The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA; director Youn Bummo)
presents a special exhibition of Prayer for Life: Korean Polychrome Painting, from 1 June
to 25 September, 2022, at MMCA Gwacheon.
Encompassing folk, court, religious, and documentary paintings, the Korean Polychrome painting
has played a number of roles in the lives of Korean people, warding off evil spirits, attracting good
fortune, delivering moral messages, and documenting important historical events. While polychrome
painting takes up a significant portion of traditional Korean paintings, it has long been excluded from mention in Korean art history partly because mainstream art history as established post-Joseon
Dynasty focused on ink-and-wash landscape works by literary artists. The post-modern concept of
fine art largely disregarded any type of painting produced for decoration or blessing. As the MMCA’s
first exhibition to highlight Prayer for Life: Korean Polychrome Painting seeks to correct this
imbalance in Korean art history.
This exhibition focuses on the functions of traditional polychrome painting, showcasing around 80
works from diverse genres classified by function including folk and decorative court paintings
produced between the 19th and early 20th centuries and modern folk paintings, craftworks, designs,
calligraphy, and other types of works produced since the late 20th century. The participants comprise
some 60 artists in fields including Venerable Seongpa, the 15th supreme patriarch of the Jogye
Order of Korean Buddhism, Kang Yobae, Park Daesung, Park Saengkwang, Shin Sangho, Ahn
Sangsoo, Oh Yoon, Lee Jongsang, Hahn Aikyu, and Hwang Changbae. Ten modern folk painters
including Song Kyutae, Oh Soonkyung, Moon Sunyoung, and Lee Youngsil have also submitted
entries, with 13 works including those newly commissioned to three of the painters to be unveiled for
the first time.
The exhibition’s six sections explore the four main functions of traditional paintings throughout
Korean history: byeoksa(defeating evil), gilsang(auspicious signs), gyohun(edification), and
gamsang(appreciation). The first section “A Greeting” starts with film director Stone Johnston’s
video piece Sublimation, which explores Cheoyong masks emblematic of Korean byeoksa culture.
The second section “At the Doorstep: Defeating Evil” also introduces images of defeating evil,
which was considered the first step to gilsang. Beginning with Shin Sangho’s Totem, this section
features works containing traditional symbols of byeoksa such as Nine Dragons Bathing the Buddha
(Clouds and Nine Dragons), The Five Guardian Deities(Gods of Five Cardinal Points),Tiger and
Magpie Kkachi Horangi(Magpie and Tiger), and Venerable Seongpa’s Fierce Tiger Woke Up Sugi
maenghodo(Awoken Tiger) next to Hahn Aikyu’s Columns and Oh Yoon’s Dancing Tiger Song of
Sword. The third section “In the Garden: Ten Longevity Symbols and Bird-and-Flower
Paintings” explores the theme of gilsang, presenting related traditional images ranging from late
19th-century paintings of ten symbols of longevity and peonies to recent paintings and videos that
expand on the meaning and representation of gilsang. Among the featured works in this section are
Sipjangsaengdo(Ten Longevity Symbols Folding Screen), Kim Hyekyoung’s video work Auspicious
Sign, Chun Hyucklim’s A Hundred Objects Bringing Good, Kim Chonghak’s Metamorphosed peony,
Son Yuyeong’s Peony Garden, and Hong Jiyoon’s Standing on the hollyhock field. Moving on to the
high-ceiling open space of the Main Hall, the fourth section “Five Cardinal Colors” comprises two
installations: Kim Shinil’s In Between Five Colors—Space, which experiments with the five cardinal
colors, and Lee Junggyo’s Four·Direction·Tiger, comprised of four giant tigers. The fifth section “At
the Study: Munjado, Chaekgado, and Documentary Paintings” takes viewers past the garden
and into a study to unravel stories associated with books and documents. This section features an
array of munjado(pictorial Ideographs) by eight artists, an array of chaekgado(paintings of books and
stationery) including Chaekgeorido with Plum Blossoms, an eight-piece folding screen showcased
for the first time at this exhibition, and documentary paintings that stereoscopically illuminate a period
of upheaval in Korean history. The sixth and final section, “The Mountain over the Wall:
Landscape Painting,” guides viewers out of the study and back into the garden to present paintings
of landscapes that unfold beyond the fence. This is a comprehensive look at the wide variety of
sansuhwa(landscape painting), a genre distinguished from other polychrome painting as “paintings
for the purpose of appreciation” for wide popularization on the Korean mainstream art scene.
This exhibition is also the first by the MMCA to be virtually reproduced on the online exhibition space
Digital Twin Museum, offering an onsite experience to audiences around the country with limited
access to the exhibition via personal computers and smartphones. As a specialized digital museum unrestricted by time and space, the Digital Twin Museum is to provide various services in addition to
online exhibitions.
Youn Bummo, director of the MMCA, notes, “This special exhibition was organized to highlight the
roles that various Korean traditional Polychrome painting played up to modern times and their status
in the Korean contemporary art market. I hope that this exhibition serves as an opportunity for
Polychrome painting to be newly assessed and for the history of Korean painting to achieve balance.”
