Now In Korea
Postwar Young Artists' Modernist Experiments: 'Modern Art Association 1957–1960'
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Cheongju opened 'Encounter: Modern Art Association 1957–1960', presenting 156 works by 11 artists and 30 archive pieces that document a brief but pivotal chapter in Korean modern art. Formed by mainly Japan-trained young artists reacting against the conservative National Exhibition (Gukjeon) system after the Korean War, the Modern Art Association sought a 'third way' beyond realism and radical informel (French: art informel) abstraction. Between 1957 and 1960 they held six shows experimenting with abstract languages that translated everyday life and nature into textured, reflective works—treating abstraction as an attitude integrating life, spirit, reality, and thought. Featured artists include Kim Kyung, Moon Shin, Park Ko-seok, Han Mook, Hwang Yeom-su, Yoo Young-guk, Lee Kyu-sang, Im Wan-gyu, Jeong Kyu, Jeong Jeom-sik, and Chun Kyung-ja. Highlights include Kim Kyung’s textured grattage piece 'Encounter' (1960), Jeong Kyu’s geometric 'Church' (1955), and first-time showings of works by Hwang Yeom-su, Park Ko-seok, Yoo Young-guk, and Han Mook. The exhibition—organized in three sections covering pre-association formation, the association’s active years, and developments up to the mid-1970s—also features an AI-based video work recreating the artists’ postwar environments. Curators emphasize the group’s overlooked but influential problem-consciousness that later fed into Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting) and minjung (people’s) art movements. The show runs through March 8 next year.
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