2009, Vol., No.26

The Introduction of the Term, ‘Fine Art’ and its Social and Historical Cognition in Korean Modern Period: Focused on the Experiences of World Exhibitions during the Open-port Period

정호경 | 2009, (26) | pp.7~36 | number of Cited : 2

The term of ‘Fine Art’ was firstly introduced to Korea in the process of inspecting foreign institutions for building a modern nation after Open-port and has been generalized as a social and a historical notion of art. The systematization of the fine art is mostly overlapped with a process of social changes toward the modern nation through trying to apply the new institutions to whole korean society. Thus, the cognition process of ‘Fine Art’ shows not only a process of acquiring the modernity but also a convergence of erecting the visual regime in Korean society. This study sets forth beforehand that ‘Seeing’ is not a mere physiological perception but the socially, culturally and historically conditioned activities. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the historical environments and social conditions of Korea during the conflict period between the old and the new idea after Open-port. It is also fundamental to examine the discourses among the intellects and primary references in those days for the contextual understanding around the notion of ‘Fine Art’. The first use of the word ‘Fine Art’ was in a formal report of Chosun official group for inspection of Japanese modernized social system in 1881. Newly translation words such as ‘Fine Art’, ‘Museum’ and ‘Exposition’ which was appeared in the report related to the agriculture-commercial business meaned that the fine art was introduced as a part of industrial promotion policies and as a kind of institution for enlightening the people. The fine art was contextualized notion through the national code for civilization or industrial reinforcements or powerful nation in those days. From the beginning of the introduction, the notion of ‘Fine Art’ is equivalent to the modernized visual experiences because of its new word, new notion and new function of ‘Seeing’. The visual-oriented spaces such as exposition and museum were also introduced in Korea as a enlightenment mechanism and it formulated the modern visual culture through collecting, classifying and visualizing the things. Korean government participated in 36 the world exhibition in order to observe the modernized western world and to announce Korea’s autonomy in international society. It has been known that the world exhibition was the cultural-political event of constituting the world image in a symbolic way such as civilization versus savagery, the western versus the non-western and the development versus the delay. The first official participation in the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, and in the Exposition Universelle de 1900 of Paris were the cultural experiences to realize the civilized and modernized nation as the goal to achieve. The vision or way of seeing was also newly emphasized factor in the systematization of the fine art. Especially displaying the things or arranging ‘founding world’ in the form of displayed items was a systematic factor to reinforce the specific national images to the publics. This means that there are not only the specific gaze which has been constructed in the public visual regime but also the specific representation system which has constructed modern national images by the visual devices. Modern period of Korea mainly from the Open-port to the Japanese annexation was the extremely confusional period. The systematization of the fine art proceeded in this collision period between the old and the new idea. Therefore, studying on this theme is inevitably to examine how the notion of the fine art was transformed in the social, historical and discourse contexts. Its aim is not for reconstruction of the origins but for restoration of the process in the systematization of the fine art. It offers another chance to reflect today’s notion of fine art and also to examine a phase of visual culture in Korean society.

