조은정
한국에 거주하고 있는 작가들의 작품을 바라보는 시각은 한국이 그들에게 어떤 영향을 미쳤는가에 대한 고찰로 시작된다. 다분히 근대성을 버리지 못한 시각임에도 한국이 외국의 시선에 영향을 미쳤기를 기대하는 것이다. 현대작가들의 특성인 노마드적 삶과 그에 따른 공간의 영향관계가 드러나는 미술 내부의 전시임이 틀림없다. 다만 제주도에 들어선다는 유니버설 스튜디오가 먼저 떠올라 이 ‘유니버설’한 상황에 대해 자못 당황을 금치 못했음은 사실이다.
Korea seen through eyes of foreign artists
The works expose those aspects of Korea that go little noticed by its nationals. The museum gathered 13 artists from 10 countries including Japan, Germany, India and Singapore to present their own unique perspectives on Korean society.
“To select foreign artists, I looked at a list of long-term foreign residents in Korea. Foreign residents staying long term in Korea account for 2.3 percent of the total population here,” said Jo Ara, curator of the exhibition at the press preview on Tuesday.
“We excluded those who stayed short term and whose views are not out of a tourists’ perspective yet.”
Called “Universal Studios,” the exhibition features photographs, paintings, installations and video works. They are notable not just in terms of the context they deal with, but also in terms of visual interpretation.
German artist Alfred 23 Harth, who’s been living in the border city of Paju, found abandoned structures that were once part of a kindergarten roof. He thought the roof like the towers of Western castles. They resemble looked the castle tops of a Russian palace, colored in pastel pink and green. The “unnecessary imitation” from the West is brought to the exhibition space and displayed with shattered pieces of celadon.
“We (as artists living and working in Korea for a long time) have a responsibility to dig deeper because we live here for a long time. We have a better understanding of some deep aspects of the society that no one has recognized before,” said Harth.
Another German artist, Ingo Baumgarten, finds links between two-story residential buildings built between the 1970s and 1990s in Seoul and modern houses in Germany in his series of paintings. Currently working as professor of Western painting at the Art College of Hongik University, Baumgarten draws similarities between German and Korean houses from their exteriors and examines parts that have become old-fashioned due to Korea’s fast-changing tastes and lifestyles.
“Houses and buildings are the first thing one sees, when one begins to explore a city,” he wrote in the exhibition book. “I developed a special interest in certain houses… Architecture acts as a stage or background for almost every activity, for people’s life in the city,” the artist explained.
Japanese artist Kondo Yukako records uneventful daily life within still-life paintings of everyday objects such as her baby’s medicine bottles and diapers. Following 17th century Dutch still-life painting, she calmly portrays the food table set up for the ancestral rites of her Korean husband’s family. Painting everyday objects could be the easiest way for her to continue her art in Korea, but it’s also one way to “realize the transience of life and add the beautiful weight of it,” according to the artist’s note.
The exhibition continues through Aug. 10 at the Seoul Museum of Art. A roundtable discussion with the participating artists will be held from 2-5 p.m. on June 26 at the museum. A talk with two artists, Paul Kajander and Luuk Schroder, is scheduled for July 3.
For more information, visit http://sema.seoul.go.kr.
Called “Universal Studios,” the exhibition features photographs, paintings, installations and video works. They are notable not just in terms of the context they deal with, but also in terms of visual interpretation.
German artist Alfred 23 Harth, who’s been living in the border city of Paju, found abandoned structures that were once part of a kindergarten roof. He thought the roof like the towers of Western castles. They resemble looked the castle tops of a Russian palace, colored in pastel pink and green. The “unnecessary imitation” from the West is brought to the exhibition space and displayed with shattered pieces of celadon.
“We (as artists living and working in Korea for a long time) have a responsibility to dig deeper because we live here for a long time. We have a better understanding of some deep aspects of the society that no one has recognized before,” said Harth.
Another German artist, Ingo Baumgarten, finds links between two-story residential buildings built between the 1970s and 1990s in Seoul and modern houses in Germany in his series of paintings. Currently working as professor of Western painting at the Art College of Hongik University, Baumgarten draws similarities between German and Korean houses from their exteriors and examines parts that have become old-fashioned due to Korea’s fast-changing tastes and lifestyles.
“Houses and buildings are the first thing one sees, when one begins to explore a city,” he wrote in the exhibition book. “I developed a special interest in certain houses… Architecture acts as a stage or background for almost every activity, for people’s life in the city,” the artist explained.
Japanese artist Kondo Yukako records uneventful daily life within still-life paintings of everyday objects such as her baby’s medicine bottles and diapers. Following 17th century Dutch still-life painting, she calmly portrays the food table set up for the ancestral rites of her Korean husband’s family. Painting everyday objects could be the easiest way for her to continue her art in Korea, but it’s also one way to “realize the transience of life and add the beautiful weight of it,” according to the artist’s note.
The exhibition continues through Aug. 10 at the Seoul Museum of Art. A roundtable discussion with the participating artists will be held from 2-5 p.m. on June 26 at the museum. A talk with two artists, Paul Kajander and Luuk Schroder, is scheduled for July 3.
For more information, visit http://sema.seoul.go.kr.
By Lee Woo-young
http://khnews.kheraldm.com/view.php?ud=20140619001031&md=20140622004136_BK
June 2014
Seoul
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