화랑(畵廊)에 대한 재고찰 - 1970년대를 중심으로

Abstract

Despite the intimate link between galleries and art history, the former have in many ways been regarded merely as spaces for buying and selling artworks, with little research having been conducted into their roles and activity. Galleries played a particularly important role in Korean contemporary art history in the 1970s. Exhibitions held in galleries at this time gave rise to crucial events in Korean contemporary art, including the development of diverse experimental art by avant-garde groups, the first exhibitions of monochrome painting, proposed starting points for Korean contemporary art, the publishing of critical and other art magazines, retrospectives of works by modern artists such as Lee Jung-seob and Park Soo-keun and publication of books of their paintings, the transition to a new generation of Oriental-style painters, the development of contemporary real-scenery landscape painting, and the establishment of prints as a genre.BR This study is an examination of major exhibitions held by Myongdong Gallery, Gallery Hyundai and Dong San Bang Gallery, three venues that opened in the 1970s and became intimately connected to artistic trends in this period through their exhibitions and other activities. Myongdong Gallery played a role in publicizing avant-garde artists in the 1970s. Dong San Bang Gallery successfully achieved a change in generations by focusing on established artists in their 30s and 40s, and played a leading role in discovering new artists. Gallery Hyundai held exhibitions of works by modern artists such as Park Soo-keun and Lee Jung-seob and published books of their paintings, forming art historical discourses and bringing renewed attention for these artists in the art world and among the general public. Through their exhibitions, these galleries actively distributed contemporary artworks in an art market previously dominated by antique works. They also helped spread artistic culture among the general public by publishing magazines such as Hyundai misul (“Contemporary art”), Hwarang (“Gallery”) and Misul chunchu (“Art Year”). It is thus clear that galleries in South Korea in the 1970s functioned as multipurpose venues, playing roles of museums, critics and commercial spaces at a time when the country lacked sufficient art museums.