Is assisted painting fraud?

Singer-and-painter Cho Young-nam

Cho under criticism for concealing outsourcing

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Popular singer-and-painter Cho Young-nam’s belated admittance that he used an assistant for his paintings is stirring controversy as to whether this is customary or a fraud.

Cho, known for his “hwatu” (traditional Korean card game) paintings, has been accused of hiring a ghost painter to create his works. His art works fetch high prices, more for the singer’s popularity than for their artistic quality.

The controversy erupted after an artist, whose name is being withheld, claimed that he ghost painted Cho’s works for many years for 100,000 won per painting. Cho responded by saying he thinks out the ideas and his “assistant” then copies them into paintings, which he then puts the finishing touches to.

In fact some contemporary artists use assistants and these anonymous helpers in the world of art have been a long-standing controversy.

Back in the 1960s, pop artist Andy Warhol hired assistants to mass produce artworks through silk screens. Warhol nicknamed his studio The Factory and created numbered editions of his prints, but the process was part of his work in the age of mass production and mass consumption.

The use of assistants increased as art diversified and technology advanced. Media artist Paik Nam-june openly mentioned and expressed gratitude toward his collaborators including technician Lee Jung-sung and artist Paul Garrin. Artist Jeff Koons, who has a horde of assistants in his studio, says he himself never wields a paintbrush.

Cho went too far

However, Cho’s hwatu painting series is not in this category, according to analysts.

Lee Myung-ok, president of the Korean Art Museum Association, said Cho needs to clarify why he needed assistants. “It is dangerous to generalize what Cho did as a well-established practice in the art world. His behavior might cause a misconception regarding contemporary art and artists,” Lee said.

Art critic Jung Joon-mo said most artists still do their own work but hiring assistants is acceptable in certain genres of contemporary art such as conceptual art, pop art, large-scale installations or media art.

“Many artists had apprentices and it was a way of training. The idea of assistants changed since Marcel Duchamp opened up the definition of art by selecting and modifying ordinary manufactured objects as pieces of art,” Jung said. "Some world-renowned artists including Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Anish Kapoor have assistants in their studio. In most cases, these assistants have special skills and provide the techniques to realize the artist’s idea. It suits the concept of their work.”

Jung said that in most cases, the artists work together with their assistants in the same place, unlike Cho who texted directions to his assistants.

Artist Kee Jin-ho brought up the question of Cho hiding the fact that he hired assistants, or ghost painters, to do most of the painting.

“Cho Young-nam justifies what he did as a common practice of artists. However, the public and most of the collectors who purchased his work did not know Cho used assistants to do the painting. As far as I know, most artists who create works in the same fashion as Cho, paint the pieces themselves,” Kee said.

Meanwhile, Cho cancelled his upcoming schedule, including a solo exhibit slated to open on Thursday. He originally planned to indicate his position at the exhibition, but his agency said they decided to cancel it due to the controversy.