The Space Between The Modern In Korean Art

Featuring over 130 artworks--some previously unpublished--this richly illustrated volume is essential for understanding modern art in Korea and how it evolved to meet the contemporary global context In The Space Between, a generative period in Korean art between the traditional and the contemporary is illuminated comprehensively for the first time. After the centuries-long Joseon dynasty came 35 uninterrupted years of the Japanese colonial period (1910-45) followed by the Korean War (1950-53). During this tumultuous time, Korean artists grappled with issues such as identity and nationalism and experimented with a broad range of media. The book is organized into five categories: "The Modern Encounter"-- foreign influences enter the country in a significant way in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; "The Modern Response"--how foreign methods are accepted or rejected; "The Pageantry of the New Woman (Sinyeoseong) Movement"--modern women's attitudes; "The Modern Momentum"--advances in using foreign styles; and "Evolving into the Contemporary"--a glimpse into the contemporary. Most notable during this period are the introductions of photography, sculpture and oils, which arrived via Japan and came to define modern art in Korea. At the same time, traditional ink painting reinvented itself: works grew larger in scale while keeping traditional landscape motifs with alterations in the use of color and composition. Artists of modern ink believed that theirs was the true future of modern art, unsullied by elements found in the West. By the end of the Korean War, the magnified status of the US made way for access to American abstract art and, indirectly, European informel. For nearly a decade, abstract expressionist and informel styles dominated Korean art. The volume concludes in the 1960s, setting the stage for contemporary art in Korea.

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. 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 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

Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea deals with issues of tradition, modernity, and identity in modern and contemporary Korean art in Korea. On a deeper level, this is one of the only books of its kind in English that exposes readers to specific artists and their works, an especially useful resource for those who wish to know more than just surface level facts about Korean art.

In celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Arts of Korea Gallery, this issue of the Bulletin invites us to reflect on the past while embracing the future. Featuring objects from the Bronze Age to the present, Lineages: Korean Art at The Met illustrates both the continuities and ruptures of style, form, and medium that have defined the dynamic terrain of Korean art. The 47 works included—from lacquer and ceramics to paintings and collage—express Korean tradition, history, and socio-cultural change over more than three centuries of creativity. This volume honors one of the first museum galleries in the United States dedicated to Korean art by offering readers a greater understanding of the nation's aesthetic past and future.

Walk the galleries of any major contemporary art museum and you are sure to see a work by a Korean artist. Interest in modern and contemporary art from South—as well as North—Korea has grown in recent decades, and museums and individual collectors have been eager to tap into this rising market. But few books have helped us understand Korean art and its significance in the art world, and even fewer have told the story of the formation of Korea’s contemporary cultural scene and the role artists have played in it. This richly illustrated history tackles these issues, exploring Korean art from the late-nineteenth century to the present day—a period that has seen enormous political, social, and economic change. Charlotte Horlyck covers the critical and revolutionary period that stretches from Korean artists’ first encounters with oil paintings in the late nineteenth century to the varied and vibrant creative outputs of the twenty-first. She explores artists’ interpretations of new and traditional art forms ranging from oil and ink paintings to video art, multi-media installations, ready-mades, and performance art, showing how artists at every turn have questioned the role of art and artists within society. Opening up this fascinating world to general audiences, this book will appeal to anyone wanting to explore this rich and fascinating era in Korea’s cultural history.

The first comprehensive survey to explore the rich and complex history of contemporary Korean art - an incredibly timely topic Starting with the armistice that divided the Korean Peninsula in 1953, this one-of-a-kind book spotlights the artistic movements and collectives that have flourished and evolved throughout Korean culture over the past seven decades - from the 1950s avant-garde through to the feminist scene in the 1970s, the birth of the Gwangju Biennale in the 1990s, the lesser known North Korean art scene, and all the artists who have emerged to secure a place in the international art world.

This book examines the development of national emblems, photographic portraiture, oil painting, world expositions, modern spaces for art exhibitions, university programs of visual arts, and other agencies of modern art in Korea. With few books on modern art in Korea available in English, this book is an authoritative volume on the topic and provides a comparative perspective on Asian modernism including Japan, China, and India. In turn, these essays also shed a light on Asian reception of and response to the Orientalism and exoticism popular in Europe and North America in the early twentieth century. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, the history of Asia, Asian studies, colonialism, nationalism, and cultural identity.

In recent years the increase in interest in Asian art has led to a number of books being published about Japanese and Chinese artists. However, the exciting Korean scene is still largely undocumented. Now Kim YoungNa reveals Korean modern and contemporary artists to the West. Twentieth-Century Korean Art provides a comprehensive, engaging survey that places emphasis on art historical narratives. It draws on primary sources and historical artefacts as well as on new interpretations of issues such as the identity of Korean art and the cultural ramifications of Japanese colonialism. Covering over one hundred year from the late 19th century through to the 1990s, the essays in this book examine how both external influences and wills-to-change within Korean society itself generated an artistic vitality against a shifting political, social, and cultural backdrop and how this necessarily involved East Asia at large and the West.