Connecting the DNA of Korean Embroidery: Two Artists Across Time
Creatrip Team
20 days ago
Two major Korean artists—contemporary Seo Do-ho (b.1960s) and modernist Lee Dae-won (1921–2005)—are each holding popular solo exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul and Deoksugung. Though from very different eras, both draw on Korean traditional crafts—especially embroidery (jasu)—as core elements of their visual language. Seo, known for textile-based installations and a signature ‘house’ motif, presented large-scale ‘‘embroidered paintings’ made by stitching colored thread onto gelatin-treated paper and dissolving the gelatin to leave thread images; he also uses rubbings (takbon) of a hanok (traditional Korean house) to reintroduce architectural memory. Lee, a self-taught figure who later led Hongik University, blended Western oil painting with traditional Korean aesthetics—keeping colored strokes separate like threads—to produce his later “Farm” (Nongwon) series influenced by embroidery, lacquer inlay (najeon), ceramics and textile objects. Both shows highlight how traditional Korean techniques continue to shape contemporary and modern Korean art. Exhibition runs: Seo’s show through Mar 29 (next year); Lee’s through Nov 8.
