The Buk Seoul Museum of Art will hold the new exhibition, SeMA Print Collection–Reflecting the Times, from May 19 to August 23, 2015. The prints by Korean artists from 1980–90 are selected from the collection of SeMA, displaying generational participatory arts of Korean artists following the previous Käthe Kollwitz print exhibition.

This exhibition traces the artistic movement reflecting the spirits of Korean artists of the time, and contemplates art as not being separate from life, which was a new communication method of that time.

The photo gallery 1 exhibits prints published from early to mid–1980s, by Oh Yoon (1946–1986), Min Joung-ki (1949–), and Hong Sung Dam (1955–). Those prints reflects historical affairs such as the Korean War (6·25 War), and the reality of a military dictatorship, as well as the 5·18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising that was directly experienced by the artists when they were young intellectuals.

Photo gallery 2 displays prints published from the mid–1980s to early 1990s, and by Kim, Joon–Kwon (1956–), whose works address peasant movement leaders, Park Bul Dong (1956–) whose works satirized the political and social reality of that time, and Seon Wung, Hong (1952–) whose works reflect his hope for reunification and democratization of Korea.

The new art movement led by the artists mentioned above significantly contributed to the establishment of today’s Korean contemporary art scene. When reflecting on the print art of the 80s–90s, the significance of those artists is apparent, particularly with regard to how they acknowledged and reflected reality into their works, which was a first in Korean art; they elevated the topic and content addressed by their works; and they thereby helped Korean contemporary art obtain its identity.

The SeMA prints collection exhibition will review the interests of artists and the spirit of the time while comparing them with the worldwide art movement of participatory realism.