Color Drawing for Mask Dance (Talchum), Oh Yoon, ca. 1967~1970, Courtesy of SeMA
An exhibition marking the 40th anniversary of Korean artist Oh Yoon’s death is underway at the Art Archives, Seoul Museum of Art in Pyeongchang-dong.
Titled “Oh Yoon,” the exhibition runs through Feb. 14, 2027. It brings together prints, sculptures, photographs, drawings and archival materials drawn primarily from the institution’s Oh Yoon Collection. Admission is free.
Oh Yoon, who lived from 1946 to 1986, was a central figure in the development of Korean Minjung Art during the 1980s. His work examined the lives of workers, farmers and other ordinary people while addressing the social disruptions and historical wounds produced by Korea’s rapid modernisation.
Born in Busan, Oh studied sculpture at Seoul National University. In 1969, while still at university, he helped form the Reality Group and began exploring the relationship between art and contemporary society. During the 1970s, he developed a visual language informed by woodcuts, traditional brickmaking, pansori, mask dance and other forms of Korean folk culture.
Oh also worked closely with writers and publishers, producing book covers and illustrations. After helping establish the art collective Reality and Utterance in 1979, he expressed increasingly direct views on society and the role of art through both his works and writings.
Hwangto-hyeon, Oh Yoon, 1970, Courtesy of SeMA
The exhibition is organised chronologically into six sections whose titles are drawn from Oh’s notes. They cover his early experimentation, his engagement with the experiences of ordinary people, his interest in performance and his involvement with Reality and Utterance.
Later sections examine how Oh represented “han,” commonly associated with accumulated sorrow, and “shinmyeong,” a form of collective exhilaration or spiritual energy. These emotional forces became central to the dynamic figures and communal scenes produced during the final years of his career.
Original printmaking blocks are displayed alongside completed prints, allowing visitors to examine the physical marks left by carving. Sketches, notes, drawings and working tools further document how Oh developed an image before producing its final form.
The exhibition concludes by approaching the artist’s life as a creative journey, beginning with a travel diary written when he was 15. Oh held his first solo exhibition at Geurimmadang Min in Seoul shortly before his death in 1986 at the age of 40.
“Oh Yoon” occupies exhibition rooms and lounges on the first and second floors of the Art Archives, Seoul Museum of Art. The museum is closed on Mondays and Jan. 1, with final admission one hour before closing.
SayArt.net Maria Kim sayart2022@gmail.com
Prints, original blocks and archival materials trace the artist’s engagement with ordinary life, traditional culture and Korea’s modern historyColor Drawing for Mask Dance (Talchum), Oh Yoon, ca. 1967~1970, Courtesy of SeMA
An exhibition marking the 40th anniversary of Korean artist Oh Yoon’s death is underway at the Art Archives, Seoul Museum of Art in Pyeongchang-dong.
Titled “Oh Yoon,” the exhibition runs through Feb. 14, 2027. It brings together prints, sculptures, photographs, drawings and archival materials drawn primarily from the institution’s Oh Yoon Collection. Admission is free.
Oh Yoon, who lived from 1946 to 1986, was a central figure in the development of Korean Minjung Art during the 1980s. His work examined the lives of workers, farmers and other ordinary people while addressing the social disruptions and historical wounds produced by Korea’s rapid modernisation.
Born in Busan, Oh studied sculpture at Seoul National University. In 1969, while still at university, he helped form the Reality Group and began exploring the relationship between art and contemporary society. During the 1970s, he developed a visual language informed by woodcuts, traditional brickmaking, pansori, mask dance and other forms of Korean folk culture.
Oh also worked closely with writers and publishers, producing book covers and illustrations. After helping establish the art collective Reality and Utterance in 1979, he expressed increasingly direct views on society and the role of art through both his works and writings.
Hwangto-hyeon, Oh Yoon, 1970, Courtesy of SeMA
The exhibition is organised chronologically into six sections whose titles are drawn from Oh’s notes. They cover his early experimentation, his engagement with the experiences of ordinary people, his interest in performance and his involvement with Reality and Utterance.
Later sections examine how Oh represented “han,” commonly associated with accumulated sorrow, and “shinmyeong,” a form of collective exhilaration or spiritual energy. These emotional forces became central to the dynamic figures and communal scenes produced during the final years of his career.
Original printmaking blocks are displayed alongside completed prints, allowing visitors to examine the physical marks left by carving. Sketches, notes, drawings and working tools further document how Oh developed an image before producing its final form.
The exhibition concludes by approaching the artist’s life as a creative journey, beginning with a travel diary written when he was 15. Oh held his first solo exhibition at Geurimmadang Min in Seoul shortly before his death in 1986 at the age of 40.
“Oh Yoon” occupies exhibition rooms and lounges on the first and second floors of the Art Archives, Seoul Museum of Art. The museum is closed on Mondays and Jan. 1, with final admission one hour before closing.
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