By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The Korea Foundation has recently published ``Modern Korean Artists'' in English, the second volume of selections from Koreana (its quarterly magazine) series. It aims to promote cross-cultural understanding by providing readers overseas with an introduction to representative Korean artists and their artistic pursuits.
The book is a compilation of articles about modern artists from Koreana, and offers an opportunity for readers to better understand and appreciate Korea's modern arts.
The articles have been grouped into five general categories ― fine arts artists, stage performers, musicians, film-related figures, and architects.
In the fine arts section, 12 notable artists are introduced, including Park Soo-keun, Lee U-fan, Bae Bien-u, Paik Nam-june and Park Seo-bo. In performance arts section has pieces on Lee Ae-joo and Kang Sue-jin. Musicians featured include Kim Duk-soo, Ahn Suk-sun, Sumi Jo and Chung Myung-whun, while architects Jo Sung-yong, Seung Hyo-sang and Hwang Doo-jin all get closer looks. Three film directors ― Lee Chang-dong, Hong Sang-soo and Kim Ki-duk ― alongside actress Jeon Do-yeon are written about.
Although the entire spectrum of Korea's modern arts scene cannot be fully covered in a single publication, the book includes close-ups of several key figures who have contributed to the advancement of the local art world.
The fine artists section features the nation's representative painter Park Soo-keun. Park's mid-20th-century works reflect the Korean people's inner thoughts about life and living. ``From his own original perspective, Park honestly depicted the lives of ordinary people at one of the most difficult periods in Korean history, the lives of the common people who held on despite the yoke of poverty and protected the land,'' the book says.
He used a tough, gritty style, based on the Korean view of nature, to produce humble pictures of nature and people in gray tones with absolutely no embellishment on the surface ― resembling granite. The book portrays him as an artist who captured, with no pretensions, the shared mentality of the people and their outlook on nature. Park's art is about the most ordinary Korean people.
The stage artist section covers, among others, Kim Min-gi, an activist songwriter-turned-musical director. Kim, the head of Hakchon Theater, is a celebrity known to Koreans of all generations. His notable career has included many vicissitudes and achievements. As the singer-songwriter of some of the biggest hits of the 1970s, including ``Morning Dew,'' ``The Little Pond'' and ``Friends,'' which are still popular today, he is also remembered as an activist who stood up to the country's military regimes. The late 1970s and early 1980s found him working on farms and in factories and then presenting his musical ``The Factory Lights.'' Since the 1990s, he has been active as a musical director and theater manager for ``Line 1.''
``The changes brought by Kim to the country's performing arts scene are exceptionally worthy of praise. Though regarded as an archetypal activist, he remains untainted by political power and thus his fame shines even more brightly,'' the book notes.
The musician section deals with Shin Joong-hyun, the ``godfather'' of Korean rock. The book says that it is no easy matter to reach the top of any field, let alone for a popular musician to earn the designation ``maestro,'' a distinction usually reserved for the classical genre. But Shin became a ``living legend'' on the Korean rock music scene by introducing the genre to the country in the 1960s when it was virtually unknown. This caused a great stir in the world of Korean popular music, which at that time was dominated by Japanese-style ``trot'' songs.
The book is a useful information resource not only for Korean readers but also foreigners interested in Korean modern arts by examining the cultural diversity and unique aspects of Korean culture and arts. Moreover, the book seeks to contribute to cultural understanding among peoples from a variety of cultures and backgrounds.
The book will be distributed to major universities, libraries and museums overseas. Those interested can order the book from Amazon or Seoul Selection. It is also available at bookstores for 50,000 won. For more information, call (02) 2151-6542 or e-mail
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