Exhibition《Collection highlights: Korean painting》is a collection and special exhibition that generally and clearly sheds light on important collections from each field that the National Museum of Contemporary Art owns. The Collection is the core of the museum and it composes a key element of the museum in relation to the building and manpower, and it reflects the museum’s past, present and future. The National Museum of Contemporary Art’s collection especially reflects the cultural values that Korean Modern art is composed of. It is a massive intangible asset that will be handed down to our future generations.
The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea was established in 1969. It started gathering a permanent collection from 1971. But the current collection policy was established once it moved to Gwacheon in 1986 when its modernized storage facility were equipped to handle the massive amount of art to be displayed there. The museum is focused on the collecting art that represents the whole story of Korea’s modern and contemporary art movement from the late 19 century to present. It also includes an international art collection that expresses contemporary world art. At present, the National Museum of Contemporary Art owns approximately 6,400 pieces of work, including, paintings both Korean and international, sculptures and photographs, in a total of10 genres.
The biggest characteristic of this exhibition is the changing of the chronic genre mix arrangement method that was shown in the original collection exhibition space. It exhibits approximately 300 pieces of work displayed by genre classification, for example, the Exhibition Hall on 2nd floor holds sculptures and paintings(Exhibition 3, 4), and there are Korean paintings, and photographs (Exhibition 5, 6) in the Exhibition Hall on the 3rd floor.
The Classification method by genre has a strong point in that it gives a clear understanding of the collection’s direction and characteristics, as well as, the museum’s collection. The global art museum shows various exhibition methods to display their collection effectively, for instance, the Museum of Modern Art in New York is adapting their exhibition style to the genre method.
This exhibition is composed in order to see the general view of Korean modern art change over time, by mixing chronological flow and various topics and arranging pieces by genre the method has a basic axis. You will find the exhibition’s main artists, Lee Joong-sub or Park Soo Keun grouped together as national artist. You will find Kim Whanki and Yoo Youngkook grouped together as representatives of Korean modern abstract art. In the Korean painting section you will find a variety of artists ranging from great masters such as Yi SangBom, Pyon, and Kwan-shik, to younger artists such as Kim Jung Wook and Jung Jae Ho all grouped together. The new Media Exhibition Hall is scheduled to show both representatives of Korean sculptors like Kim Chong Young and Kwon Jin Kyu, as well as international artists like Lee Bul and Suh Do-Ho.
