquartered in Seoul, has also given support to museums around the world Clearly, a variety of government projects are spearheading promotional efforts to publicize Korean art

One of the earliest efforts through which Korean contemporary art’s distinct character was made known outside of Korea was the milestone exhibition Contemporary Art of Korea, held by the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo in 1968 Critics said that while Korean contemporary art was similar in context to its Western counterpart, it carried a unique twist Following this exhibition, Korean contemporary art based its identity on monochrome painting, the motif of the exhibition, and consciously began to shape contemporary art with uniquely Korean aesthetics, the

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 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 buildings were required to install public art, causing skyrocketing demand for large sculpture pieces and precipitated greater demand and support for creative processes Economic growth and an improved standard of living led to an increase in foreign museum tours, which generated public interest in art and changed perceptions of art

As a consequence of these developments, Korean contemporary artists have made grand advances into foreign markets in the 2000s, and their works grew markedly more colorful and diverse The New York Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, London’s Tate Modern, and the Saatchi Gallery are all world-renowned galleries and museums that show the works of Korean artists A rising number of

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The Place of K-Art in the World 19

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.”

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

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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

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

Suh Do Ho Some/One, 1998 Suh Do Ho Cause & Effect, 2009

Kim Dong-Yoo

Marilyn Monroe v.s. Chairman Mao,

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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

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 Artprice, 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 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

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Two young artist friends, Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho, asked themselves one day what art could 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

News from Nowhere

Collaborative Masterpiece by Architects, Scientists, Composers and Designers

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

Jeon Joonho (left) and Moon Kyungwon (right)

News from Nowhere: Chicago Laboratory,

Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene lEADING FIGurES

in THE K-ART ScEnE

Chapter Two

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

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Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene

Hanguk-hwa, Korean Paintings

During the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), the term dongyang-hwa, (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

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30 K-Art Universal Works Reach Global Audience Leading Figures in the K-Art Scene 31

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 and iconography and the spirit of traditional Korean art Park rediscovered

Buddhist, shamanist, and folk paintings and tried to translate the public sentiments and original s t y l e s f o u n d i n t h o s e

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

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Kim Ho Deuk (1952– ) materializes the energy and creative forces of nature through the effects of ink wash and powerful brushstrokes His paintings, consistent images of haphazard brushstrokes in dark ink, are born out of energetic experiments of the brush and ink Through his briliant control of the brush and the darkness of the ink, Kim reveals life force energy in his compositions He seeks to commune with surrounding

objects, keeping in mind the invisible energy of the universe Rather than following the traditions of Asian paintings to depict natural subjects, he focuses on the spiritual connection between the artist and his subjects Kim’s paintings heighten the sensitivity and sharpen the mental acuity of the viewer, offering an edifying as well as pleasurable experience

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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

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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 a n d t h e i m m a t e r i a l expressed in art, Oh extracted a unique style of forms and lines

Lee Jung Seop

Three Children Playing with Fish,

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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)

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