동양주의와 옥시덴탈리즘 사이: 김환기의 전반기 그림

Abstract

The first half (1948-1963) of Kim Whanki’s (1913-1974) artistic career marks the beginning of what is called “Korean Modernism.” For Kim’s work of this period is the idiosyncratic output that brings to light the particular cultural geopolitical location of Korea at that time. That location is revealed via Dongyang-ism, Oxidentalism, and the relation between them. In other words, two different aspects overlap in his art: the will to continue the identity of traditional culture and the demand for the reception of the mainstream art from the West which led modernization. This is fully demonstrated through his use of subjects and forms. To elaborate, his art can be characterized by the coexistence of the signs of identity such as traditional crafts and nature and those of modernity including modernist and artificial forms. And as for formal aspect, it is defined by the mutual compatibility among figurative images and abstract composition, geometric structure and spontaneous brushworks and textures. That is, Kim’s painting is an index of the cultural geopolitical location of the Third-World painters who were simultaneously exposed both to their own traditional cultures and the artistic practices prevailed in developed countries. While encompassing different elements, his painting also reveals the principle of “inclusion”, which differs from dichotomic logic of the Western modernity. In the respect that this is rooted in the cultural traditions of Eastern Asia, Kim’s art is a paragon of the active acceptance of other cultures-that is the reinterpretation of foreign cultures through the filter of one’s own tradition. Showing differences and the relationships between them, his paintings become paradigmatic examples of Homi K. Bhabha’s theoretical formulation, which locates the meaning of culture in “the third space”, namely in “the in-between”, and thereby underlines the hybridity of culture. It is fair to say that Kim’s pictorial endeavors already illustrated Bhabha’s theory long ago. His paintings articulate “the in-between” of Dongyang-ism and Oxidentalism as well as that of the East and the West. One can trace in his paintings the process of his search for solutions in that “in-between” space as Kim Whanki Dongyang-ism is a response to Oxidentalism and the latter is the other side of the former.