한국 아방가르드 미술의 역사와 비평

Abstract

Korean avant-garde art started in a barren environment. Happening in the 1960s resisted against the social reality with strong criticism. However, it disappeared after only 4 years’ existence, from being forced into a corner in the name of rebellious power by the military regime. But despite the absence of favourable conditions such as the lack of oversea’s artistic information, incompleteness of the creative environment, non-appreciation by the public, economic poverty, etc, Happening constructed its own world. Especially, Happening in the 1960s showed its different ‘realistic’ characteristics from western and American styles. Those characteristics came from Korea’s political situation. This is a different viewpoint from the prevailing perception that Korea’s Happening is the imitation of Western avant-garde art; it would not be valid anymore and therefore, we should intensify this viewpoint in the future. This is an essay on Korean performance art described from the viewpoint of avant-garde art. I have tried to focus on the avant-garde activities of COM-ART group in Suwon city in the 1990s. In order to make my viewpoint clear, I have unavoidably skipped the 1970s event commonly referred to as ‘Logic and Thought’ and the 1980s performance described as 'Fusion and Diffusion’, because there are only a few of these performance artists, although they showed their brave challenges, spirit and radical activities succeeding to the 1960s Happening’s experimental tradition. From the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to the 1990s, China had maintained the closed social system largely known as ‘the Bamboo Curtain’. Nevertheless, these artists showed their braveness by overcoming the political situation and trying to exchange mutual cultural and artistic ideas. I think that their avant-garde activities have full value and reason of recalling from the viewpoint of the avant-garde consciousness.