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Flood of Exhibitions Abroad

In the 1970s, there was an overseas rush to participate in national-level exhibitions. After the Paris Biennale
and the Tokyo International Print Biennale, Korean artists took part in the Triennale-India in 1971, the Cagnes
International Festival of Painting in 1970, the Spain Biennale in 1972, the Uruguay Biennale in 1975, the
Sydney Biennale in 1976, and the British International Print Biennale in 1979. In this way, Korean artists
widened their scope of activity to many different countries.
Meanwhile, the exhibition White Korea: Five Artists, Five Hinsek held at Tokyo Gallery in 1975 played a
pivotal role in introducing Korean monochrome art. The artists were chosen by Yusuke Nakahara, who honed
in on the unique aesthetic aspects underlying Korean art, which distinguishes it from the art of other countries.
Korean monochrome art, combining contemporary trends with native ideals of beauty, represented immense
development considering the short history of Western art in the country. Facet: Korean Contemporary Art,
held two years later at Tokyo Central Museum of Art, also featured many monochrome artists and was
indicative of the positive response to monochrome art in Japan.

The 1980s saw a rush of Korean artists making a foray into Japan. The Phase of Korean Contemporary Art
and Contemporary Formative Exhibition of Paper of Korea were held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum
of Art in 1982 and 1983, respectively, while Korean Contemporary Art Exhibition: The Latter Half of the
1970s, An Aspect was held at the Tokyo Art Museum in 1983. There were also exhibitions that focused on
drawings such as Korea Drawing Now at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Drawings by Korean
Contemporary Artists at the LA Artcore Gallery, Korean Prints and Drawings in Yugoslavia, Korean
Contemporary Paper Exhibition at the University of Washington, and Contemporary Formative Exhibition of
Paper in Kyoto.
In addition, exhibitions of minjung misul (peoples art), which was a big movement in the 1980s, were also
held overseas, the most notable being Minjung Art, a New Cultural Movement in Korea at Artist Space in
New York in 1988. Across the Pacific: Contemporary Korean and Korean American Art held at the
Queens Museum of Art in 1993, featured works of social criticism by Korean-American artists based in New
York and Korean activist artists. The Seoul-Paris Exhibition held at Centre National des Arts Plastiques in
Paris in 1986 was particularly significant in that it was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of
diplomatic relations between Korea and France, which are close relations when it comes to art.

Korean art started to become a real presence in the international scene in the 1990s and the 2000s.
Monochrome artists held a successful exhibition titled Working with Nature at the Tate Gallery in Liverpool
in 1992, The Tigers Tail exhibition was held to commemorate the foundation of the Korean Pavilion at the
Venice Biennale in 1995, and the same year Yuk Keun-byung became the first Korean artist after Paik Namjune to be invited to take part in Kassel Documenta in Germany. Korean artists started to receive international
recognition with three artists receiving special awards at three consecutive Venice Biennales, Jeon Soo-cheon

in 1995, Kang Ik-joong in 1997, and Lee Bul in 1999, a feat matched by few countries. Korea first took part
in the Venice Biennale in 1986 with the art critic Lee Il as commissioner and artists Koh Yeong-hun and Ha
Dong-cheol participating.
In the new millennium, art fairs have all but taken over the overseas exhibition scene. Koreas first step in this
direction was taken in 1984 when Jin Gallery took part in FIAC (Foire Internationale dArt Contemporain),
which was held at Grand Palais in Paris. Since then Korean artists have been appearing at art fairs all over the
world, including Chicago, Basel, Miami, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, and
Taipei. Such international art fairs showed there was a market for Korean art and at the same time infused
artists with confidence in their international appeal. Indeed, in 2007, Korea became the first Asian nation to be
the guest country at the 26th ARCO Art Fair held in Madrid, Spain. Some 90 artists affiliated with 14 galleries
took part in the fair, which featured a special exhibition of Korean art.
Koreas participation in art fairs is steadily growing. While no country is completely free from the effects of the
global economic crisis, Korean artists are seeing good results at art fairs around the world. In 2010, 24
domestic galleries took part in some 10 art fairs, showing the world the progress in Korean art so far. The
Korean International Art Fair (KIAF), held in Seoul, is vying for a leading position in Asia with similar events
based in Melbourne, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, and Singapore.
The exhibition Overseas Advance of Korean Modern Art held at Kim Dal-jin Museum of Art Materials
featured a range of catalogs, leaflets, and video materials from overseas exhibitions such as the Paris Biennale,
the first to involve Korean artists on a national level, to exhibitions in the 1990s. The collection of materials
scattered around the world is an impressive feat, and the major contents have been compiled into a digital
database that provides an overview of Koreans participating at overseas exhibitions.
More than just a simple display of related materials, the exhibition encapsulated and attested to developments
in the Korean art scene. While looking round the museum, I couldnt help thinking that, while participation in an
overseas exhibition was no more than a dream in the 1950s, it has now become so common that we dont
think twice about it. But the exhibition made it evident that todays achievements were built on the sacrifices
and labor of early modern artists.
What is it that made Korean artists so emotional about taking part in an overseas exhibition? Rather than
individual concerns, the artists tended to feel the kind of pride that athletes would feel when competing for
Korea in the Olympic Games. Like David boldly taking on the giant Goliath, the artists went overseas armed
with the same kind of bravado. These artists from an emerging country overcame the adverse conditions
surrounding them with their passion for creation and the originality of their works. Compared to the 1950s and
60s when the nation did not have the money to send artists overseas, the art environment has improved greatly
with artists taking part in overseas exhibitions under the support of various organizations. In this respect, its a
great joy to monitor the progress of Korean artists.
2011-10-31