1960–1969: Avant-garde Activities and Development of the Art System

Following the periods of the Korean Empire (1897–1910) and Japanese occupation (1910–1945), the 1960s marked a period of renewed modernization in Korean art history, and much of what we see in Korean art today was shaped during this period. Having experienced the historical events of the April 19 Revolution and the May 16 Military Coup, which opened the door to the 1960s, many Koreans aspired to liberalism and democracy under the nationalistic economic system advocating anti-communist ideology, and even in their nationalism assumed a Western-oriented attitude. The sense of resistance to the establishment and the will to establish a new system by the youth, who were leading forces of the revolution, were manifested in art through avant-garde artists’ challenges to the National Art Exhibition (Daehanminguk misul jeollamhoe, also known as Gukjeon) and academicism and attempts to innovate traditional painting. 

Moreover, following from the desire for internationalization spreading throughout society, artists’ participation in overseas biennials became more frequent, and the number of people exploring art that modernizes tradition also increased. In addition, with the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, consumption-oriented popular culture became reflected in art works, and art based on reproduction technologies such as prints and photography developed. The growth of the industrial design field was encouraged with the goal of “art exports,” and modern buildings transformed the environment of large cities, including the capital, Seoul. Furthermore, the activities of art critics in the art world became professionalized. The National Museum of Modern Art, Korea (now MMCA)  opened its doors in Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1969, and art exchanges with Japan resumed in 1968 following the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan in 1965. The 1960s in Korean art was a time when many historical moments that formed the origins of contemporary art were born through the fierce activities of the avant-garde.   

Art Informel Abstraction: Avant-garde Strategy for Reform
The anti-National Art Exhibition movement began in 1957 with the simultaneous launch of oppositional, non-governmental groups such as the Creative Arts Association [Changjak misul hyeophoe], the Modern Art Association [Modeon ateu hyeophoe], the Neoplastics [Sinjohyeongpa], Hyundae Fine Artists Association [Hyeondae misulga hyeophoe], and the opening of the Contemporary Art Exhibit (1957), a public exhibition hosted by Chosun Ilbo newspaper. The movement started gaining momentum in 1960, when the April 19 Revolution broke out, artists belonging to these groups formed the Contemporary Fine Artists Alliance [Hyeondae misulga yeonhap] and demanded from the government the democratization of art and the reform of the National Art Exhibition. Their activities centered around the Contemporary Art Exhibit, which lasted until 1969, and took a confrontational stance against the forces that dominated the National Art Exhibition, while at the same time contributing to the rising influence of abstract art in the art world. By the 1960s, the Korean art world embodied multiple dichotomies  of National Art Exhibitions vs. oppositional private exhibitions, and figuration vs. abstraction. Among abstract art, what was called Art Informel, an atypical abstract style based on the artist’s forceful bodily gestures, attained the status of the contemporary avant-garde. Young artists, mainly belonging to the Hyundae Fine Artists Association, used Art Informel abstract painting as a means to express the post-war human experience, and this also influenced sculpture. By the late 1950s, the metal sculptures at the National Art Exhibitions, the Contemporary Art Exhibit, and regular exhibitions by artist groups such as the Won-hyung Club or the Nakwoo Sculptors Society started to take on a tendency toward Art Informel abstraction. Meanwhile, some artists in Eastern painting circles also tried to use abstraction as the most globally contemporary art form to newly interpret traditional art. To this end, they established new organizations such as the Paek Yang Painting Association and Mook Lim-Hoe in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernized Eastern painting through bold formal experiments, and actively participated in international exhibitions, demonstrating their will to join the global art world.   
  
The Search for an Art that is Korean yet Global
As the Park Chung-hee administration’s ruling strategy emphasizing national culture penetrated the consciousness of many Koreans, such climate also affected the art scene, where works featuring traditional objects or architecture were often exhibited at the National Art Exhibitions, and there were increased attempts to shape traditions related to folklore and shamanism into modern forms. It became popular among artists to visit museums and temples or collect folk paintings, white porcelain, and antique furniture. At the same time, the overseas expansion of Korean artists also began in earnest, and artists’ studying abroad and short-term stays in France or the U.S., and participation in overseas biennales such as the Biennale de Paris, the São Paulo Art Biennial, and the International Festival of Painting Cagnes-sur-Mer became more frequent. Participation in international exhibitions was a rare opportunity to get in touch with the latest contemporary art trends and gauge the level of the internationalization of Korean art. However, these exhibitions also led to factionalism of the Korean art scene, as many competed to take advantage of such opportunities, the formation of forces and factions in the art world led to quite a few detrimental effects.   

Meanwhile, the Americanization of culture, a major phenomenon in Korean society in the 1950s, continued into the 1960s. In 1961, the Choon Choo Fine Arts Association, the Korean headquarters of the U.S. - supported Congress for Cultural Freedom, was launched; The institution hosted Invitation Exhibition of Congress for Cultural Freedom and related discussions in art until 1966. During this period, as the global Cold War system became solidified, centered on the U.S., and the division of North and South Korea had been completed, cooperation between South Korea, U.S., and Japan in the areas of defense and the economy became essential. And as an effect of this, diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan were normalized in 1965, and even within the art world, exchanges with Japan officially resumed in 1968. From then on, the United States and Japan, along with France, became major countries with great influence on contemporary Korean artworks and the production of its discourse.

