North Korean Art: Paradoxical Realism at the 2018 Gwangju Biennale is an exhibition that reflects the culmination of an eight-year exploration into the art of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). During that time, BG Muhn made nine research trips to the DPRK to pursue a growing passion for the uniqueness and mystery surrounding Chosonhwa, the North Korean name for traditional ink wash painting on rice paper. The DPRK is notably the only country in the world after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 that continues to create Socialist Realism art. This exhibition is likely the first opportunity for people around the world to see North Korean Chosonhwa in such a broad range of images within Socialist Realism art.
In-depth analysis of chosonhwa, the emblem of North Korean art The primary resource research, the first of its kind on chosonhwa -Vivid visual materials of the North Korean art scene based on nine visits over six years by Georgetown University professor BG Muhn -The art creation environment of North Korean contemporary ideological and collaborative paintings revealed for the first time North Korean Art: The Enigmatic World of Chosonhwa offers the reader a rare glimpse into the art, culture, and society of North Korea, a country largely closed off from the world for more than seven decades. This book examines the development and characteristics of chosonhwa, the style of painting unique to the DPRK and that nation s primary vehicle for Socialist Realism art through the present day. Author BG Muhn made nine trips to Pyongyang in six years. He documents his journey from initial fascination, through first-hand research, to his unexpected discovery of the creative and expressive dimensions of this art form. He gained special access to see national treasures, interviewed artists and cultural leaders, and surveyed a broad range of books and visual documents. Through his perspective as a practicing visual artist, Muhn makes the case that North Korean painting merits inclusion in the global art canon. This comprehensive and revealing text is the first of its kind and is an important contribution to the fields of East Asian, 20th century and contemporary art history.
"Art Under Control in North Korea is the first publication in the West to explore the role of art in one of the world's most isolated nations. This timely publication places North Korean art in its historical, political and social contexts, discusses the state system of producing, employing, promoting and honouring artists, and examines the range of art produced, from painting and calligraphy to architecture and applied art. Jane Portal also compares the control exerted over artists by North Korean leaders to that of other absolute dictatorships, and looks at the way in which archaeology has been employed for political ends to justify the present leadership and its lineage."--BOOK JACKET.
Unattainable North Korean Art curates a collection of paintings from fifty-eight artists from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ("DPRK"). Centring on the theme of nature, the paintings portray geographical sites and citizens of DPRK. Art and literature feature as a poignant role in inspiring the DPRK people to contribute to the development of DPRK, the collection not only exhibits the artistic skills of the artists, but offers an opportunity to discover DPRK from the people's perspective.
At age 24, Song Byeok became an official state propaganda artist under the totalitarian Kim regime of North Korea. After famine, family death, torture and prison camp, Song escaped from North Korea in 2002 and continued to create art in South Korea. Song Byeok now embraces his artistic freedom by subverting the ideals and indoctrinations of his former upbringing. Creating parodical imagery, he pairs North Korean Juche Realism with elements of Pop, mocking the ideology and former figurehead Kim Jong Il. His satirical painting Take off Your Clothes (2010) juxtaposes the head of Kim Jong Il with the body of pop icon, Marilyn Monroe subverting the ideal image of the dictator by feminizing it. Song Byeok's hybridization of Kim Jong Il's image recalls similar parodic representations of Chairman Mao and Monroe created by the Chinese Political Pop artists of the late 1980s. These artists confronted Mao's Socialist Realism by utilizing it in combination with Western Pop iconography, subverting its ideal. Song Byeok's work is comparable as it transforms the visual language used by the Kim regime to weaken it. These artists employed the device of the feminine masquerade to ridicule their leaders, exposing the dualistic nature of their subject by challenging the past ideal to divulge a new message. Similarly, Song Byeok creates his Kim/Monroe figure to offer the viewer an alternative, formulating an invented pop icon that alters the perception of their controlled political system. Song Byeok moreover relies on the tools of the North Korean spectacle to expose the artificiality of its propagandistic imagery and his work can be analyzed along side Guy Debor's theses Society of the Spectacle (1967). Debord's commentary of the spectacularized system endures as a critical analysis of the North Korean state and correlates with the subversive artwork Song Byeok produces. By using the language of the North Korean spectacle, Song Byeok also contradicts it, going beyond its limits to shed light on its false representations. Inventing a subversive contemporary pop icon within an alternative reality, Song Byeok challenges the spectacuarlized masquerade in North Korea and offers a unique example of the importance of artistic freedom.
This title complements the 2010 exhibition Flowers for Kim-Il-Sung at MAK – Museum for Applied Art/Contemporary Art, Vienna and features new essays by international writers on a wide spectrum of issues.The relationship between North Korean art and ideology is examined, how modern and traditional values are dealt with, as well as the commercial conditions of artistic work – the market value of art. It also considers how a country's art is received abroad, together with the difficulties faced by curators if they want to show this work outside the country's borders.The concept of art including the question of its significance to society is explored through the field of fine art, stamp design, book illustrations, wall mosaics, literature and music.
In The Real North Korea, Lankov substitutes cold, clear analysis for the overheated rhetoric surrounding this opaque police state. Based on vast expertise, this book reveals how average North Koreans live, how their leaders rule, and how both survive
Never-before-seen North Korea - a rare glimpse into the country behind the politics and the creativity behind the propaganda This incredible collection of prints dating from the 1950s to the twenty-first century is the only one of its kind in or outside North Korea. Depicting the everyday lives of the country's train conductors, steelworkers, weavers, farmers, scientists, and fishermen, these unique lino-cut and woodblock prints are a fascinating way to explore the culture of this still virtually unknown country. Together, they are an unparalleled testament to the talent of North Korea's artists and the unique social, cultural, and political conditions in which they work.
