Buk Seoul Museum of Art presents VIP 1950-60: Vintage In Photography, a project-photo exhibition displaying 100 photographs of the 1950s and 1960s selected from the collections of the Research Institute: the History of Photography (RIHP) affiliated with Myungji University and Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA). The exhibition is intended to take a view of a stream of contemporary Korean photography by shedding light on works by six overarching Korean photographers(VIP) who worked in the 1950s and 1960s.
The 1950s and the 1960s was a period when Korean society and the Korean photo-scene underwent considerable change. The situations of the times after the turbulent period of liberation from Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War gave rise to realism, reflecting reality and everyday life, and another art movement exploring the true nature of things within an individualist world. A variety of experiments with such themes and expressive methods served as momentum to extend the category of contemporary Korean photography.
The exhibition consists of two parts: RIHP Collection, and SeMA collection. Vintage photographs1) of Hyun Il Young, Lee Hae Sun and Lee Hyoung Rok chosen from the RIHP Collection display a balance between a documentary photography style and modeling quality, transcending standardized tendencies of realism and pictorialism of the time. Photographs selected from the SeMA Collection are works of Han Young Soo, Hong Soon Tae, and Joo Myung Duck featuring candid aspects of life in Korea, especially in Seoul in the 1950s and 1960s. Their works, anchored to the intrinsic properties of documentary photography, while seeing aspects from a humane perspective, show a vivid sense of reality, capturing aspects and transfiguration of Korean society and life.
The exhibition also enhances viewer understanding of activities and backgrounds by exhibiting relevant magazines and exhibition catalogs that provide information on the trends of the then photographic scene. The 1950s and 1960s was a turning point in contemporary Korean photography history when numerous photographers experimented with intrinsic attributes of photography, record, and choice. The art show will be an opportunity to explore the trace of time of the 1950s and 1960s and share six participating artists’gazes and art-worlds.
