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CULTURE
A Look at
Contemporary Korean Artists
in Paris
BY LEE JI-YOON
STAFF WRITER
“A High Place”
by Oh You-kyeong
“Deux Sceurs-Tricoteuse (A Woman Who is
Knitting)” by Sung Ji-yeon
While New York is a dynamic
art market where artists compete
fiercely for artistic opportunities,
Paris has long been an inspiration
in itself for many renowned
artists around the world. Korean artists
are no exception.
According to the Korean Embassy
in Paris, there are some 1,000 Korean
artists officially registered in its database.
Many belong to local galleries
and are helped financially by the
French government, which supports
artists regardless of nationality.
“France is a country that has a
long artistic tradition of respecting
artists and art. People there understand
and accept any forms of artistic
trials. So artists can attempt anything
regardless of the trend at the time,”
said Kim Mi-jin, art director of the exhibition
“Contemporary Korean Artists
in Paris,” which was held in November
at Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul.
Last year the museum launched a
city-themed project introducing artworks
of Korean artists doing art in
overseas countries. Following the first
New York exhibition, this year’s exhibition
featured 21 artists based in France
coming from different generations.
The first section “Root of a Myth”
showed works by the first generation
of artists who were sent to the country
as government scholarship students in
the 1950s and 1960s, the artistic heyday
of Paris. They explored the root of
contemporary Western art based on
Asian identity.
Rhee Seun-dja, now in her 90s, expresses
beautiful nature treasured in
childhood memories through trees and
light.
Inspired by Buddhism and Taoism,
Kim Tschang-yeul, who has stayed in
Paris since 1969, examines the movement
of water drops that change and
disappear as time goes by.
The next generation has pursued
the essence of art by dealing with the
issue of abstractness and representation,
as presented in the “Exploring
Expression as the Material” section.
Kwon Sun-cheol, 65, focuses on
faces of ordinary Koreans by using
thick and rough matiere. Kwon stayed
at an atelier building, called “Sonamu”
(pine trees in Korean), located in Elssyles-Moulineaux,
southwestern Paris,
in the 1990s. Some Korean artists
transformed a steel structure, once a
military hangar during the Second
World War, into an artistic space
housing 46 ateliers — 20 for Koreans.
Until its dissolution in 2001, it had
been a beloved space where expat
artists from around the world used to
exchange artistic ideas.
Much attention was paid especially
to the “Temperate Desire” section, which
showed unique and exciting artworks of
young artists ranging from those who
worked in the 1990s to 20-somethings
who recently arrived in Paris.
Yoo Hye-sook, who moved to
France in 1987, takes everyday objects
such as towels and clothes, turning
them into a black mass. With countless
pencil touches on them, the mass becomes
a lively fur-like creature. “A
pencil was the most humble tool I could
take,” she said. For Yoo, France has
been a space where she is able to concentrate
solely on herself and understand
other people and things, she said.
The photography of Park Soohwan,
who majored in composition,
visualizes city landscapes through
musical images. “We are living in a
world where visual images are dominant.
I want to revive our losing sense
“Le Visage (The Face)” by Kwun Sun-cheol
“METRONOME II” by Park Soo-hwan
of hearing along with imagination,”
Park, who has been in Paris for 13
years, said in an e-mail interview.
Park pointed out the family atmosphere
of the city’s Korean art community
as the most special thing about
Paris. “Unlike New York, Korean artists
in Paris get along with one another like
family members. We don’t hesitate to
talk about the works of others and accept
their advice very sincerely.”
Contemporary Korean art has been
overshadowed by Japanese and
Chinese art in the international art
scene. Compared to those of the other
two countries, Korean artists have expressed
Asian identity less openly and
people regarded Korean art as not
unique, said Kim, the art director.
“Times have changed. Old boundaries
that divided and defined the art
world have disappeared. Ironically, the
high quality of Korean art and the
newness of ideas started to be reappraised
and are gaining attention. And
that is best represented by Korean
artists in Paris,” she said. ■
(Photos courtesy of Seoul Arts Center)
30 KOREA DECEMBER 2008
DECEMBER 2008 KOREA 31