1945–2009 Online Platform for Korean Modern and Contemporary Art

* Source: Choi Eun-ju, “Organizing the Exhibition Artist of the Year 1995: Jheon Soocheon,” in Artist of the Year 1995: Jheon Soocheon, exhibition catalogue (Gwacheon: National Museum of Contemporary Art, 1995), 128–130. This text has been edited for minor typographical and...

Han Mook, Lee Kyusang, Yoo Youngkuk, Hwang Yeomsoo, and Park Kosuk. The group’s inaugural exhibition marked the first appearance of a group in the Korean art scene that could be described as “avant-garde” since the dissolution of the New Realism Group following its third exhibition...

I. Introduction In the late 1950s, the Korean art world was in search of a new identity in the wake of liberation and the devastation of war. The government-sponsored exhibition system, inherited from the Joseon Art Exhibition under Japanese colonial rule, was reorganized aer independence as the...

of art continued to reveal the residual structures of colonial-era practice—carried over from the Joseon Art Exhibition into the National Art Exhibition—which further entrenched prevailing aesthetic ideologies. Even though many artists had lived through the Korean War and the April 19...

the works presented here were chosen through close consultation with the National Chalcography, The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid, in Spain and based on research materials accumulated over many years by the National Museum of Modern Art, Korea (now, MMCA) I believe that this selection offers a...

the New Art History, have attacked abstraction and modernism with unquestioning certainty?) In any case, I am convinced that the contemporaneity of Korean contemporary art emerged precisely at the point where the opposition between monochrome painting and Minjung art collapsed. When explaining how...

Lee Yil Thinking White? It has been not long since contemporary Korean art was introduced to Japan. The first exhibition of modern Korean art in Japan which reflected the general situation and broad aspects of recent trends was the one held in 1968 at the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art under...

be set aside. It is believed with confidence that such a task will be addressed more clearly in the Seoul Biennale to follow.” *Source: Lee Yil, “Toward a New Perspective,” The First Seoul Biennale (Seoul: National Museum of Contemporary Art, 1974), Exhibition catalogue.

Korean contemporary art had already been sown, and by December of that year they would emerge in the form of Union Exhibition of Korean Young Artists. 2. Diffusion and Reduction (1968–70) The final two years of the 1960s may be regarded as marking another point of departure in the trajectory...

billion Korean won. In the final three months preceding the opening, thirty-five art specialists and nearly four hundred exhibition staff are mobilized. It should also be noted that all matters related to the installation and display of artworks are entirely entrusted to the commissioners appointed...

Weisman Collection (August 26–October 10, 1986). Although each exhibition separately introduced the art of Korea and other countries in Asia, France, and the United States, together, as Commemorative Exhibition of the Opening of the New Museum, they embodied the intention to present Korean art...

had long been an off-limits space and transform it into one of communication with the public.”2 It is, in fact, highly unusual to stage an exhibition in a building that has not been repaired or refurbished after its previous use.3 Moreover, the DSC building had long been closed to th...

practices including Pop, Op, environmental, kinetic, and performance art. It was consolidated in the inaugural AG (Korean Avant-Garde Association) exhibition, The First 1970 AG: Dynamics of Expansion and Reduction (Korean Information Service Gallery, 1970), following the group’s founding in...

In this sense, following the aborted Reality Group Exhibition (Hyeongsil dongin) in 1969 and anticipating the minjung art of the 1980s, these discursive practices rejected “contemporary art” as tainted and compromised, yet sought to rewrite Korean contemporary art in response to the...

reconfiguring this genealogy as the point of origin for present practices, such efforts opened up the imagination of multiple temporalities within Korean art. Precedents thus revisited were recalled, reworked, and reinscribed into contemporary practice, acquiring new significance. This was not only...

a space dedicated to actively presenting Korean modern art. Its inaugural exhibition was Korean Modern Art Revisited (December 1, 1998–March 31, 1999) marked the beginning of strengthened efforts to exhibit and collect works from the modern period, thereby establishing MMCA Deoksugung as a key...

The 1993 exhibition Across the Pacific: Contemporary Korean and Korean-American Art, held at the Queens Museum of Art (now Queens Museum) in New York, can be seen as a starting point for exhibitions of contemporary Korean art that reflected Korea’s political and social realities. The...

Biennale, he co-curated the special exhibition InfoART with Cynthia Goodman and Kim Hong-hee. In the exhibition, he presented Dolmen, an experimental large-scale installation that combined television monitors, Korean jangdokdae—platforms for storing earthenware crocks of sauces and...

exhibition rooted in the curator’s lived experience and engagement with the local community of Gwangju. Equally important was that the emergence of voices in the public sphere was not external, but internal. In order to trace the trajectories of contemporary Korean art and criticism from the...

of the exhibition, featuring two hundred and thirty three artists affiliated with twenty six alternative spaces and collectives across Asia and Europe.10 Project 2: Over There, the Land of Diaspora, curated by Young Soon Min, presented works by twenty four diasporic Korean artists based in Los...

