Exhibition Information

ONE HEART 1
2013-2020x Fabrics and threads 3000x1200cm

breath
2020 real time simulation

East winds-7
1984 oil and canvas 116.5x91cm

a common belief
1985 oil and canvas 55.5x46cm

			Following liberation from Japanese colonial rule, a substantial change occurred in the Korean art scene that allowed artists to directly come in contact with and embrace Western art. Korean painters aspired to more closely experience the Western art they had come in contact with via Japan in the early modernization period.1) Their advances to the West began in earnest in the 1950s: the internationalization of Korean art accelerated when many artists made a foray into the Parisian art world.

In the 1950s the United States government carried out a wide array of support policies for foreign artists in order to take the initiative in the international art world. Even still, Korean artists preferred France since many had received guidance from Japanese professors who had studied there. Since it was a time when people could not quickly perceive changes in the world, France was regarded as the arresting mainstay of Korean painters’ dreams, success, and art. An atmosphere in which Paris was thought as the hub of contemporary art prevailed in the Korean art community at that time.

As of 2020, our lives have been severely fraught with fear and anxiety due to COVID-19. This event, however, serves as a chance to look back on the past and our surroundings. This exhibition chiefly features works by artists who went to Paris including those selected from the Gwangju Museum of Art’s collection. Works by such artists who have constantly made efforts to internationalize contemporary Korean art and establish its identity enable viewers to reconsider the formation and globalization of contemporary Korean art. We anticipate that this exhibition will stir interest in the global position and orientation of contemporary Korean art.