• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.305-314
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• 2016

In this study, an analysis is performed for comparing the fractal dimension of Jackson Pollock's art works with that of Korean Infomel art works. In order to test the hypothesis that Jackson Pollock's fractal dimension is different from Korean Informel's, data is collected for the fractal dimensions of 30 Jackson Pollock's and 45 Korean Informel art works. The results show that Korean Informel's fractal dimension is larger than Jackson Pollock's. This might be interpreted that the pattern (in finer scale) of Korean Informel art works is closer to planes, rather than lines or points, compared to that of Jackson Pollock's.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.172-195
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• 2019

Among the paintings of Goam Lee Ungno (1904-1989), his works of the 1960s in Paris have been evaluated as his most avant-garde works of experimenting with and innovating objects as an artist. At that time, his works, such as Papier Colle and Abstract Letter, were influenced by abstract expressionism and Western Art Informel, illustrating his transformation from a traditional artist into a contemporary artist. An exhibition, which was held prior to his going to Paris in March 1958, has received attention because it exhibited the painting style of his early Informel art. Taking this into consideration, this study was conducted by interpreting his work from two perspectives; first, that his works of 1958 were influenced by abstract expressionism and Art Informel, and, second, that he expressed Xieyi (寫意) as literati painting, focusing on the fact that Lee Ungno first started his career adopting this style. In this paper, I aimed to confirm Lee Ungno's recognition of Art Informel and abstract painting, which can be called abstract expressionism. To achieve this, it was necessary to study Lee's painting theory at that time, so I first considered Hae-gang Kim Gyu-jin whom Lee Ungno began studying painting under, and his paintings during his time in Japan. It was confirmed that in order to escape from stereotypical paintings, deep contemplation of nature while painting was his first important principle. This principle, also known as Xieyi (寫意), lasted until the 1950s. In addition, it is highly probable that he understood the dictionary definition of abstract painting, i.e., the meaning of extracting shapes from nature according to the ideas which became important to him after studying in Japan, rather than the theory of abstract painting realized in Western paintings. Lee Ungno himself also stated that the shape of nature was the basis of abstract painting. In other words, abstractive painting and abstract painting are different concepts and based on this, it is necessary to analyze the paintings of Lee Ungno. Finally, I questioned the view that Lee Ungno's abstract paintings of the 1950s were painted as representative of the Xieyi (寫意) mind of literary art painting. Linking traditional literary art painting theory directly to Lee Ungno, who had been active in other worlds in space and time, may minimize Lee Ungno's individuality and make the distinction between traditional paintings and contemporary paintings obscure. Lee Ungno emphasized Xieyi (寫意) in his paintings; however, this might have been an emphasis signifying a great proposition. This is actually because his works produced in the 1950s, such as Self-Portrait (1956), featured painting styles with boldly distorted forms achieved by strong ink brushwork, a style which Lee Ungno defined as 'North Painting.' This is based on the view that it is necessary to distinguish between Xieyi (寫意) and 'the way of Xieyi (寫意) painting' as an important aspect of literary art painting. Therefore, his paintings need a new interpretation in consideration of the viewpoint that he represented abstract paintings according to his own Xieyi (寫意) way, rather than the view that his paintings were representations of Xieyi (寫意), or rather a succession of traditional paintings in the literary artist's style.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.16
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• pp.7-40
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• 2013

Historian Eric J. Hobsbawm once said "the task that historians have is to analyze the meanings of the past within the context of society and to track the changes and implementation." It would not be too far of a stretch to apply Hobsbawm's quote to art historian since art history, although quite specific, is still history. In addition, Hobsbaum also asserted that, "a mold called the past continuously forms the present or at least thought to be." It is my recognition that the major westernization of the last century took place under the Japanese colonization which served as the channel to usher in western art; however, the current 20thcentury Korean art history fails to recognize that the mold of the past, namely western art in this case, has formed the modern art of the present. Based on this recognition, attention was given to what lacked in the analysis of the current 20th-century Korean art history in terms of "Informel" which was identified as the turning point towards "modern art" in the Korean art history as well as the following "experimental art." My belief is that the art history of Korea has to be reassessed from, a socio-cultural perspective as well as adopting multi-level and diachronic understanding. However, the existing Korean art, especially the one between the end of 1950s to the 1970s was based on the perspective of "severance"; thus, raising the needs for the starting point of a new perspective. It is my conviction that meta perspective on writing is most essential in order to lay a solid basis for the Korean art scene to have a productive discussion. I feel the utmost necessity to reinterpret the typified history analysis and criticism which stemmed from the trauma under the Japanese colonization. The most urgent task is to avoid academic closeness and to share the research. Painting is an individual expression of the artist, but the act of expression is not free from the cultural and societal influence to which the artist belongs.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.16
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• pp.107-137
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• 2013

