KF뉴스레터-Essence of Korean Culture Captured in Traditional Hanji Works

Essence of Korean Culture Captured in Traditional Hanji Works

When contemporary artist Chun Kwang-young’s solo exhibition at the Mori Arts Center in Tokyo, Japan, opened on February 14, this marked the first-ever event of its kind for a Korean artist. Expressing a universal theme of humanity through the medium of hanji, Korea’s traditional paper, the exhibition served as an occasion to confirm the potential of art works to transcend conventional barriers, such as cultural and language differences as well as national boundaries.

It was impressive to see event posters for Chun Kwang-young’s exhibition around Mori Tower, where the Mori Arts Center is located, in addition to the Roppongi Hills subway station and nearby areas, ahead of the exhibition’s opening on February 14, 2009. Although contemporary art exchanges between Japan and Korea have been ongoing since the 1970s, it was unprecedented for a Korean artist to have a solo exhibition that occupied the entire gallery area of the Mori Arts Center in Tokyo, the heart of Japan’s contemporary art world. Chun Kwang-young has already been highly acclaimed, at home and abroad, for his creative works made with hanji, Korea’s traditional paper. Another exhibition of Chun Kwang-young’s hanji works will be presented at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing in 2010. His works, which have fascinated audiences around the world, highlight the Korean people’s ‘jeong (affection)’ for nature, through the uniquely Korean medium of hanji.

Hanji Creations
The exhibition presented 31 two-dimensional and architectural works of hanji, including some from the 1970s and the 1980s that had not been shown to the public, thereby providing a rare retrospective on Chun’s hanji-crafted works of art. Chun uses Korea’s traditional paper as his primary material because of his belief that hanji is rooted in the spirit and soul of the Korean people and their culture.
Early on, his works were generally monochromatic, as an of the desolate nature of human civilization or the universe. Of particular note, rather than regular hanji Chun uses remnants from ancient books. The hanji pages from long ago s might be well worn from repeated handling and the passage of time, but they exude a sense of wonderment about Korea’s ancient history and a connection to people of the past.
At a first glance, it is the refined appearance of his works that attracts your attention. But upon closer inspection, the time-worn surfaces of the hanji pieces that make up the overall work reflect the pervasive influence of Chinese characters on the ancient history and culture of the Asian region. Chun Kwang-young’s reused hanji materials infuse his nature-friendly works with an unmistakable humanity, which is not of ten the case with contemporary art. To his works, he covers small triangles of styrofoam with hanji, which are then arranged on a canvas surface to produce a particular form or image. The formation of an overall image, by combining countless individual pieces, is an of mankind’s evolution into modern society through cooperative efforts of the masses, based on a variety of specific roles. His creations seem to have the appearance of an abstract work with a kind of minimalism, but the appeal of his hanji works is the result of his creative craftsmanship.

Masterful Artistry
The numerous hanji pieces that go into the creation of a single work involve long hours of intensive labor of forming the triangles, cutting the hanj i , and covering the pieces, before affixing them onto the canvas. The triangular pieces in his creat ions have something to do with the time he spent a this uncle’s traditional medicine pharmacy in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, where prescriptions of herbal ingredients would be wrapped in paper, in the shape of a triangle, before being handed over to customers. Amidst today’s age of automation, the time and attention that go into the formation of each handmade piece symbolize the simpler way of everyday life in Korea, of not that long ago. Despite his uniquely Korean material and medium, Chun’s works convey a universal message that can strike a deep chord with audiences around the world, regardless of their familiarity with Korean culture. In the center of the Mori Arts Center gallery area, a huge hanji work in the shape was on display, which Chun calls the burnt heart of the Korean people, as an of their ‘han,’ or lamentation. The various works of Chun, in some way, can be seen as representations of ‘jeong’ and ‘han’ sentiments. It is indeed fortunate that Chun Kwang-young’s hanji works are an integral element of Korea-Japan artistic exchange in 2009, and also with China next year.

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Essence of Korean Culture Captured in Traditional Hanji Works

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Essence of Korean Culture Captured in Traditional Hanji Works

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