Pop Singer Turned Preacher of Pop Art
By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter
Popular singer Cho Young-nam drew attention to himself when he published ``Who Cares Modern Arts,'' a quirky guidebook on art, last month. A man of many hats _ pop singer, TV and radio personality, author, and entertainer to name just a few _ he now seems more determined at pursuing art, what he claims to be his second calling.
Last week, he launched ``Cho Young-nam's Art Show in Hilton'' in the lobby of Millennium Seoul Hilton. The celebration was attended by a throng of his friends from all walks of life and media people, again drawing lavish attention.
The 61-year-old glided into the press conference room inside the hotel Friday, with casual black T-shirts, black cap, and a pair of a shade black sunglasses on.
Eric Swanson, general manager of the luxurious hotel, took the microphone as Cho asked him for a short introductory word. Cho is a ``visionary'' in terms of how he wants to approach art, combining visual arts, music, and hospitality, Swanson said. ``I can tell you one of the common things we had was extreme appreciation of art,'' he was to go on, before Cho cut in. ``You're making it too long to explain that we just clicked,'' Cho said, triggering a round of laughter across the hall.
It might seem that kind of casual friendliness can easily be misunderstood as arrogance. But such is not the case when coming from Cho, who has kept his circle of friends as wide-ranging as possible _ he counts many prominent politicians, artists, and scholars to be among them. One Korean daily recently picked him as the nation's most sociable person.
And with that characteristic attitude, he now wants to help lower the barrier for the public to access art.
``You know, I think Shin Jeong-ah made a rather great contribution to art,'' Cho said, referring to the bogus art expert whose faked academic credentials, including a Ph.D from Yale University, were revealed two months ago and was unseated from several seats she held.
``That incident helped the public realize that what they considered highbrow, exclusive art world was actually built on fakes, that there's actually nothing so grand about it. I'm thinking of sending a letter to plead Yale University to recognize her contribution and award her with an honorary degree.''
It may be just a joke, but Cho really thinks art should not be viewed as something unfathomable by the public as it is now. That is largely why he employs familiar objects such as hwatu, or flower cards, taegeukgi, or South Korea's national flag, baduk stones, and baskets in his paintings.
Cho says he is a ``pop singer'' and therefore was always drawn to ``pop artists,'' including Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Jasper Johns.
But Cho's paintings differ from those of American artists in that they carry a subtle Korean subtext from within, Lee Kenshu, editor-in-chief of the authoritative Monthly Art magazine who attended the press conference, said. ``Mr. Cho's paintings have a certain aura of benign flagrance, which is expressive of his own life and thinking as well as artistic orientation,'' Lee said.
Cho has painted for more than 20 years now. Asked why and how he keeps on painting, he gave another crude answer in his trademark frankness.
``You know what I love most is chatting with young girlfriends over a film or a meal,'' he said. ``If they're with me for 24 hours, I wouldn't care to paint, but since I'm old and everything, of course they don't stay with me the whole time. So what could I do but to paint?''
From the start of his artistic career, he always thought about what would make people think ``ah, that's cool,'' he said.
``I think those who act as if they didn't care are just pretending,'' he said. ``Otherwise they would paint just for themselves and would not display their artworks in public.''
Those who are interested in Cho's philosophy and art can now see his paintings on display at the ``Cho Young-nam Art Show in Hilton'' underway at the Millennium Seoul Hilton. It continues until Oct. 26. ``Buy them now,'' Cho urged jokingly. ``You know the prices soar once the artist dies. And I'm old, my days are numbered.''