Lecture Series: Land of the People

Jung Won Chul, Comfort Women, linocut, 2001

Hello everyone, back in February I posted a blog about a show called The Land/ The People in the library gallery here at Sac State.  Well this week some of the artists came to school to lecture about their work and even go into the workshops themselves to show some of their techniques.  I decided to check out two lectures by Jung Won Chul and Yoon Yeo Geol.  Although the lectures were kept short, they both had many fascinating things to say about their work and what inspires them to create art.  First up was Jung Won Chul who has over 30 years of experience in a wide array of media.  Jung Won Chul was highly influenced to engage politically by the unrest experienced in Korea during  the 1980's He sought out woodcuts as a great medium to display what he called "vigorous expression."  The black and white nature of the works worked symbolically as representing the contradictions he says are displayed in Korean society and in society as a whole.  After studying printmaking in Germany he decided to make art that forced people to talk about it and not ignore it.  Linoleum was a material he saw as showing dignity for the people and a perfect material for printing.  His ignored people have consisted of comfort women and migrant factory workers.  He also used endangered species as a subject displayed in such a way an encyclopedia or textbook would.  His most well know subjects and the ones that are on display in the gallery consist of his Comfort Women Series.  These were women who were used by Japanese soldiers during WWII as objects of pleasure against their will.  The forgotten stories of their experiences are captured in their faces which are often sad and yet stoic at the same time.

Yoon Yeo Geol, Myungdung, woodcut, 2009

Yoon Yeo Geol was political by other means in a very philosophical way.  His art often expresses the existential angst experienced by many who feel trapped by their environment. In this case it would be the turmoil experienced by most Koreans whose country is often in political unrest, especially after the split during the 1950's.  Yoon Yeo Geol likes to ask questions about our very existence and the meanings of life. He seemed embarrassed about a short film he had made about his frustration and angst  by expressing in such a dark and beautiful way .  He said he was always a little anxious about his work and he spoke about his frustration to overcome this in order to survive.  In his City Scape Series this angst comes out vividly  with small emotional lines depicting the streets of an inner city. Each one displays a different time at a different location which resembles a woodcut produced by Monet.  You can make out lines of people, street signs, and buildings that ask the question "where are people going"?

When I first examined these works months ago I came away very impressed and curious about the mental processes behind them.  After the lectures I found that the motivations behind them only added to the great narratives they exhibit.