Korean art explained for English-language readers

Prestigious U.K. publishers and Korea’s Culture Ministry publish English-language books on Korean art


English-language books shedding new light on South Korean art and artists are pouring out from in and outside of the country, to the delight of non-Korean speaking art aficionados.

U.K. publishing company Prestel released the 192-page hardcover book “Korean Contemporary Art” on March 19. 

The book, written by Miki Wick Kim, an expert on Korean contemporary art and director of Mick Wick Kim Contemporary Art in Zurich, Switzerland, introduces 30 living Korean artists, their representative works and their curriculum vitae.

“The works of today’s Korean artists are rarely found between the pages of any book, yet they have become a major force in the global artistic community.
“Featuring Korea’s most compelling and critically recognized artists, this book presents their highly diverse bodies of work that defy easy thematic classification and embrace a myriad of concepts relating to issues such as consumer and popular culture, national history and tradition, and society, alienation, and identity,” said Florence Andrews, marketing and publicity executive at Prestel.

Artists introduced in the book include Bae Bien-u, Kimsooja, Moon Beom, Ham Jin, Park Kiwon, Park Seo-Bo, Jung Yeondoo and Kim Atta.

Starting with the photo of Suh Do Ho’s installation work “Cause & Effect” on the verso of the front page, which can be found at the Hite Gallery in Seoul, the book contains 150 color illustrations of the artwork.

Thames & Hudson, another leading U.K. publishing house, is planning to publish “Korean Art: The Power of Now” next February.

Co-organized with London’s art publishing company TransGlobe, 308-page book will introduce artworks and offer interviews with 100 living Korean artists such as Lee U-fan, Kimsooja and Suh Do Ho, as well as information on Korean art critics and representative art museums and galleries here like the National Museum of Contemporary Art and Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art.

TransGlobe has been publishing such country-specific contemporary art books since 2009, on nations such as Iran, Turkey and Russia. The Brazil version will come out in November. 

“Confidence toward a publishing company leads to the confidence toward the book published by it. The publication of a Korea-related book by a recognized foreign company is to be welcomed,” said Lee Gu-yong, head of KL Management, a publication copyright agency.

Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Art Council Korea co-published the nation’s own English-language book on Korean art titled “100.art.kr” last month as well. The government organizations commenced the project in 2010, reflecting voices that there is no decent book that introduces Korean art although it is becoming recognized overseas. The book is printed by Open Books.

Subtitled Korean Contemporary Art scene, the 624-page hardcover book presents information about 100 Korean contemporary artists and their art world. Introduced artists include Back Seung Woo, Choe U-Ram, Ham Yang Ah, Kim Kichul, Lee Yong-Baek and Moon Kyungwon.

Six pages are allocated for each artist, and five among those are filled with images. A glossary of keywords which introduces terms like UUL, referring to the new branch of the National Museum of Contemporary Art to open in 2013, and KIAF, Korea International Art Fair, can be useful for readers who are not yet familiar with Korean art.

“We are planning to sell the book overseas as well, and develop an e-book in the form of an app book so that we can better promote Korean contemporary art online,” said the publishers through a statement.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldcorp.com)