Full description from the venue
The Gwangju Museum of Art presents The Legacy of Namdo Art, the Home of Art, an exhibition drawn from its collection to promote the Namdo art tradition. This exhibition has been designed to introduce, research, and shed new light on the first generation of artists in the Namdo art scene. Building on the achievements of these first generation artists, the exhibition also aims to examine Namdo art within an art historical context through works by its second generation artists.
Contents
In this way, Namdo holds a crucial place in Korean art history. Korean painting is the art form that most strongly shaped the recognition of Namdo. Following Heo Ryeon’s Southern School literati painting in the late Joseon Dynasty, the tradition reached a new stage in the modern and contemporary period as Heo Baekryeon and Heo Geon each established their own distinct approaches within the genre. Grounded in the spirit and techniques of the Southern School, Heo Baekryeon developed a distinctive style that drew on the real landscapes of Namdo and formed the artistic lineage of Namdo Southern School painting in Gwangju. Meanwhile, Heo Geon, the son of Heo Hyeong, created his own version of Southern School painting based on realistic perspectives and sketches from life, establishing his artistic line centered in Mokpo. In addition, Namdo painters such as Chun Kyungja and Ahn Dongsook expanded the tradition of Korean painting in the region by actively employing color and developing new styles.
Furthermore, Namdo is the home of art wheres modern movements, including figurative art, abstract art, and sculpture, developed actively. After liberation, a tradition of figurative painting was established around artists such as Oh JIho, Yim Jiksoon, and Son Dong, while the foundations of abstract art were shaped by artists including Kim Whanki, Kang Yongun, and Yang Sooa. Later, Western style painting in Namdo developed in two directions, figurative art represented by Yang Inok, O Syngyoon, and Hwang Youngsung under the influence of Oh Jiho and Yim Jiksoon, and abstract art pursued by Kim Yongbok, Choi Jongsup, Kim Jongil, and Woo Jaegil. In sculpture, artists such as Kim Youngjung, Kim Chanshik, and Tak Yeonha achieved notable results in modern sculpture grounded in Korean formative aesthetics, while many sculptors trained in university sculpture departments also carried out active work based in the Namdo region.
It is a region where Southern School painting, carrying the spirit and principles of Namdo, developed alongside boldly colored figurative painting, Western style painting that explored light and beauty as the source of life, modernist abstract painting, and sculpture in a wide range of styles.