박생광·김호석·조덕현의 작품에 나타나는 역사성과 익명성

Abstract

The 1980’s saw the emergence of people’s art and post-modernist characteristics, during which many literary works with the people as the main element received much spotlight. It was also a period of political and social complexities and tension, with the Gwangju Uprising of 1980 and the Pro-Democracy Uprisings of June 1987. During this time, many works of art with history as their theme appeared. They were historically conscious and socially critical, reflecting the characteristics and background of the times. Territorial disputes, strive for true historical facts, confusion in international politics and tension between the two Koreas all continued throughout this period. Images of people fervently living their lives in harsh history and reality, depiction of actual important figures from Korean history, and portrayal of people who may not be real but would very likely have lived during those times and represent the public at large, were reborn through paintings that reflect our own lives today. These paintings convey strong messages and are all the more convincing because of their historical consciousness and sense of reality. Although political circumstances changed due to transition to a civilian government, relevant artists and their work, which had focused on social satire and criticism of reality, continued into the 1990’s and showed an even stronger trend. Park Saengkwang expressed his historical perspective artwork composed of traditional elements, and historical events and figures that had brought great change. Furthermore, the paintings of Kim Hosuk portrayed the lives Confucian scholars and politicians from the Chosun era, nationalist leaders who sacrificed themselves to save their threatened fragile nation, and unknown ordinary people who tried to protect their fatherland and spirit of the nation. While Cho Duokhyun’s work transformed into paintings faded black and white archive photos of historical figures or ordinary people during the late 19th to early 20th centuries. People observing their work can empathize with them because their work not only share uniquely Korean characteristics emanating from the embedded elements of historicity and anonymity in relation to history, the typically Korean lives and the recording of such lives, but also international universality coming from the unspecified multiplicity, de-emphasis on the trend of the times, de-regionalism and de-historicity.