'Korean art evolved through collision'
Pages from “Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation, Interaction” featuring works of Oh Yoon and Kim Jeong-heon / Courtesy of Phaidon
Book on Korean contemporary art published internationally
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Chung Yeon-shim, professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory at Hongik University Courtesy of Chung Yeon-shim
Interest on Korean contemporary art is heightened in the international art world across art museums, galleries and auction houses, but there are few books giving a comprehensive analysis on the complex history of Korean modern art.
Chung Yeon-shim of Hongik University released "Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation, Interaction" with the top art book publisher Phaidon last month. This is one of the first books in English to explore the complex history of Korean contemporary art.
The book highlights artistic movements that appeared and evolved over the past seven decades ― from the 1950s avant-garde and the feminist scene in the 1970s to the birth of the Gwangju Biennale in the 1990s and the lesser known North Korean art scene.
Chung organized the project and co-edited the book with Kim Sun-jung, art director of Art Sonje and Gwangju Biennale Foundation president; Kimberly Chung of McGill University; and Keith Wagner of University College London.
Chung, who studied art history under Linda Nochlin at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, taught Asian contemporary art at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York as an assistant professor.
"There are many English books on introductory Japanese and Chinese contemporary art, but almost none on Korean contemporary art. That's when I was motivated to write an English book on Korean contemporary art,” Chung said in a phone interview with The Korea Times on behalf of the editors.
Chung said it was difficult to find the right publisher because the publishing companies were not confident about the marketability of Korean contemporary art books, which are almost without precedent. “There are few books and catalogues on individual artists including Park Seo-bo, Yang Hae-gue and Suh Do-ho and specific trends such as Dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting), but a comprehensive survey on Korean contemporary art in general is almost non-existent," Chung said.
"A good book on Korean art would help students as well as other readers to learn about Korean art. It is important to explain in what social and political context Korean artists such as Lee Bul and Yang Hae-gue worked in a macroscopic perspective."
Cover of “Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation, Interaction” / Courtesy of Phaidon
The idea solidified when Chung, Kim and Kimberly Chung took part in the symposium “From Postwar to Contemporary Korean Art (1953-Present): Conflicts, Innovations and Interactions” at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) back in 2017.
“The symposium included Korean cinema and architecture as well as visual art, but we focused on visual art only in this book as the publisher Phaidon suggested,” Chung explained.
The book's unique cover and layout design is by Melanie Mues and Chung and the editors are pleased with the book cover featuring an English font that resembles the Korean hangeul alphabet.
"Instead of a specific artist or artwork, typography design was used for the cover and we like this idea very much," Chung said.
The 13-chapter book sets the beginning of Korean modern art in 1953 after the 1950-53 Korean War.
"Though Korea was liberated from the Japanese colonial rule in 1945, the nation was extremely chaotic both inside and outside the country and soon the Korean War broke out. And then the April 19 Revolution against the rigged election of then-President Syngman Rhee occurred in 1960. The post-war generation and the April 19 Revolution generation played an important role in the development of avant-garde, experimental art in Korea in 1960s. Along with the social changes, a new modernity was formed in the 1960s," Chung explained.
The editors focused on "collision" in Korean contemporary art as it pursued innovation with subversive power.
"For instance, Dansaekhwa and Minjung Art (socio-political populist art movement) seem like oil and water at first glance, but they share an importance in Korea's art history and we wanted to show such a trend of conflict and collision in this book," Chung said.
Pages from “Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation, Interaction” featuring works of Kim Soo-ja / Courtesy of Phaidon
The book encompasses a wide range of art movements in Korean contemporary art including postmodernism, feminist art, media art as well as contemporaneity and globalization of Korean art.
"We tried to introduce diverse perspectives by inviting the right person to write each part. If we have an opportunity, we want to supplement with new Korean figurative painting and pop art. We also wanted to cover emerging artists and spaces after 2010, but concluded that we need more time to digest since they are present progressive," Chung added.
A notable chapter is "Modernity in North Korean Art: Socialist Realism, Joseonhwa and Photography" by Hong Ji-suk, which sheds light on the obscure North Korean art scene.
"This is the only chapter that is based on an already published Korean thesis. Hong covers how North Korean art was developed after the division, including the establishment of Joseonhwa and introduction of photography," Chung said.
The book features images of some 410 artworks in full color, which was Chung's aim from the beginning and became possible through the funding from the Korea Arts Management Service.
"We wanted to showcase the diversity and uniqueness of Korean art through these color images. It was arduous to find high-resolution images and obtain permission from copyright holders, but we were able to discover some hidden gems during the process," Chung said.
"For instance, Lee Ung-no's 'March 1 Movement' was noted to be in the Cheonggwanjae Collection, but no one knew how to contact this private collection. We looked up and found out that this collection was exhibited at Gana Gallery back in 2007 and were able to contact through Gana Art. For the 1990s art chapter, Ahn Sang-soo provided us with rare images of the exhibitions organized by the Museum Group."
Chung plans to publish more books on Korean art, covering architecture and cinema as well.
"We four editors want to gather once again if possible. I also will publish anthologies of important original documents of Korean contemporary art in English. If there are more sources for Korean art in English, it will attract more non-Korean researchers to have a look at Korean art. Ultimately, I wish to establish a Korean contemporary art archive at the Getty Center where global scholars and researchers can study Korean art," Chung said.
Pages from “Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation, Interaction” featuring works of Song Burn-soo, Shim Moon-seup and Choi Myoung-young / Courtesy of Phaidon