A Study on Painterly Expression of Korean Stained Glass since 1970s

Sukyung Jung | 2009, (26) | pp.37~80 | number of Cited : 2

The goal of this study is to examine the works of Korean stained glass artists since the 1970s, when new trends of European stained glass began to be reflected in their artistic expressions, with a focus on the painterly quality of these expressions. Developed mainly through Catholic churches, Korean stained glass has a history of over 100 years going back to the first set of windows installed in the Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral in Seoul in 1898. The Japanese occupation and Korean War caused a long period of stagnation in stained glass all the way through the 1960s. It was in the 1970s that the Catholic influence expanded rapidly as did the Catholic churches, accompanied by an increased interest in the art of stained glass. Starting with Nam-gyu Lee, artists who had studied stained glass in Austria, France and Germany returned to Korea to launch their artistic activities, tapping into a new pattern of expression in stained glass in post-war Europe and marking a transition stage for Korean stained glass. The works of Korean stained glass artists in the 1970s show a strong influence of European stained glass at the time, which adopted elements of painting. After World War II, an increased number of European painters engaged themselves in stained glass, resulting in the appearance of art pieces applying the painterly and plastic language to stained glass. These modern artists emphasized that stained glass was not only a traditional domain of church architecture but also closely connected with paintings. They considered not only the religious message of an art piece but also the painterly and plastic elements such as the contours expressed through lead came and the effect of the changing colors as light passes through glass. In the 1970s, Korean stained glass began to accept such new trends of European modern stained glass while also trying to bring out the uniquely Korean characteristics, opening the way to patterns of expression distinguishable from Western ones. Renowned artists in Korea such as Ri Namkyu, Nam Yong-woo, Choi Yong-shim, Cho Kwang-ho and Br. Marc have continued to present stained glass works that reflect their own individual 80 worlds of painting. As painters have come to present art pieces merging painting and stained glass, modern stained glass has begun to be acknowledged for its potential as fine art, whereas before, it was viewed primarily as a craft. Now, the constructive elements of stained glass, ie., colored glass and lead came, are examined with attention to their plastic elements, not just their functionality. Also, with the use of much more diverse and bold painting techniques in stained glass, the possibilities and range of painterly expression in stained glass are being pushed to the limits. It is against this background of plastic explorations led by a number of artists that Korean modern stained glass has been reassessed in art history for its value as a form of fine art. This study examines the possibilities of 20th century’s stained glass as a form of fine art and assesses its artistic value through the works of renowned Korean artists in stained glass since the 1970s, a time when the influence of European modern stained glass becomes distinct. It also explores the various painterly expressions in their stained glass works in terms of technique and content and analyzes links with their paintings. More specifically, it examines the different patterns of painterly expression of each time period, such as the 1970s when abstract tendencies were accepted in the course of the first introduction of European stained glass, the 1980s when figuration was introduced and the 1990s through the 2000s when a variety of painting techniques began to be used more at ease. Furthermore, it looks into the innovative attempts made by the artists to go beyond imitating Western stained glass and to creatively interpret Korean beauty in their art pieces.

The Relationship between Entropy and Dialectic : Sprial Jetty

Jaeeun Lee | 2009, (26) | pp.81~106 | number of Cited : 6

This is a study on the relationship between entropy and dialectic of Robert Smithson’s earth art. Robert Smithson definitely was a pioneer of Earth art in the late 1960’s. His earth works was located in abandoned site away from civilization called ‘industrial ruin’ for himself. And Smithson had always hoped these works would be permanent. These characteristics make his earth works distinctive from other earth artists’ works. I consider that his attention to entropy and dialectic made him create such differences. His interest in entropy started from American political and social situations in the 1960’s. In late the 1960’s, America was in chaos from the ‘right of freedom’ of the black people and the strike for renunciation of Vietnam War by young people. The intellectual class seemed to believe that it was the destiny of society to run in the direction of entropy. Robert Smithson who was skeptical about American society thought ‘entropy’ is the proper diagnosis to describe the collapsing of traditional and industrial American society. Also he understood that ‘process’ step among the principal of dialectic’ would cause entropic situation to change. So we need to examine how two different concepts as such entropy and dialectic work in Smithson’ works without crash. In chapter 2, we are going to look at the background of the appearance of entropy, which is explaining the increase of chaos based on the second law of thermodynamics and the opinion about entropy of Robert Smithson. In chapter 3, we are going to compare Hegel’s principal of dialectic with Robert Smithson. In chapter 4, we are going to study the theoretical fundamental which makes entropy(stillness of material) and the principal of dialectic(improvement) revealed from his work at the same time. And we are going to see how Robert Smithson breathed the relation of ‘entropy’ and the ‘principal of dialectic’ into his works by through Spiral Jetty. By this study, we will be able to know Robert Smithson pursued the change of American industrial capitalism by the earth works based on entropy and dialectic and also he introduced the chaos which comes with the process of change as the main subject of his works.

