ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH 2005 - 7th International Art Fair

Cross-currents:
Sixteen Artists from South Korea

presented at:
ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH 2005
7th International Art Fair
Congressional Center Zurich
13 - 16 October 2005


Jae-Seung Noh	Myungil Lee	Yong-Chul Lee


Byung Lak Do

Cross-currents: Sixteen Artists from South Korea

Korean art has traditionally been susceptible to two tendencies, influence from abroad and a return to its own roots. These two tendencies are observable, for example, in 16th century Korean practice, where artistic expression was preoccupied with Chinese styles, and again in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it departed from the imitation of Chinese models to establish many new styles of its own (the landscapes of Chinkyoung, for example).

In the early 20th century Korean art again came under the domination of foreign influence, this time western in origin. The western influence on Korean art has persisted for about a century. For many years artists worked under the sway of French impressionism, until the American school of Abstract Expressionism came to dominate Korean art as a form of antithesis in competition with the early French influence.

In distinction to this westernizing tendency, beginning in the early 1990s Korean art has taken a new turn. This change has been generated both from within the so-called "western painting group" and from within a rival group pursuing more traditional painting. As if they had conspired with one another, both groups have produced complementary bodies of work, each mixing Korean with western tendencies in a somewhat impure amalgam.

Thus many artists belonging to the "western painting group" have borrowed elements from Korean tradition, while more traditional painters have absorbed many western elements, especially concepts. Though both these complementary tendencies have been obvious to most observers, there has as yet been found no precise way to define the phenomena.

Nor have all critics regarded these tendencies alone as the predominant tendencies within contemporary Korean art. Other earlier trends that have also reasserted themselves have seemed to some more important. In particular, there have been efforts to restore the tradition of the old tomb murals of ancient Korea (~668 A.C.) and of vanished traditions of folk art. Both activities were typical of 20th century revisionism.

In this exhibition we have chosen to present the present state of Korean contemporary art under the name "Cross-currents." Our intention is not to define, much less to prescribe, the cutting edge of Korean art today, but rather to reflect its complex diversity.

Young Jay Lee, Korean critic and curator of the Cross-currents

Organization:
BB International Fine Arts GmbH,
Churerstrasse 101, CH-8808 Pfaeffikon, Switzerland
Phone +41 (0)76 3322436

All photographies and textes on this site are free to publish for press releases. All reproduced art works are destinated for press release. The art works are property of the artists. All other use is strictly forbidden. A copy from your publication is kindly requested. We can send you photos as slides or on cd on your demand. See Copyright.
(c) Copyright 1999-2006 by BB International Fine Arts GmbH Switzerland