Book description
Starting in the mid-1960s, a group of Korean artists began to push paint, soak canvas, drag pencils, rip paper, and otherwise manipulate the materials of painting in ways that prompted critics to describe their actions as "methods" rather than artworks. A crucial artistic movement of twentieth-century Korea, Tansaekhwa (monochromatic painting)…
Why read it?
1 author picked Contemporary Korean Art as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Not only is this book an authoritative account of the Tansaekhwa movement in Korea–a group of abstract painters who gained great acclaim in recent years–but it establishes a model of how regional art worlds intersect with global networks. Kee accomplishes this by charting the hierarchical relation between Japan and Korea within Southeast Asia, whose differences were largely erased when "Asian" art was exhibited in Europe. In other words, regional rivalries and specificities are often subsumed into broader regional identities when artworks begin to circulate globally.
From David's list on The best books on art and globalization.
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