North Korean Art: Paradoxical Realism

by BG Muhn

Overview

North Korean Art: Paradoxical Realism at the 2018 Gwangju Biennale is an exhibition that reflects the culmination of an eight-year exploration into the art of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). During that time, BG Muhn made nine research trips to the DPRK to pursue a growing passion for the uniqueness and mystery surrounding Chosonhwa, the North Korean name for traditional ink wash painting on rice paper.

The DPRK is notably the only country in the world after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 that continues to create Socialist Realism art. This exhibition is likely the first opportunity for people around the world to see North Korean Chosonhwa in such a broad range of images within Socialist Realism art.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940161578988
Publisher:	Seoul Selection
Publication date:	11/22/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

BG Muhn started his art career after receiving a bachelor’s from California College of the Arts and a master’s from the University of Maryland-College Park. Eight years after arriving in the U.S., he beat out hundreds of competitors to gain a professorship at the Department of Art and Art History of Georgetown University, where he is now a tenured professor.

As an artist, Muhn has held solo exhibitions at Stux Gallery in Chelsea, New York, Gallery Scape and Ilmin Museum of Art in Seoul, and American University Museum in Washington, D.C. His works have been reviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Art in America and he has been interviewed by CNN. His works are displayed at National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) and Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA).

Intrigued by Pyongyang art since 2011, Muhn has embarked on a new challenge as an artist. Contemporary North Korean Art: The Evolution of Socialist Realism (June 18-August 14, 2015), an exhibition he curated for American University Museum in Washington, D.C., in 2016, drew major attention from the American media. He was also selected to curate the exhibition North Korean Art: Paradoxical Realism at the 2018 Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, preparing to introduce North Korean art focused on collaborative painting. He has traveled to the North Korean capital nine times to interview artists there, attend exhibitions, visit museums, collect materials, and perform analysis, culminating in the March 2018 publication of his book Pyongyang Art: Uncovering the Complex Layers of Chosonhwa (Seoul Selection).