The Korea Times : Pop Artists From Korea, Japan Exhibit Together

"Richard Hamilton, one of the first exponents of Pop Art in Britain, said, ``Pop Art is popular, transient, witty, gimmicky, sexy and young.' Although said 50 years ago, such words also apply to the Korea-Japan modern art exhibition titled ``Pop Pop Pop,’’ which is being held at Gana Art Center in Seoul.

The exhibition presents about 100 works of 14 representative pop artists from the both countries, reflecting the current artistic era in which more and more artists are being inspired by mass-produced, expendable pop culture, using a variety of unusual media.

Japanese pop art has centered on the young generation’s passion for cartoons and animation based on the Japanese art form of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

On the other hand, pop art in Korea has developed as an expression of the culture of consumption and the inflow of ideas from abroad from the 1990s.

Korean artists in the exhibit include Paik Nam-june the renowned video artist who revolutionized the use of TV monitors and computer collages in art; character artist Kang Young-mean, who approaches the public by universal and friendly codes; and Lee Dong-ki, who makes his unique painting by mixing characters of Japanese animation character Atom and Mickey Mouse.

Takashi Murakami, a leader of Japanese modern art, shows various forms of work from cartoons to large-scale balloons and mass-produced T-shirts. Photographer Tomoko Sawada describes the culture of collectivism of Japanese teenagers by capturing their make-up style and school lives."