Now In Korea
Searching a Third Way: Modern Art Association (1957–1960) Marks a Turning Point in Korean Modern Art
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Cheongju, presents “Encounter: Modern Art Association 1957–1960,” revisiting a brief but pivotal moment in postwar Korean art. Formed in 1957 as a reaction against the Academy-style realism dominating the national exhibitions, the Modern Art Association sought a “third way” beyond rigid realism and radical Informel abstraction. Eleven artists—including Park Go-seok, Yoo Young-kuk, Han Muk, and Chun Kyung-ja—experimented with translating everyday life, nature and domestic scenes into an abstract, but distinctly Korean, modernism rather than simply imitating Western abstraction. Although the group dissolved by 1960 due to early deaths, overseas study, and economic hardship, their open, non-dogmatic approach influenced later movements such as monochrome painting (danseokhwa) and minjung (people’s) art. The exhibition of 156 works and 30 archive items (including newly revealed pieces) is organized in three parts: pre-association works showing artists’ makeshift ateliers during displacement; core association works from 1957–1960; and post-dissolution art up to the mid-1970s. Installations include an AI-enhanced video re-creation and essays to contextualize artists’ lives and ideas. The show runs through March 8 next year.
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