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| Kim Seung-young's 'Sadness,' left, inspired by Korea's National Treasure No. 83, the Pensive Bodhisattva statue. / Courtesy of Savina Museum of Contemporary Art |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Eleven Korean contemporary artists will present work inspired by Korea's traditional culture at a special exhibition in Poland.
The Savina Museum of Contemporary Art presents "ONE INSPIRATION ― The Very First Ideas from Korean Tradition and Culture" at the Royal Lazienki Museum in Warsaw, from Oct. 3 through Nov. 29 in cooperation with the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange's Traveling Korean Arts program
This touring exhibition debuted in 2018 at the Korean Cultural Center in Tokyo and the Shirota Gallery, and traveled last year to the Korean Cultural Center Canada and Gallery 101 in Ottawa, Canada. The 2020 exhibit is a part of the Month of Korean Culture program operated by the Korean Cultural Center in Poland during October.
"We conceived the exhibition as a strategy for the international promotion of Korean culture, globalizing the aesthetics of Korean tradition and simultaneously maintaining the identity of Korean art. In other words, this exhibition can be seen from the perspective of the expansion of culture embracing both the local specialty and global universality of Korean art," said Lee Myung-ok, director of the museum.
The exhibit introduces the aesthetics of Korean traditional art interpreted by the unique visual languages of the 11 artists.
Kim Seung-young's sculpture "Sadness" is inspired by Korea's National Treasure No. 83, the Pensive Bodhisattva statue. He changed the pensive pose into a posture of wiping away tears, emphasizing the bodhisattva's human side bearing the weight of life. Another work by Kim, "Mind," portrays ever-changing human emotions through the surface of water in large and small cylinders.
Kim Sung-bok approaches "dokkaebi," a mythological creature often compared to goblins, in a playful way. "Dokkaebi appear to be friendly enough to play with people rather than distressing them... I am interested in expressing hope in our everyday lives through sculpture," the artist said.
"Dreams of Dokkaebi," is a series of wooden sculptures based on the dreams of people of all ages. "Dream Spoon" is the artist's reaction to the spoon class theory dividing people born with a gold spoon or dirt spoon in their mouth, in relation to the dokkaebi club, which is believed to bring wealth.
Yoo Hyun-mi uses analogue and traditional techniques, but her works encompass a wide range of artistic activities from painting and sculpture to photography and video. She creates sculpted and painted objects as a backdrop and takes pictures and videos, resulting in a surreal mood.
Her series "The Ten Traditional Symbols of Longevity" showcases Koreans' longstanding philosophical traditions of nature worship such as deer. "Good Luck ― The Ten Traditional Symbols of Longevity and Books No.1" combines the traditional "Chaekgado" (scholar's accoutrements) painting with longevity symbols, substituting them with modern items such as bottled water and a paper crane.
Kim Bum-su presents a series of films titled "Hidden Emotion," inspired by Korean traditional patchwork "jogakbo" and coloring patterns "dancheong," while Kim Chang-kyum's "Water Shadow & Flower 3" projects images of natural scenery and Korean traditional motifs on a white plate, blurring the boundary between illusion and reality.
Lee Gil-rae's pine tree sculptures resonate with the popular subject of Korean art. He created a metal pine tree by connecting oval copper pipe rings, emphasizing the rough texture of the trees.
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| Images from Lee Lee-nam's 'New Geumgang jeondo,' left, and Jeong Seon's 1734 landscape painting 'Geumgang jeondo' / Courtesy of Savina Museum of Contemporary Art |
Media artist Lee Lee-nam's "New Geumgang jeondo" is a modern interpretation of Joseon artist Jeong Seon's "Geumgang jeondo." In Lee's creation, the landscape painting comes to life, changing now and then, unlike the static original painting. Lee also digitized renowned paintings including "Mongyudowondo" by An Gyeon and "Mukjukdo" by Kim Hong-do.
Nam Kyung-min revives the studios of Joseon-era artists Jeong Seon and Shin Yun-bok in her surrealistic style.
Sung Dong-hun's sculptures feature symbolic and religious objects beyond time and space.
Kang Un, known for his "Cloud" series, experiments with Korean traditional mulberry paper "hanji." He depicts clouds by superimposing pieces of hanji on canvas, maximizing the paper's durability and softness.
Yang Dae-won's "Munjado," translated into pictorial ideographs, is a result of the artist discovering abstract aesthetics in the shapes of consonants and vowels of "Hangeul," or the Korean alphabet.
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| Lee Gil-rae's 'Millennium ― Old Pine Tree 2019-3,' left, and Jeong Hong-rae's 18th century painting 'Scholars with a Pine Tree' / Courtesy of Savina Museum of Contemporary Art |
