한국 모노크롬 회화의 ‘沈黙’ 노엄 촘스키의 사상적 관점에서 분석 고찰

Abstract

Korean Monochrom painting started from the discourse about ‘White Color’ after “the Exhibition of five Korean painters, five kinds of White Colors”, held in a Tokyo Gallery on May 6-24, 1975. Korean Monochrom painters had neither organized a group sharing a specific view of art nor announced (declared) any specific statement elucidating their identity. Their main objective was to minimize the image and to respect the surface of the canvas. They were largely influenced by Minimalism, Arte-Povera, Support-Surface, etc., based on Formalism of Modernism Art. In addition, Korean Monochrom painting was founded upon traditional Korean thoughts and art theory. Korean Monochrom painting has its roots in ‘Korean Scholarly Painting(文人畵muninhwa)’ in the era of Chosun as a reference source of their concepts. It can be regarded as the modernization of Korean Scolarly Painting(muninhwa). Korean Monochrom painting purely shows Formalism, ‘Art for Art’s sake.’ This is not a remembrance of the political situation of the Military government in the 1970s. However, most Art Historians strenuously emphasize that Korean monochrom painters are in alignment with the military government in the 70s under the cloak of ‘Silence’. Korean Monochrom painting was actually able to develop with the support of the military government. It participated in not only a global ideology of Modernism Art, but also the governance ideology of the Park regime. Former President Park Jeong-hui contributed to the resurgence of Nationalism. He established the Cultural Properties Protection Law in 1962, and had a strong will to protect and encourage traditional art. The military government of Park played a substantial role in promoting Korean Monochrom painting. Although Korean monochrom painters never declared to support the military government, they shared the governance ideology of the Park regime. As Park Jeong-hui made an effort to reform society, they insisted on reforming the conventional art world. The Abstract art was a symbolic sign of reforming the conventional society and constructing a new purified advanced society, namely, a Utopia. Korean Monochrome painting has been viewed as a sign of remodeling society and suggesting a vision of utopianism to construct a powerful rich nation. It has been presented as a partner of the national development during the industrial modernization era. Korea in the 1970s depended on and was protected by the America in terms of economy, culture, art, politics, etc. Noam Chomsky has strongly criticized the foreign policy of the United States and is obviously against the military government. Chomsky is critical of both the American state capitalist system and the authoritarian of dictatorship. He believes that society should be highly organized and based on democratic control of communities and workplaces. In this article, I attempted to re-read Korean Monochrom painting under the political progressivism of Noam Chomsky. I would like to remove the blurry line between what is progressive and what is conservative in the paintings. This article aims to deconstruct the implication of the political stereotype by tracing the concept and style of Korean Monochrom painting as an ultimate sign of Korean identity.