Contemporary Korean Art, Mina Kim, 2025
New Directions since the 1960s

304 pages | 100 color plates, 30 halftones | 7.48 x 9.84

This book showcases a collection of the most visually captivating, intriguing, and often overlooked examples of Korean art. Mina Kim highlights the artistic output of the 1960s and ’70s through today, providing crucial aesthetic and political context for understanding the work. Key ideas that structure the book include performance, gender, identity, internationalism, and the evolution of multimedia. By placing artistic expression at the core of Korean culture and society, this book sheds new light on Korea’s contributions to global visual culture.

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Summary of information related to artist Park Hy-soo in the Book (by Gemini)

Park Hyesoo, as highlighted in Mina Kim's "CONTEMPORARY KOREAN ART NEW DIRECTIONS SINCE THE 1960S", combines literal and visual elements to explore contemporary human experiences. Her art involves sharing her own stories and recording others' voices, reflecting life and art.

Since the early 2000s, Park has explored diverse subjects, including time, memory, love, family, dreams, and environmental issues. She visualizes these themes through extensive research and surveys, using formats like statistical graphs and installations.

Her 'Project Dialogue' (2009-present) integrates multimedia such as installations and performances. Key pieces include 'Dream Dust', an installation of shredded questionnaires about unfulfilled dreams, and 'Old Pharmacy', a participatory performance exploring audience dreams.

'Definition of Botong' (2013-2019) extended 'Project Dialogue'. It utilized multimedia to communicate about averageness and normality, conveying the loss of dreams and humanity due to societal pressures.

'Our Unknown Country' (2019) is the fourth in the 'Project Dialogue' series, focusing on community narratives. Park examines Korean societal concepts, definitions of "us," and community perceptions through surveys and discussions.

'Perfect Family' is a proposed solution within 'Our Unknown Country'. This fictional company, using wall texts, graphics, and a homepage, explores the concept of rented family communities, prompting reflection on family values and trust in hired relationships.

Ultimately, Park Hyesoo's art aims to raise questions rather than deliver direct messages. Her work fosters communication and empathy in art, facilitating collaborative problem-solving.

(pp.206~212)