[Joseon munhwa danche chong yeonmaeng] in celebration of Korea’s independence on August 15, 1945. It was designed to showcase the competence of Korean culture by comprehensively staging the seven fields of art including literature, theater, films, Gugak, posters, comics, and art. This exhibiti...

was a special exhibition on the theme of modern and contemporary Korean architecture held at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (now MMCA) from August 31 to October 28 in 1999 under the auspices of the '99 Year of Architecture Organizing Committee. A total of 189 architects and...

such as the Husohoe, Mokwoohoe, Korea Watercolor Association [Hanguk suchaehwa hyeophoe], and the Photo Artists Society of Korea [Hanguk sajin jakga hyeophoe]. Four exhibitions, The Past and Present of Figurative Painting, Watercolor Paintings of Today, Contemporary Prints...

First Seoul Recapture Day." The War Painters Group is an organization of the Korean Armed Forces that took part in the commemoration of the day when the Incheon Landing Operation stopped North Korea's advance and restored Seoul. They played their part by holding an exhibition, and more than...

Korean contemporary art from the 1960s to the 1990s into three keywords: conceptual, virtual, and material. Regarding the intention of organizing the exhibition, Jung stated "Firstly, we chronologically identify the major currents of Korean contemporary art since the Korean War, but do not list...

the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, New Zealand, and supported by the Korea Foundation. It was held from November 18, 2005 to February 26, 2006 at the Christchurch Art Gallery Touring Exhibition Room and the Borg Henry Exhibition Room. It was the first exhibition of Korean contemporary...

Western modernity and modern transformation in each country through the lens of Cubism. The exhibition was organized into four parts, identifying Cubism as the driving force behind each country's distinctive modern art, as it collided and fused with indigenous art forms, traditions, and customs....

the relocation of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea from Deoksugung Palace to Gwacheon, the academic events that were part of the first and second exhibitions of 100 Years of Korean Art were posted online and named the "20th Anniversary of the Relocation to Gwacheon Online...

The Gyeongbuk Art Exhibition was a group exhibition organized by the Gyeongbuk Culture Construction Federation [Gyeongbuk munhwa geonseol yeonmaeng] and held from March 1 to 10, 1946 at the Daegu Public Hall. A Gyeongbuk regional branch of the Central Committee for the Construction of...

MMCA Hyundai Motor Series is an annual exhibition event that has been organized by the MMCA and sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company for ten years since 2014, featuring large-scale solo exhibitions of mid-career Korean artists. It began in November 2013, when Hyundai Motor Company announced a ten-year...

Korea Federation of Cultural Organizations and held an exhibition on the second floor of Busan Joseon Newspaper company. At the time, more than fifty photographs of leftist leaders and the U.S.-Soviet Joint Committee taken by the KPA members were displayed. However, when the division of Korea became...

1950s. Major members include Paik Taewon, Park Daisoon, Yim Hongsoon, Bong Sangkyun, Kang Huisu, Paik Taiho, Lee Dongchan, Lee Shinja, Min Chulhong, and Kwon Giljung. The first member exhibition of the KAAA was held in May 1961 at the Korean Information Service Gallery, and the second edition was h...

as a recommended artist and judge for the National Art Exhibition (Gukjeon) (1966–1983), an advisor to the Korean Contemporary Ceramic Artists Association (Hanguk hyeondae doyegahoe) (1984–2003), chairman of the jury panel for the Korean Crafts Competition (1990), and a member of the...

the sixth Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] in 1927. He then made his presence known in Korean painting circles by submitting his works to the exhibition of the Calligraphy and Painting Association [Seohwa hyeophoe] and to the Eastern painting section of the Joseon Art Exhibition. He...

YATOO Outdoor Field Art Research Association [Yaoe hyeonjang misul yeonguhoe; YATOO] founded in 1981 refused to present (exhibit) their works indoors and instead presented them in nature, coining the term “nature art” amongst themselves. The origins of nature art can be traced back to th...

of the DPRK Arts Festival, the National Art Exhibition is a comprehensive exhibition showcasing selected outstanding works by professional artists and art studio members in various forms of art. It was launched to develop art by publicizing the achievements of rapidly evolving North Korean art and...

it was modeled after the French print fair SAGA. Fifty-seven domestic and overseas galleries, workshops, and related enterprises participated in the first Seoul Print Art Fair held in 1995. At the first edition held at Seoul Arts Center, many galleries exhibited high-quality works....

modern and contemporary art from Asia. The first edition of the exhibition presented 417 works by 417 artists and was divided into two sections with the first section introducing modern art from China, India, and Japan and the second section showcasing contemporary art from thirteen Asian countries....

printmaking techniques and the enlargement of prints. In addition to the exhibition, the MMCA conducted research on the history of Korean printmaking and the reality of the print circles at the time in commemoration of the exhibition. The exhibition catalogue contains the essays “The History...

Won Moonja, Mountain View from Suanbo, Rose, and Peacock by Hong Junghee. In the preface of the exhibition catalogue, Lee Kyungsung wrote that with the successive founding of women artists’ organizations, such as Woman Fine Arts Association [Yeoryu hwagahoe] in 1973...

