4 Important Figures of Korean Video Art

A pioneering figure of Korean video art, Park Hyunki studied painting at Hongik University but graduated with a degree in architecture in 1964. During 1970s Park worked at an interior architecture firm to purchase equipment required for art-making, and he perceived the medium of video from the Eastern philosophical perspective as a spiritual symbol of materialism and Western technology.

Park Hyunki worked with low tech simplicity and meditative potentials of the sequences while treating the medium as a sculpture rather than exploring its technological advancements. He gradually gained international recognition and exhibited across the globe, and although none of his works were sold during his lifetime, a huge collection of Park’s artworks was donated to MMCA.

Featured image: Park Hynki - Untitled, 1979. Stone and monitor, 120 x 260 x 260 cm. MMCA Collection

Another pioneering figure of Korean video art is Kim Kulim. This multidisciplinary self-taught artist was engaged with both traditional media such as painting and sculpture, as well as new media at the time such as installation, mail art, and land art.

Kim was a co-founder of an influential performance group named The Fourth Group together with Jung Chanseung and Chung Kangja in 1970; their performances were really critical of the system and had a huge impact on the Korean art scene. Throughout the decades the artist radically explored the materiality of painting, incorporated ready-made objects in his painted canvases, created installation art, staged performances, and is considered the first practitioner of mail art in Korea. Many of his actions were recorder implying his videos are more of a documentation of the artistic process.

Featured image: Kim Kulim - Whiping Cloth, 1974/2001. DVD (VHS Copy).

Artist Kimsooja studied Western painting at the Hongik University in Seoul so the painterly approach stands at the core of her practice. The artist gained attention after her clothed assemblages produced in a manner reminiscent of Lucio Fontana.

By underlining the sawing process, Kimsooja articulated the notion of female labor in the context of the local tradition. After the residencies at PS1: MOMA in 1992-93, she developed a series of site-specific installations that explored the origin in the Korean color spectrum. She used video as a media to capture her actions, for instance, Bottari Truck in Exile made in 1999 which features the continuation of Kimsooja’s interest in fabric, or A Needle Woman from the same year again focused on the notion of labor, position of women, stereotypes, and migration. This established artist represented South Korea at the 24th São Paulo Biennale in 1998 and was in the Korean Pavilion at the the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013.

Featured image: Kimsooja - Cities on the Move-Bottari Truck, 1997. Single-channel Performance Video, no sound.

Ham Yang Ah is the youngest of our four artists. She studied painting and art theory at Seoul National University, as well as media art at New York University. Afterward, Yang-Ah continues to experiment with the media of sculpture and installation, exhibiting internationally. Her practice revolves around metaphors that portray the social aspects of every day. Namely, the artist devotedly explores the themes concerning passing time and cycles which are often presented through narratives that blur the boundaries between fiction and truth.

Featured image: Yang Ah Ham - Sensous Space, 1998. Single-channel video. Color, sound, 9 min. 31 sec.