의경(意境)을 통해 본 서세옥 회화 연구 ― 허실(虛實)을 중심으로 —

Abstract

As one of the core categories of East Asian aesthetics, idea and boundary are an aesthetic theory transcending the form that draws artistic form, mood and atmosphere, and artistic association from it. The author sees this concept of idea and boundary as an appropriate thought to explain and grasp the formativeness of Suh Se Ok’s painting, which has a rich artistic meaning by drawing imaginations beyond form. Based on this understanding, this paper intends to examine the aesthetic meaning and characteristics of idea and boundary, and to examine how to read Suh Se Ok’s paintings. Suh Se Ok pioneered modern Korean paintings with ink and wash abstract, where the aesthetics of idea and boundary can be found. Painting is characterized by extremely connoted simple shapes with a concrete object, and the lines contain the artist's spirit, not just a formal line depicting the object. In the late 1970s, his paintings that vividly expressed the shapes and the actions of human body with restrained lines under the theme of ‘human,’ are in line with the characteristics of idea and boundary, which represent artistic associations and meanings from specific art forms. In other words, Suh Se Ok’s ink-and-wash expression that reveals restrained formativeness and creativity can be explained through idea and boundary, an East Asian aesthetic category. In artworks, idea and boundary appear due to the coexistence of the emptiness and substance of various artistic elements. The image created by the creator is substance, and the imagination evoked by the viewer can be seen as emptiness. Through the concepts of the emptiness and the substance constituting the idea and boundary, this paper examined the meaning of idea and boundary in aesthetic and creative aspects of art. Based on this, the study attempted to reveal the relationship between idea and boundary and the paintings of Suh Se Ok, and it examined the thought and expressiveness of his paintings through the aesthetics of idea and boundary. This will confirm the artistic aspects of East Asian aesthetics, idea and boundary, and provide an intrinsic appreciation and analytical perspective on Suh Se Ok's painting.