Modernism

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For thousands of years Korean art had been developed through the influence of China and Japan. This is because of the geographic location of the Korean peninsula. (Hammer, 2001, p.51). However, since the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) Era they started to distinguish their own art style from China and Japan and this is evident. With the creation of the Korean language (Hangul) in 1443 during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Korea developed their own culture.

 

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As contemporary artist Park Chae-sung mentioned, if the main style of Chinese Painting is shown through their bold lines and the style of Japanese paintings is shown through their various colours, then the way we can distinguish Korean paintings through “the substantial lines like a Korean pot, obang seak (five colours), drawing lines starting from plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo”. As such, the uniqueness of Korean painting can be seen in line and obang colours. Korea has developed the five colours into traditional colours in painting and art genres.

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Joseon Korea began to accept Western culture after the port opened in 1876 and the annexation of Korea and Japan in 1910 and a Western style of painting was also born in the field of paintings. During the Japanese colonial period, most artists began to use oil Painting and Canvases rather than the traditional Korean inks and paper. As Joseon Korea began to accept Western civilization and faced "new” ideologies, in terms of Korean politics, economy, and culture. As it was difficult to establish independent modernity due to the annexation of Korea and Japan in 1910, on 26 February 1876, the Treaty of Kanghwa was concluded after much violence and weeks of negotiations. It forced Joseon to establish diplomatic relations with Japan to open its ports for trade (Kim, 2016, p.11). Many discussions have been raised on the starting point of modern art, but above all, the introduction of Western art became a turning point for art in Korea. Art critic, Lee, Gyeong-Seong had settled on the opening of the Joseon ports in 1876 as the starting point of modernity, stressing that Japanese colonial rule impeded Korea’s own attempts to modernize with the introduction of Western culture. Lee also downplayed “the need to determine the precise starting point of Korean modernity, instead emphasizing the prolonged influx of Western ideology and technology as the defining element of modernization” (Horlyck, 2017).

 

Compared to the West, modernism in Korean art started from the dark history of the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953). In fact, it was illegal for any Koreans to study abroad during the Japanese colonial period, they were only allowed to study in Japanese Universities. (Horlyck, 2017). On the other hand in Japan, abstract monochrome movement began after the Japanese colonial period by a new generation of people without education. ‘Dansaekhwa’ paintings followed the influence of western modernism in an informally visual aspect, but they had developed a unique concept of his own. 

 

Dynamic & Alive Korean Art, that took place in 2021, held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary art, 4 key words were mentioned to explain ‘What is Korean aesthetic’. Those key words were “srong” (sacred and sublime), “a” (elegant and simple), “sok” (decorative and worldly), and “hwa” (dynamic and hybrid). These 4 key words talk about the distinctive styles assimilated with the eastern Asian aesthetic aspect. In conclusion, though Korean paintings have changed and developed by the process of modernisation it represented the Korean culture and also developed its own strong visual identity and heritage, still making it uniquely Korean.

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As I discovered the difference between Korean painting from Chinese and Japanese, I created images by highlighting the Korean art tradition. It is a monochrome image with a monochrome style that is different from Japanese multi-coloured prints and an image that has been worked in five traditional colours. The history of Japanese modernism and the characteristics of painting and printmaking are well known in the West, but not well known in Korea.

Paul mentioned history of modernism in Japan during a lecture at the British Museum. In college, Tony, Paul, Brian, and Leo all identified Korean paper the same as Japanese paper. Through this experience at college, I wanted to introduce the Korean art tradition to the western audience, which are similar in appearance but have different attributes. What is unique about the Korean Art? After researching, I have concluded Korean art to be consisting of the five colours that identified the traditional colours of Korea and their own language, Hangul. By integrating Korean traditional colours with Western modernist abstract images, my artwork embodies a figurative exploration of encounters with Western culture. Through this combination, I aim to represent, through conceptual art, the assimilation, conflict, and transformation that occur when my cultural traditions and conventions intersect with Western influences. The artwork visually depicts the complex interplay and changes that arise from this cultural fusion.

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