Photography and Print : the research of the technical image

Park Sangwoo | 2009, (26) | pp.107~134 | number of Cited : 10

This paper aims to reveal the fundamentally different nature of the two technical images: photography and print. Since the last 30 years, we have often debated whether photography is the ‘index’ or the ‘print’. Especially, a french historian of art Georges DiDi-Huberman intented to use the concept of print very largely as a paradigm. He said that the photography should be considered as a particular case of the system of the print. Does the photography belong to the print? Is the photography represented in the same way as other systems of the print such as footsteps, fingerprints, or wood printings? In an attempt to clarify the relation between photography and print, first of all, we examine the technical property of these two systems. After this, we explore commonality and differences between the two systems. In doing so, this paper further examines the technical nature in the system of print itself in a general sense that has not been discussed sufficiently in academics. This paper reaches the conclusion that the photography and the print are very different systems at every levels which constitute a system of the representation: projection, support, and agent. In terms of the mode of projection, while the photography is the conical projection, the print is the straight parallel projection. For the support, the print uses whatever materials such as paper, stone, wood, etc, but the photography very particular material like the photo-sensitized surface. For the agent, the photography is the system of light, precisely that of the photon, while the print is the system of pressure. In other words, the photography is the result of the effect of the photon on the photo-sensitized surface, while the print is that of the pressure of the one thing on the other. And if the photography is the system of the distance between image and reference, the print is that of the contact. The photography and the print are the very different system in terms of the mode of production of the image. They thus show different features in the sense of their efficiency, uses and functions. In terms of the fidelity of representation, the print is more effective than the photography. A cast of the face is more similar to the real visage than the photographical portrait is. But in terms of the automatism of the mode of production, the print goes through less mechanical process than the photography does.

Critical Perspectives on Linda Nochlin’s Feminist Scholarship

Chung Yeon Shim | 2009, (26) | pp.135~162 | number of Cited : 5

Feminist studies and gender theories in art history and particularly in contemporary art have garnered greater scholarly attention since Linda Nochlin published a polemical article entitled “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists” in 1971. Perusing major articles included in Nochlin’s books Women, Art and Power and Other Essays and The Politics of Vision, as well as focusing on her critical articles on contemporary artists such as Sylvia Sleigh, I trace the historical development of feminist perspective in her scholarship. Initially, this paper discusses the very central term she employs in her writing: “femininity”. By challenging “the-white-male-position-accepted-as-natural”, which has prevailed in the fields of art history and visual practice through the ages, Nochlin signals the danger of labeling “femininity” as a set of biologically determined characteristics. This feminist pioneer challenged general and biologically inspired distinctions favored by “Essential Feminists” such as Miriam Shapiro and Judy Chicago. Nochlin, in contrast, attempted to analyze the structural obstacles society presents to women by attacking the concept of male “genius”, and criticizing the positivist viewpoints in Hippolyte Taine’s meta-history in which a genius is an atemporal and enigmatic artist. By expanding her interest toward society and visual culture, Nochlin did not generalize women’s experiences. Rather she thought that gendered meanings of subjectivity and femininity can be seen in the culture and society. In this effort, she collaborated with other feminist scholars and curators to discover historically forgotten women artists while writing critical essays on artists such as Yvonne Jacquette and Sylvia Mangold. My paper goes on to analyze Nochlin’s main themes on “labor and class identity” in her article, “Morisot’s Wet Nurse: The Construction of Work and Leisure in Nineteenth-Century Painting”(1987). In this work, we see the trajectory of her feminist interests from Michel Foucault to Jacque Lacan and Louis Althusser in her discussions of “subjectivity” and “sexual difference.” By departing from the dichotomy of power structure and ideology on one side and women and men on the other, she moves toward “representation trope” in defining the politics of visuality in the artworks themselves. Interestingly enough, unlike other feminist scholars, Nochlin concludes that Morisot, rather ambiguously, is situated between labor and leisure, and mother and artist. Additionally, I explicate the remaining important critical terms in her articles: otherness and identity concerns. Her essay “The Imaginary Orient”, inspired by Edward Said’s Orientalism , questions the manner in which Orientalists such as Théodore Chassériau, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Léon Gérôme depict the other in the age of burgeoning imperialism. She scrutinizes how imperial eyes penetrate the surface of Orientalist paintings, which were supposed to be l’effet de réel of the era to Parisian viewers. Nochlin subsequently furthered her research on identity and gender issues to encompass “Jewish problems” in The Jew in the Text: Modernity and the Construction of Identity . In conclusion, the paper explores her recent curatorial works of “Global Feminisms”-in line with other feminist exhibitions including “WACK!: Art and the Feminist Revolution”-as well as her recent publications of Bathers, Bodies, Beauty and the Visceral Eye and Self and History: A Tribute of Linda Nochlin. As Lucy Lippard noted in a speech at a feminist symposium, “The Feminist Future Theory and Practice in the Visual Arts,” at the Museum of Modern Art in February 2007, Feminism has been transformed into a significant “ism” in our society. As G. Pollock has noted, this exerted a role of “ethical hospitality”.

