자연과 문화의 관계에서 본 ‘한국 미술’

Abstract

A term, ‘Korean art’ usually covers art works from Joseon Dynasty to today though it appeared after Joseon Dynasty. The anachronistic appliance of the term often leads category mistake upon meaning of it, painting, architecture, sculpture and craft in Joseon Dynasty never considered to share one idea or purpose. Far from the modern category, painting has long had strong kinship to calligraphy sharing same media, brush and ink and same techniques amused by literati who have never participated in labouring for architecture, sculpture and craft for themselves. The new classification was set according to European system of arts prevailed in 18th along with two steps of Orientalism by European and Japanese. And more Korean art was given its identity of strong inclination to admire nature whereas European and Japanese ones to culture, which contrasts two peoples in double cases, Korean and Japanese, oriental and occidental and maching the formers to nature and the latters to culture. After suffering their culture impeded and humiliated by foreigners along with deprivation of their sovereignty by Japan until Liberation in 1945, Korean struggled to censor the identity cast by others. Although, they were confused with what is their cultural identity and reduced it to individuality not intermingled with other cultures, so called nature-like, unfinessed and involuntary features, Behind the judgement European criteria still runs as invisible hand. Those ideas were not criticized even when nationalism raged for encouraging economy development in 1970’s after Korean War. Dansaekhwa artists, the representative Korean painting group also has shown the blassed inclination to nature. They have pursued to indicate Nature with traits though simple and repeating activities or with accidentally happened situations on canvas. they exclude fineness, artificiality on the ground of nature-culture relationship given by other tradition not the one existed till 19th Korea which they fail to inherit. Contemporary artists in Korea should show their own idea of Nature based on todays’ information on Nature not just unfinessed and involuntary side by modernism of the preceding generation, Dansaekhwa artists.