Korean artists are set to showcase their work at the world’s largest art fair, The India Art Fair, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.
Korean Cultural Centre India participates in the Institutions section of the India Art Fair 2024.
Korean Cultural Centre India will represent world-renowned media artist Lee Lee Nam as the representative of Korean art and operate the K-Art exhibition booth at the Fair, which will be held in New Delhi (National Small Industries Corporation Exhibition Ground) for four days from February 1.
The India Art Fair is hosted by India Art Fair, the Indian subsidiary of Angus Montgomery Arts, an art exhibition consulting firm based in London. This 2024 expo will feature major artists, galleries, and institutions from major developed countries such as the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, etc.
Participating in the institutions’ section on behalf of Korea, the K-Art exhibition booth will feature three representative works by media artist Lee Lee Nam: Cartoon Folding on Screen 1, Chochungdo, and Kim Hong Do- Painting of Bamboo.
The artist Lee Lee-nam is a world-renowned media artist who presents works combining digital technology with famous paintings from the East and the West.
The work, Cartoon-Folding Screen 1 is a digital folding screen work created in collaboration with the works of Korea’s leading cartoonists, Lee Doo Ho’s Mudorz, Shin Mun Su’s Robot Jiibba, Park Soo Dong’s Dolmen Gobau, and Yoon Seung Woon’s Stubborn Frog School were held at an exhibition hosted by the Korea Cartoon Museum and other Asian classical paintings.
The artwork digitally transcends the boundaries of monitor frames, eras, and countries, satirizing the power dynamics in contemporary art through the metaphor of cannonballs flying through art history and modern issues. It aims to critique the cartoon-like nature of the real world by encapsulating stories from ancient times to the present within the beauty of the four seasons.
The work Chochungdo is based on the two works of ‘Chochungdo’ by Shin Saimdang, a female artist who excelled in poetry and calligraphy during the mid-Joseon Dynasty. The author tried to show a new painting method by adding modern digital techniques while preserving the painting quality of the original as much as possible. To fully express the existence of still grass and insects, the artist tried to express Shin Saimdang’s delicate expressiveness with a modern sensibility by adding vitality to the paper.
Talking about the work Kim Hong Do – Painting of Bamboo is a digital reinterpretation of the ink and bamboo painting by Kim Hong Do, a representative painter of the late Joseon Dynasty. It breathes new life into a work that has lost its light trapped in the canvas by expressing the invisible wind flow and snow scenery digitally.
Artist Lee Nam Lee expressed his feelings about participating in this India Art Fair, said in a statement, “Thank you for inviting me to this great India Art Fair. I am grateful for allowing me to showcase the media artworks that reinterpret world art history, religion, philosophy, and aesthetics whose contents combine Indian art culture with traditional Korean paintings.”
Hwang Il Yong, Director of Korean Cultural Centre India said, “Despite the great interest in Korean culture in India, there is a lack of understanding of Korean artists and Korean art in its art field. We are trying to form a discourse about Korean art through continuous promotion, participation, and exhibitions. The organizers of the Art Fair specifically proposed the participation of Korean art, especially in the media art to us. Through this art fair and K Art’s successful debut stage, we will continue to create an opportunity to promote and introduce the status of K-Art.”