Kim Yujin, Mok Soohyun, Shin Chunghoon, Study Group 2 │ Korean Art and Exhibition Histories: The Modern / Contemporary

Mok Soohyun, Defining the Period and Scope of “Modern Art”: Glimpse Into Korean Modern Exhibition Series (1997–2000)

Mok Soohyun, 60 Years of Modern Korean Art (1972): Categorizing Modern Art in Korea

Mok Soohyun, “Modern Art” in the Context of Korean Art The Posthumous Exhibition of Three Artists — Kim Junghyun, Gu Bonung and Lee Insung (1954) and Special Exhibition of Modern Korean Painting (1954)

Shin Chunghoon, Korean Art after the “Contemporary Art System”: Rebellion of Space (1995), Global Conceptualism (1999), You Are My Sunshine (2004)

Shin Chunghoon, Toward ‘Korean Contemporary Art’: Korea: The Trend for the Past 20 Years of Contemporary Arts (1978), Korea: Five Artists, Five Hinsek—White (1975), Korea: Facet of Contemporary Art (1977)

Shin Chunghoon, Toward Contemporary Art: Hyundae Fine Artists Association Exhibition (1957), Union Exhibition of Korean Young Artists (1967)

Kim Yujin, From Gwacheon to Seoul: MMCA Seoul’s Beginning of New Era (2009)

Kim Yujin, From Gwacheon to Seoul: Commemorative Exhibition of the Opening of the New Museum at MMCA Gwacheon (1986)

Kim Yujin, The Expansion of the MMCA Venues: Inaugural Exhibition(s) Commemorating Each Opening

Bae Myungji, Jeon Yushin, Kim Hong-Ki, Tiffany Yeon Chae, Study Group 2 │ Korean Art and Exhibition Histories: Globalization

Kim Hong-Ki, The Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1995–1997): Globalizing the Aesthetic Traditions of Korea

Kim Hong-Ki, A Study of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1999–2001): Particularity and Universality in Contemporary Era

Kim Hong-Ki, A Study of Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2003–2005): ‘Site-Specificity’ and articulating the ‘Here and Now’

Jeon Yushin, Reflection of Socio-Political Realities: Across the Pacific (1993), Facing Korea (2003), The Battle of Visions (2005), Activating Korea (2007)

Jeon Yushin, Naturalism and Eastern Tradition: Working with Nature (1992), The Tiger’s Tail (1995), and Leaning Forward, Looking Back (2003)

Jeon Yushin, Korea’s First Generation of Curators and the Overseas Exhibitions of Contemporary Korean Art

Tiffany Yeon Chae, What Can a Biennial Become Here and Now? Two Curatorial Experiments: MAN + SPACE (2000) and P_A_U_S_E_止 (2002)

Tiffany Yeon Chae, Postcolonial Subjects in the Age of Globalisation: Unmapping the Earth (1997) and Annual Report (2008)

Tiffany Yeon Chae, From a Site of Memory to a Global Platform: The Founding of the Gwangju Biennale and Beyond the Borders (1995)

Jang Seungyoun, Rethinking the Everyday Objects, Materials, and the Expansion of Media: This Kind of Art: Dishwashing (1994) and This Kind of Art: Nostalgia (1994)

Jang Seungyoun, The Emergence of “Image Producers” Who Perceive the Everyday and Interpret Reality: Apgujeong-dong: Utopia / Dystopia (1992) and Sub Document (1992)

Jang Seungyoun, The Sharp Emergence of Visual Culture — Memory, and History: Korean Art and Visual Culture After 1945 (1997)

Mun Hye Jin, From BlindSound to 404 Object not found: A Brief but Intense History of Korean Web Art

Mun Hye Jin, The Face of Hybridity: TEUM: Single Channel Video Show vs The Cross: Exhibition for Videography

Mun Hye Jin, Shifting from Technology Art to Video Art: The Early-to-Mid 1990s Video Landscape through the Work of Hong Sungmin

Jung Hyun, Daejeon as a Hub of Art and Science: The Daejeon Art and Science Biennale (2014)

Jung Hyun, Media and Technology in Korean Art of the 1990s

Kang Min-gi, 1945–1953: Independence and “National Art” (Minjok Misul)

Kwon Heangga, 1953-1959: The Post-war Formation of Contemporary Art

Cho Soojin, 1960–1969: Avant-garde Activities and Development of the Art System

Kim Yisoon, 1970-1979: Transformation of the Art World and the Growth of “Korean” Art

Lim Shan, 1980–1989: Expanding Art Practices and the Narrative of the Times

Shin Chunghoon, 1990-1999: Korean Contemporary Art in Globalization

Cho Soojin, Kang Min-gi, Kim Yisoon, Kwon Heangga, Lim Shan, Shin Chunghoon, On Writing Timelines of Korean Art: The Roundtable

Cho Soojin, Kang Min-gi, Kim Yisoon, Kwon Heangga, Lim Shan, Shin Chunghoon, Study Group 1 │ On Writing Timelines of Korean Art: The Keyword