Re-reading IV
A Critical Re-examination of Early Abstract Painting (2004)
Issue
Early Korean abstraction has often been explained as a delayed reception of Western abstract painting. Such interpretations overlook the historical conditions and artistic motivations of Korean artists.
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“Abstraction from suffering” Exhibition, MIA, 2004
Catalogue for the Exhibition “Abstract Blossomed from Adversity,” Commemorating the 2004 Artist of the Year Award
* The title “Abstraction from Suffering” reflects an early attempt to articulate abstraction in Korea as emerging not solely from formal inquiry, but through historical adversity and cultural displacement.
Key Argument
Rather than treating abstraction as stylistic adoption, this project reinterprets early abstract painting as a cultural response formed within Korea’s historical conditions.
Method / Curatorial Focus
The exhibition proposed a visual argument through chronological arrangement. While Western modernist painting moved from Form → Informel, Korean artists often developed in the opposite direction, from Informel → Form, reflecting different historical trajectories.
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Dialogic interview with Tschang-Yeul Kim,
Pyeongchang-dong Residence, August 29, 2003
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“Re-reading Korean Contemporary Art IV” Seminar, Seminar Room, Arko Art Center, November 29, 2003
Archival Significance
This project attempted to reinterpret early Korean abstraction as part of the internal formation of Korean contemporary art rather than as a peripheral echo of Western modernism.