Power of the Art by the Twenties, Leaflet, 1985, MMCA Art Research Center Collection, Gift of Choi Youl
Power of the Art by the Twenties
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art. Korea Arts Management Service
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National Art Association
An art association established in November 1985 by a collective of grassroots artists, and often also referred to as Minmihyeop. The association sought to organize artists and groups who represented the different movements within Minjung Art and to represent their varied ideas and interests. In 1995, the original association was reformed into the National Korean People’s Artists Association [Jeonguk minjok misurin yeonhap]. In turn, this was the predecessor of the Korean People’s Artists Association [Minjok misurin hyeophoe], a corporation founded in 2000.
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Min Art Gallery
A notable exhibition space for minjung art that was established in 1986 by the National Art Association. The gallery formed during heightened political tensions after the military dictatorship’s censure of the The Year 1985, Power of the Art by the Twenties exhibition, which was held in 1985. The gallery hosted the Bangomunjeon, a direct critique of political reality, and it also held feminist art exhibitions such as the Women and Reality exhibitions from 1987 to 1993, which were organized by the Women’s Art Research Society [Yeoseong misul yeonguhoe]. In addition to art exhibitions, the gallery hosted film festivals, seminars, and educational programs as well as serving as a venue for discourse on the future direction of minjung art. After minjung art lost momentum in the beginning of the 1990s, financial difficulties caused the gallery to close in 1994.
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Minjung Art
An artistic movement that came to prominence alongside Korea’s democratization movement in the 1980s. Minjung artists often sought to critically portray the violent repression and corruption of the military dictatorship, to represent the experiences of laborers and farmers, and to achieve social change through art. In contrast to abstraction, which constituted the mainstream of 1970s art in Korea, Minjung Art is notable for the use of representational and figurative forms. One possible point of origin for Minjung Art is Oh Yoon’s work in the Reality Group (Hyeonsil dongin). The group was formed in 1969 by Kim Ji-ha, Oh Yoon, and Lim Se-taek. A variety of Minjung art groups were established, including the Reality and Utterance (Hyunsilgwa bareon) in 1979 by Kim Jungheun, Oh Yoon, Joo Jae-hwan, art critic Sung Wan-kyung, and Choi Min, the Gwangju Freedom Artist Association (Gwangju jayu misulin hyeopuihoe) in 1979 by Hong Sungdam and Choi Youl, the Imsulnyeon (The Year Imsul) in 1982, and the Dureong in 1983. These groups all commonly critiqued Western capitalism. In terms of form, Minjung artists adopted traditional and ethnic folk modes of expression using diverse media such as collage, printmaking, oil painting, and photography. Following the 15 Years of Korean Minjoong Arts: 1980-1994 Exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Minjung Art became an accepted part of Korean art history. Overseas, Minjung Art has also become a recognized term that describes this genre and its unique focus on the political and social history of Korea.
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