Geometric Abstraction and Anti-Art: The Rise of Another Avant-Garde 
Since the mid-1960s, new avant-garde art trends appeared one after another in Korea to replace Art Informel abstraction, which had become established as the dominant trend in the Korean art world throughout the first half of the 1960s. First, in a situation where industrialization and urbanization caused by accelerated modernization were clearly transforming the surrounding environment, geometric abstraction, which was popular around the world throughout the late 20th century, also appeared in Korea under the name of Op Art, among others. The flat canvas, clear geometric forms, bright colors, and impersonal expression of geometric abstract painting had the characteristic of a cold abstraction that could compete with the hot abstraction of Art Informel, and became a very suitable means for new artists of the time to challenge the established abstract art. The geometric abstract style was embraced througth the Korean art world, including the applied arts, from the 1960s to the early 1970s, and members of the Korean Avant Garde Association (AG), an organization formed in 1969, stimulated the pursuit of avant-garde art that could actively participate in a reality dominated by mechanical civilization. 

Also, around the late 1960s, art that claimed to be the descendant of Western anti-art of the early twentieth century made its debut in Korea. These were works with a Neo-Dada tendency created by members of artists belonging to several new groups established since 1962, namely the Zero Group and the Sinjeon Group, which organized the Union Exhibition of Korean Young Artists (1967), and AG and The Fourth Group, which became active since 1969 and 1970, respectively. This art, referred to by various names, such as objet art, action painting, environmental art, and happening, was embraced by the art world as yet another avant-garde with innovation and contemporaneity comparable to geometric abstraction. It had the character of breaking down the concept of genres of established paintings and sculptures and became the forerunner of installation and performance art that would appear later. In addition, as artists actively introduced popular culture in their work, their works became key examples in art history where boundaries between art and daily life were blurred. At the same time, the participation of female artists in objet art and happenings became noticeable, showing the conditions of Korea at the time, in which the role of ordinary citizens and women was increasing even within the military-led, male-dominated social atmosphere. 

Photography, Printmaking, Design, and Architecture: The Expansion of the Domain of Fine Arts and the Advancement of the Applied Arts
In 1960s Korea, art based on reproduction techniques, such as printmaking and photography, was quickly institutionalized as fine art. Korea Prints Association [Hanguk panhwa hyeophoe], formed in 1958, was active in holding individual and group exhibitions of its member artists, participating in international print biennials. Furthermore, printmaker Lee Hangsung organized an exhibition summarizing the history of printmaking, Contemporary Printing Arts Exhibition for Decade (1969). In the field of photography, Salon Ars was founded in 1960 with the late 1950s photography group Shinseonhoe as its predecessor and explored the issues of  the formative nature of photography that is based on realism, which in turn led to the formation of Modern Photography Society [Hyeongdae sajin yeonguhoe] in 1961 and the launch of the photography research bulletin Sa-an (Alternative views) in 1964. Meanwhile, during this period, the rapid advance of the applied arts, which, like fine arts, aspired towards modernization and internationalization, was prominent. Among the applied arts, whereas tradition-oriented crafts were mainly presented at the National Art Exhibition, remaining in the domain of fine arts, the commercial art design during the Japanese occupation developed into industrial design in the 1960s, receiving the full support of the government with “art export” as its goal. At the same time, led by leading architects Kim Chung-up and Kim Swoogeun, modern buildings were built one after another, changing the urbanscapes of Korean cities including Seoul. However, the fact that Kim Chung-up, who criticized the urban planning policy of the Park Chung-hee regime at the time, was excluded from the state architecture construction project and even exiled abroad, was an incident that revealed the dark side of the political system of the developmental dictatorship. 

The Origins of Contemporary Korean Art in the 1960s
In the history of Korean art, the 1960s was an era in which the various elements of society, involved in the formation of modernity, formed dynamic relationships with each other, and the activities of the avant-garde unfolded intensly within such contexts. The ten-year cry of the avant-gardists for the improvement of problems of the established art world had already seen some improvements, starting with the division of figurative and abstract sections at the National Art Exhibition in 1962, the addition of the photography section in 1964, and the opening of the National Museum of Modern Art, Korea (now MMCA) within Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1969. Furthermore, avant-garde art groups were established nationwide, including the founding of Art Group Hyuk in Busan and Epoch in Gwangju in 1963, contributing to the development of the local and regional art scenes. Also, members of the Korea Art Critics Association [Hanguk misul pyeongnonga hyeophoe], launched in 1956, contributed to the development of art criticism by way of extensively engaging in art criticism in the 1960s. As these historical moments constitute the genesis of contemporary art in many ways, the 1960s played a significant role in the history of Korean art.