The First Korean Art Grand Award Exhibition, Brochure, 1970, MMCA Art Research Center Collection
Korean Art Grand Award Exhibition
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art. Korea Arts Management Service
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National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA)
A national museum established in 1969 that researches, collects, and exhibits modern and contemporary art. As of 2018, there are branches in Gwacheon, Deoksugung, Seoul, and Cheongju. When first established, the National Museum of Modern Art (now MMCA) was located within Gyeongbokgung palace. In 1973, the museum moved to the East Wing of the Deoksugung Seokjojeon building. Then, in 1986, the museum moved to its current location in Gwacheon, to occupy a new building equipped with an outdoor sculpture exhibition space, and has since opened a new chapter in Korean art. The perceived need for a space to focus specifically on Korean contemporary art led to the establishment of further site, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Deoksugung in 1998. In November 2013, a further demand for contemporary art exhibitions led to the establishment of another Seoul branch being created in the Defense Security Command building in Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu, which has since its inception engaged in multifaceted exhibitions of both domestic and overseas contemporary art. Also, as a further component of the MMCA complex, a disused tobacco factory in Cheongju was remodeled to provide a home to the National Art Storage Center.
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Kim Whanki
Kim Whanki (1913-1974, pen name Suhwa) was born in Sinan, Jeollanamdo, and his family origin was from Gimhae. He studied at the Department of Fine Arts at Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan from 1933 to 1936. He joined the Avant-Garde Western Art Institute in 1934 and submitted his work to Avant-Garde art associations, such as the Second Division Exhibition Nikaten (Nika Art Exhibition) and the Exhibition of the Free Artists Association (Jiyu Bijutsuka Kyokai). After independence, he organized the New Realism Group and worked as a professor in the Department of Fine Art at Seoul National University (1946-1950) and Hongik University (1952-55). He lived in Paris from 1956 to 1959, and after his return, he became a professor and later the Dean of the Fine Art College at Hongik University (1959-1963). He participated in the seventh Sao Paulo Biennale and won an honorary award, and then moved to New York. He abruptly passed away while having a solo exhibition at Poindexter Gallery, New York, ironically when his career in the US was at its peak. As a pioneer of Korean abstract art, he started by working in geometric abstraction and moved on to semi-abstract work that featured natural motifs such as the mountain, the moon, and the river. After moving to the U.S., he returned to abstraction with his so-called "dot paintings." His painting 16-Ⅳ-70 #166 Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again? (1970), was awarded a grand prize at the Korean Art Grand Award Exhibition and has inspired many contemporary Korean artists. His work Rondo (1938) was selected as No. 535 within the national Registered Cultural Properties.
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Fact and Reality
Fact and Reality was a Hyperrealism artist organization that was active in the 1970s. Alumni of Hongik University’s art college, such as Kwon Soo-an, Kim Kangyong, Kim Yongjin, Seo Jungchan, Song Yoonhee, Jo Deokho, Ju Taeseok and Ji Seokcheol, were the main members. Their works demonstrated a precise style of painting that accurately depicted everyday materials that could be obtained around them, such as sand, bricks, cushions, tables, and railroad tracks. Fact and Reality members tried to systematize Hyperrealism painting as a collective group, arguing that their work is fundamentally different from Realism by presenting a new approach to reality. From March 2 to March 8, 1978, the group held a foundational exhibition at the Korea Culture and Arts Foundation Art Center and held a regular exhibition every year until 1982. Facts and Reality members were painters who led the so-called “People's Era,” which began in earnest in the late 1970s, and won awards at numerous private exhibitions, including the 1978 The Korean Art Grand Award Exhibition and the JoongAng Fine Arts Prize.
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