The 15 Years of Korean Minjoong Arts: 1980-1994 Invitation, 1994, MMCA Art Research Center Collection
Minjung Art
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art by Korea Arts Management Service
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Oh Yoon
Oh Yoon (1946-1986) is a sculptor, printmaker, and painter who participated in the Minjung art movement in the 1980s. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture at the College of Fine Arts, at Seoul National University. In 1969, while still a student at Seoul National University, he participated in the preparation of the inaugural exhibition of Reality Group [Hyeonsil dongin] with Kim Yoon-Soo, Kim Jiha, Oh Kyunghwan, and Lim Setaek, and began to explore the socially critical Minjung art movement. After graduating from university, he stayed in Gyeongju for two years to study traditional arts, such as stone Buddhist sculptures and terracotta figurines and set up a tile factory in Byeokje to start working with terracotta. The terracotta relief mural on the interior wall of the Guui-dong Branch of the Commercial Bank in Seoul and the terracotta relief mural on the exterior wall of the Dongdaemun Branch of the Commercial Bank are examples of his work from this period. In 1979, Oh Yoon participated as a founding member of Reality and Utterance [Hyeonsilgwa bareon] and continued to exhibit in the members’ exhibitions of Reality and Utterance, exhibiting socially engaged paintings, woodblock prints and banner paintings. His works evolved from his interest in the lives of laborers and peasants, and folk culture such as traditional performing arts and folktales. In the 1980s, he perfected his woodblock print style, focusing on portraits that exquisitely expressed condensed power and Korean sentiments of han (resentment) and sinmyeong (mirth). He created woodblock illustrations and covers for a number of publications, including Kim Jiha's Ojeok (Five thieves), and in 1986 he published a book of woodblock prints, Kal norae (song of sword). His representative works include the series Marketing, Dawn of Labor (1985), and the large banner painting, Great Desires for Unification (1985).
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Reality Group
An artists’ group concerned with the creation of a national aesthetic and realism. The group was formed by Oh Yoon, Lim Setaek, and Oh Kyunghwan, who were students at the Seoul National University College of Fine Arts in 1969. The inaugural exhibition of Reality Group was originally planned to be held at the Sinmunhoegwan Gallery from October 25 to 31, 1969, but the exhibition was canceled due to pressure from local authorities, after it was reported to the government by the university. However, knowledge about the existence of the group and its aims resulted from the inclusion of the 1st Declaration of the Reality Group (written by aesthetics major Kim Jiha and edited by Kim Yoon-Soo) in the catalogue for the inaugural exhibition. The stated goal of the Reality Group was to establish a new national art theory based on realist art that could usefully account for Korean tradition of visual culture. This influence of this approach was kept alive through Oh Yoon’s participation in the Reality and Utterance (Hyunsilgwa bareon) of the 1980s.
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Reality and Utterance
A group formed in 1979 by artists and critics that criticized the contradictory nature of industrial society and the conservatism of the art community. The group formed during preparations for an exhibition to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1960 April Revolution. The group emphasized a realistic attitude, namely that art must depict reality and reveal the underlying contradictions of society. The group borrowed from or copied pop culture images, and also used photography, prints, comics, reproductions, and collages. Such methods were considered a means to help critically address the overabundance of visual images in contemporary Korean society, the issues of urbanization, and the colonial nature of Korean culture.
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