Description

Korean Artists Thread their Way

Through the World

Innumerable artists leave their home countries to carry out works and projects as they wander in various countries. They gain strengths in other places and create new art. Unlike nomads who simply had to wander to survive, or the diaspora who were forced to move due to ethnic or religious conflict, today's nomads are understood as cosmopolitans who live for change and creation.

Diaspora: Korean Nomadism is a brief study about international nomads, introducing those who contributed to the development of art in Korea by presenting Korean aesthetic sensibility and artistic creativity to the international world of art, and by introducing the diverse artistic activities they conducted overseas to Korea.

First, the author analyzes the essence of Nomadism and Diaspora, which are also the main topics of the book, using them as concepts to explain Korea's international exchange since modern times. In addition, he explains briefly how these two concepts appeared and developed in the contemporary history of Korea. Following a summary of concepts and history, he selects representative artists including Lee U-fan, Paik Nam June, Suh Do-ho, etc., to retrace their nomadic lives and art journeys and focus on revealing the characteristics of their art. Finally, he organizes the significance and importance of Korean nomadic artists around a few new concepts and concludes with a description of the unique nature and position of Korean artists. This book is a journey to their sweat, passion, and to the land of creation where they have been carving up.

01 Introduction

02 About Nomadism and Diaspora

Nomadism refers to the act of denying existing values, stagnant values and philosophy, and searching for or creating something new. Diasporas do not discriminate among diverse elements but actively takes them in and creates new cultural fusions.

03 Nomadic Tendencies in 20th Century Art

Those who developed modernist art in the early 20th century were for the most part nomads. Today also, many artists leave their homelands, gain strengths in other places and create new art.

04 Diaspora of Korean Art

The history of Korean Diaspora can be divided into four periods and the beginning of dispersion from Korea is documented as the mid 1860s.

05 Modern History of Korean Art and Cultural Flexibility

Korean artists were able to have access to the culture and new arts from overseas directly and indirectly. It was starting from Ko Hui-dong, the first to study in Japan, that Korean artists learned art in Japan, which was westernized. They began their international wandering based mainly in Tokyo.

06 "Koreanness" and Global Culture

In the 1950s, artists Lee U-Fan, Lee Ung-no and Kim Whan-ki, relocated their bases of art activities overseas where they built up their careers and fame.

07 Paik Nam June: The Artist Who Chose Diaspora

Paik Nam June is the most internationally-renowned artist in the history of 20th-century Korean art and the founder of video art, which has become a key element in contemporary art history.

08 Neo Nomads

From the end of the '70s to the '80s, an "exceptional" phenomenon occurred in Korean contemporary art. Around this time, when Korean art consisted mostly of monochrome abstracts, a critical and participatory art movement (Minjung art) emerged.

09 Status and Possibilities of Korean Art in the Era of Globalization

Korean Artists are the mediators of culture and art. And the new nomads of Korea to emerge in the near future will no doubt be armed with technology, art and new ways of thinking.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

01 Introduction

02 About Nomadism and Diaspora

• Nomadism

• Diaspora

03 Nomadic Tendencies in 20th Century Art

04 Diaspora of Korean Art

• History of Korean Diaspora

05 Modern History of Korean Art and Cultural Flexibility

• Strangers of Tokyo: The Students from Joseon

• The First Western-style Painter: "Chungok" Ko Hui-dong

06 "Koreanness" and Global Culture

• Korean Artists in Japan

• To a Broader World: Tokyo, Paris, New York and Seoul

• Lee U-Fan: The Stranger who Pioneered Japanese Monoha

• The Artist Who Went to Paris: Lee Ungno

• Kim Whan-ki: Where Will We Meet Again as What?

07 Paik Nam June: The Artist Who Chose Diaspora

• From Fluxus to the Founder of Video Art

• Paik Nam June and Video Art

• Memories of Paik Nam June

• The Language of Paik Nam June

• The Shade of Paik Nam June

08 Neo Nomads: Kang Ik-joong, Suh Do-ho, Kim Soo-ja, Yang Hae-gue and Nikki S. Lee

• Kang Ik-joong: All Things in Nature

• Kim Soo-ja and Suh Do-ho: Roadmap of Memory

• Yang Hae-gue: Artist Travelling in Search of Home

• Nikki S. Lee: Standing out in a Mixture

09 Status and Possibilities of Korean Art in the Era of Globalization

• Trans-National Identity

Notes

Bibliography

Plates

  AUTHOR INTRODUCTION

Kim Jung-rak

• MFA in Painting, College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University

• Ph. D. in Art History, University of Freiburg, Germany

• Professor of Department of Culture and Liberal Art, Korea National Open University