From Art History to Visual Culture Studies? Questions of History, Theory, and Practice

Marquard Smith | 2009, (26) | pp.163~210 | number of Cited : 4

Contemporary Ikebana and the Potential of Art History at the Boundary of Art

Noriko Murai | 2009, (26) | pp.211~248 | number of Cited : 1

Contemporary Art Inside the Freud Museum: Working-Through Transit Documents, Postmemory, and the Holocaust

Giovanna Morra | 2009, (26) | pp.249~304 | number of Cited : 2

Reading après-coup and interminable work

김원방 | 2009, (26) | pp.305~342 | number of Cited : 5

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States of Form: The Object in Networks

David Joselit | 2009, (26) | pp.343~364 | number of Cited : 3

Andy Warhol’s Frontier: ‘The Good, The Bad, The Indifferent’

Kang Tae Hee | 2009, (26) | pp.365~393 | number of Cited : 2

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Andy Warhol’s legacy and the so-called ‘Warhol effect’ have not faded even though his artistic reputation has drifted in the limbo between good and bad for more than two decades. That is mainly because of his repetitive late works and business-minded art productions in addition to the political and moral ‘indifference’ that cancelling out the achievement of early works. But since the opening of the ‘time capsules’ at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Warhol scholarship and exhibitions began incorporating and extending to his ‘business art’ and venturing into the culture industry. This new tendency focusing on his ‘extra-art’ works and visual culture as a whole is important to overall evaluation of him. Fashion and TV show are two ‘extra-art’ areas Warhol devoted his time from the 1970s until his death, when the critical opinions were mostly negative and scarce and he needed a breakthrough. Although fashion was his lifelong passion, he described his part as ‘reflection’ since he was not a designer or maker, nor did he make profit from it. He was involved in fashion since the ‘Youthquake’ in the 60s when he was closely associated with Paraphernalia , the most experimental and ‘pop’ fashion boutique in New York. Iin the 70s, he moved to the high fashion and befriended with the world famous designers appeared in his magazine Interview, but his real contribution to fashion is through his modeling job in the 80s. He became the professional model for Zoli and Ford, and produced a lot of fashion photos but his poses were deliberately awkward and stiff and even ‘feminine.’ By acting the unconventional poses, he seems to test the myth of genuine masculinity and to prove the fact that all poses are performance. As a result, these ambivalent photos can be compared to Cindy Sherman’s rather direct ‘anti-fashion’ photos. TV was Warhol’s favorite passtime and he really wished to be a famous TV star to be broadcasted to every home. He produced several cable TV shows resembling Interview casting with fashion stars, artists, and the celebrities, but they were neglected by people. Even though his trial was not successful, he intervened the one-way network system and showed artist-produced entertainment programs and made some noise. This kind of Warhol’s effort is currently revaluated by the exhibition「 Pop Life : Art in a Material World」, participated by Jeff Koons, Murakami Takashi, Keith Haring, Richard Prince, Damian Hirst, and Tracey Emin, etc. These successful artists followed Warhol’s path and exceeded him in many ways, and their business-minded arts are the proof of Warhol’s foresight in terms of art and commerce. Whether we approve or not, art can not ignore today’s material visual culture and this is why we should stop evaluating Warhol by the qualifiers such as the good, the bad, or even the indifferent.

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Journal of History of Modern Art 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.77

2009, Vol., No.26