송수남의 〈붓의 놀림〉 연작: 한국적 정체성과 모더니즘의 동시적 구현과 그 간극

Abstract

This paper explores the artistic relationship between Korean artistic identity and Western Modernism Art by examining the inner meaning and formativeness of the series of 〈Brushstroke〉, created by Soo-Nam Song from 1983 to the early 2000s. Song is one of the most eminent painters and is considered to be the founder of ‘Modern Ink Painting Movement (現代水墨畵 運動)’, which endeavored to modernize Korean ink painting in the 1980s. The series of 〈Brushstroke〉 are abstract ink paintings that demand further formative and theoretical investigation into the modernization of Korean traditional ink painting through the embracement of Western modern art. Some art critics eulogize Song as one of most representative painters in modern abstract ink painting who emphasized Korean identity. On the other hand, other art historians criticize him for not developing the spirituality of Korean ink painting and merely showing the material properties of Ink-stick. In this respect, new perspectives are required to gain a better understanding of the ‘Modern Korean Ink Painting’ that Song vigorously supported with his followers. The series of 〈Brushstroke〉 are composed of Korean traditional painting's matter, namely white paper, black ink and blush stroke (紙筆墨). It has roots in Korean Scholarly Painting (文人畵, muninhwa) in the era of Chosun, where it finds its reference source for pictorial concepts. They are founded upon traditional Korean thoughts and art theory, and their style makes reference to Western Modernism Art, specifically Minimalism or Abstraction Expression. Western Modernism Art has had a huge effect on Korean ink painting from the 1960s. The series of 〈Brushstroke〉 are one of the most typical examples of Korean abstract ink painting, which are affected by the global ideology of Art. Korean abstract ink painting is made to question whether they belong to Korean painting or Western Painting. Song strongly warned against blind following of Western Modernism Art. He believed that what was most Korean was international, and his main objective was to establish art that is both Korean and international. He pursued the abstraction focused on Korean pictorial spirituality, examining the mutual exchange and junction between modernity and Korean tradition. The series of 〈Brushstroke〉 is regarded as the modernization of ‘Korean Scholarly Painting (文人畵)’. On a similar note, it is a unique visual language that depicts the thoughts and daily lives of the modern intellectual. Song maintained that Korean abstract ink painting must be built upon the basis of cultural, ideological tradition. They are a combination of traditional painting techniques, thoughts and the modern sensibility. He attempted to create a new style of Modern Korean ink painting that integrated the virtues of Confucian ideas(선비사상, Seonbi Spirit) and Naturalism into Modernism. Thus, the series of 〈Brushstroke〉 is a modification of Korean traditional landscape painting (山水畵), in which Seonbi Spirit and Naturalism are implied. In resistance to the invasion of Western Modernism Art, Song claimed that Ink-stick is the only way to preserve Korean identity. Because tradition portrays the spirit of the age, he strongly insisted that Ink-stick is the most suitable means of expressing the ideas of the intellectual, such as the Seonbi Spirit of the Chosun era, and ultimately combines tradition and modernity. This paper suggests that Korean abstract ink painting should be reassessed from new angled determined by traditional ideology, pictorial technique, materials and its relationship with Western modernist style. The series of 〈Brushstroke〉 bring into awareness that it is essential to maintain Korean identity in Korean abstract ink painting, while accepting changes from tradition to modernity.