This paper examines a number of Korean artists-Whanki Kim, Po Kim, Byungki Kim, Lim Choong-Sup, Min Byung-Ok and etc-working in New York in the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on their motivations to head for the U.S. and their life and activity in the newly-emerged city of international art. The thesis was conceived based upon the fact that New York has been one of the major venues for Korean artists in which to live, study, travel and stay after the Korean War. Moreover, the United States, since 1945, has had a tremendous influence upon Korea politically, socially, economically, and, above all, culturally. This study is divided into three major sections. The first one attends to the reasons that these artists moved out of Korea while including in this discussion, the long-standing yearning of the Korean intelligentsia to experience more modernized cultures, and American postwar cultural policies that stimulated them to envision life beyond their national parameters, in a country heavily entrenched in Cold War ideology. The second part examines these artists' pursuit of abstraction in New York where it was already losing its avant-garde status as opposed to the style's cutting edge cache in Korea. While their turn to abstraction was outdated from New York's critical perspective, it was seen to be de rigueur for Koreans that had developed through phases from Art Informel in the 1960s to Dansaekhwa (monochromatic paintings) in the 1970s. The third part focuses on the artists' struggle while caught between a dualistic framework such as Korea/U.S, East/West, center/margin, traditional/modern, and abstraction/figuration. Despite such dichotomic frames, they identified abstract art as the epitome of pure, absolute art, which revealed their beliefs inherited from western modernism during the colonial period before 1910-1945. In fact, their reality as immigrants in America put them in a diasporic space where they oscillated between the fixed, essentialist Korean identity and the floating, transforming identity as international artists in New York or Korean-American artists. Thus their abstract and semi-abstract art reflect the in-between identity from the diasporic space while demonstrating their yearning for a land of political freedom, intellectual fulfillment and the continuity of modern art's legacy imposed upon them over the course of Korea's tumultuous history in the twentieth century and making the artists as precursor of transnational, transcultural art of the global age in the twenty-first century.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.7
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• pp.7-36
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• 2009

This paper intends to examine the significance of the "Minjoong Misool(People's art)" of the 1980s emerged in Korea in its social, cultural, and art historical context. This paper also aims to provide an analysis of the meaning and form of the individual artist's works, which have been overlooked under the dominant discourse that has emphasized their political role as a collective group. In particular, this paper scrutinizes the work of "Critical Realists" by examining the way in which they perceived Korean society in the early 1980s and visualized their experiences of the period. The figurative art newly emerged in the early 1980s challenged the formalist Modernism, which was adopted into Korea and translated into monochrome paintings and the work of the conversative academicism of the 1970s. The figurative art encouraged a social communication and moreover it intended to criticize the conflicts in the political, economical, and social domains in Korea. The targets of its critique include the unavoidable results of the unprecedented development of economy, various social phenomena of the post-industrial society, and the growth of the commercialized kitsch culture. Along with Shin, Hak-chul's work that incorporates collage technique since the 1980s, the work of some members of "Reality and Utterance" and "Im- sul-nyun" exemplify their critical interests in disclosing the false dream of wealth and happiness by both referring to and drawing on the utopian fantasy manipulated and distributed by mass media and commercial advertisements. This paper pays particular attention to Nouvelle Figuration emerged in France and Europe during the 1960s, which is comparable to the new figurative art emerged in Korea during the 1980s. Nouvelle Figuration criticized the autonomy in art isolated itself from political and social reality after WWII, in particular the indifference of Informel and abstract art as well as American abstract art. Moreover it became rather politicized around May of 1968. Given that French Nouvelle Figuration was introduced in Korea in 1982 and made a significant contribution to the formation of figurative art in Korea, it should be noted that the new figurative art emerged in the 1980s in Korea cannot be categorized merely in relation to People's Art. This paper intends to critically redress the notion that People's art was formed in the particular political, economical, and cultural context of Korea independent of the contemporary artistic practices outside Korea. It will provide a critical examination and analysis of the content and form of the new figurative art, from which People's Art was germinated, in the global context.