Folk Painting Freshness Opens the Year: Gallery Hyundai’s New Minhwa Exhibition
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
Gallery Hyundai in Samcheong-dong opens the year with “Solemnity and Creativity: Variations of Korean Minhwa,” a show of late Joseon to colonial-era court paintings and minhwa (folk paintings). Highlighted works include a surreal 8-panel plum blossom book-shelf screen and a rare twin-dragon screen thought to reflect Korea’s short-lived imperial period. The exhibition contrasts refined court screens featuring auspicious motifs (deer, turtles, herbs) and hybrid images appealing to Japanese tastes (peacocks, phoenixes) with free-spirited grassroots minhwa by anonymous provincial painters that respond to modern life — even depicting steam trains. A concurrent show presents six contemporary artists who reinterpret traditional folding-screen formats and motifs, using materials like silk, mother-of-pearl, and wool to blend classic imagery with installation and surreal touches. The show runs through Feb 28 and signals a broader renewed interest in Korean traditional culture amid recent K-content waves.
