KOREAN CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION

[Anchor Lead]

An exhibition dedicated to Korean contemporary art has opened in Seoul. It puts on display some of the best figure paintings drawn by Korean modern and contemporary artists of the past 100 years. Here's more.

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"Sunset" by Kim Kwan-ho illustrates two women bathing in the river. The first nude painting in Korea drawn using western techniques, this piece of art made headlines at the time of its release. Kim Kwan-ho was one of the Korean artists who went to Japan to study western art during the Japanese colonial rule. Five self-portraits by Korean artists that were kept at Tokyo University of the Arts are now on display in Korea. Even during a bleak period when it seemed they have lost their home country, these artists did not forget the unique Korean style. "A Big Family" by Bae Un-seong portrays an extended family of the 1930s. This piece was designated as a cultural asset for its historical value, as it vividly shows how people lived and what clothes they wore at the time. Even during a series of big historic events in Korea such as the end of Japan's colonial rule followed by the start of the Korean War, these artists never stopped portraying hope.

[Soundbite] LIM KEUK-SUN(SPECTATOR) : "Park Soo-keun's works are very heartwarming."

Figure paintings drawn during the industrialization period and pro-democracy movements represent the nation's resolve to stand up against oppression and injustice. That's the reason figure paintings are called "the self-portraits of history."

[Soundbite] CHO EUN-JUNG(ART HISTORIAN) : "In portraits not only can we see people, but also the world of an aesthetic struggle that artists wanted to portray through people."

The exhibition of some 70 figure paintings by Korean modern and contemporary artists of the past 100 years is currently on at Gallery Hyundai in Seoul.