1945–2009 Online Platform for Korean Modern and Contemporary Art

Naturalism and Eastern Tradition: Working with Nature (1992), The Tiger’s Tail (1995), and Leaning Forward, Looking Back (2003)

The exhibition Working with Nature: Traditional Thought in Contemporary Art from Korea, jointly organized by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (now National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, MMCA) and Tate Liverpool in 1992, featured works by six prominent Korean artists of Dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting): Kim Tschang-Yeul, Park Seo-Bo, Yun Hyongkeun, Lee Kangso, Lee Ufan, and Chung Changsup. In the exhibition catalogue, texts contributed by staff from both institutions as well as art critic Lee Yil consistently emphasize that the naturalism expressed in Dansaekhwa originates in Eastern philosophy.1 This curatorial framing presents an Eastern worldview rooted in naturalism as the core of “Koreanness,” suggesting that contemporary Korean art inherits and extends this cultural tradition. Such a distinctly Orientalist perspective has been applied to numerous exhibitions of contemporary Korean art held in the West. The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, along with Lee Yil—who also curated the inaugural Korean Pavilion exhibition at the Venice Biennale—played a central role in shaping a curatorial lineage that positioned naturalism and Eastern tradition as defining elements of Korean contemporary art. The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea continued to organize exhibitions of contemporary Korean art that adopted the curatorial framework of Working with Nature well into the early 2000s.2 Year Exhibitions Venue 1991 Korean Contemporary Paintings Four galleries in Yugoslavia 1992 Working with Nature: Traditional Thought in Contemporary Art from Korea Tate Liverpool, U.K. 1995 The Tiger’s Tail—15 Korean Contemporary Artists for Venice ’95 Vendramin Palace at Carmini, Venice, Italy 1997 Ancient Traditions New Forms: Contemporary Art from Korea Joseloff Gallery, Hartford, U.S.A. 1998 In the Year of Tiger—Contemporary Art from Korea House of World Cultures, Berline, Germany Museum Lugwig, Aachen, Germany 1999 Korean Contemporary Prints: A Reflection of a Culture (La Estampa Coreana Contemporánea: Reflejo de Una Cultura) National Chalcography, The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid, Spain 2003 Leaning Forward, Looking Back: Eight Contemporary Artists from Korea Asian Art Museum of San Francisco Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture 2005 Contemporary Art from Korea — Alchemy of Daily Life Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand 2007-2008 Peppermint Candy: Contemporary Art from Korea in Seoul Contemporary Art in Santiago, Chile National Art Museum of Argentina in Buenos Aires A list of exhibitions of contemporary Korean art organized by the MMCA in the West during the 1990s and 2000s A notable characteristic of many of these exhibitions is that their titles explicitly frame tradition or nature as the core of “Koreanness.” Exhibitions such as The Tiger’s Tail—15 Korean Contemporary Artists for Venice ’95 and In the Year of Tiger—Contemporary Art from Korea employed the tiger—a signifier that encompasses both nature and tradition—in their titles, thereby reinforcing this curatorial framework. Since the early twentieth century, the tiger has been perceived as a symbolic animal representing the Korean peninsula’s topography as well as the identity of the Korean nation and people. This symbolism has persisted into the present, most notably through Hodori, the mascot of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The title of the 2003 exhibition Leaning Forward, Looking Back: Eight Contemporary Artists from Korea, held at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is another example of the application of this curatorial framework. Its Korean title, The Song of Four Seasons, was drawn from Jung Jongmee’s 2002 work Four Seasons of Fishermen: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, which itself references Yun Seon-do’s classical poem “Four Seasons of Fishermen.”3 Jung’s work offers a visual interpretation of the traditional Korean worldview and lifestyle in harmony with nature, as articulated in Yun’s poem. The exhibition title, echoing that of Jung’s piece, thus underscores the notion that contemporary Korean art, like her work, embodies a modern reinterpretation of tradition. Alongside Jung, the participating artists included Kim Hongju, Cho Duckhyun, and Hwang Inkie, whose works similarly reflect this characteristic. In other exhibitions organized by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, artists whose work engaged with themes of nature or tradition were frequently selected. These exhibitions were often structured to balance participants across generations and artistic genres. A total of 149 artists took part in contemporary Korean art exhibitions held in the West by the museum during the 1990s and 2000s, with seventeen of them featured in more than two exhibitions. Among the senior artists, participation was particularly notable among Dansaekhwa painters, with the exception of Paik Nam June, who stood apart due to his high level of international recognition.4 Among the mid-career generation, Kim Hongju, Yun Suknam, and Bae Bien-U—whose works explore imagery and materials related to nature and tradition—were representative figures. From the younger generation, artists such as Kim Youngjin, Ahn Sungkeum, Cho Duckhyun, and Choi Jeonghwa, whose practices likewise referenced elements of Korean tradition, were frequently selected. In his essay for the Working with Nature exhibition catalogue, Lee Yil defined Dansaekhwa, which embodies an Eastern worldview rooted in nature, as a quintessential model of Korean modernism. He emphasized this same curatorial framework in the inaugural exhibition of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which he curated. That exhibition also featured Yun Hyongkeun’s Dansaekhwa paintings, along with installation works by Kwak Hoon, Kim Inkyum, and Jheon Soocheon that highlighted themes of nature and East Asian sensibility. Jheon Soocheon’s Clay Icon in Wandering Planets-Korean’s Spirit which received a Special Mention, juxtaposed terracotta figures—symbols of Eastern nature and spirit—with the detritus of industrial society. Kwak Hoon presented Kalpa/Sound; What Marco Polo Left Behind, an installation of forty onggi (traditional Korean earthenware jars) arranged around the Korean Pavilion. For two days following the exhibition’s opening, the installation was accompanied by a daegeum (Korean bamboo flute) performance by musician Kim Young-dong and a meditation performance by Buddhist nuns. * This essay is a revised version of the author’s earlier essay, “Exhibitions of Contemporary Korean Art Held Overseas,” originally published in Contemporary Korean Art Since the 1990s (co-authored by Yun Nanji et al., planned by the Forum for Contemporary Art, Seoul: Sahoipyoungnon, 2017).