On Painting
Among many discussions about painting, the most difficult concept is that of ‘representation.’ We may assume that important issues in modern and contemporary art initiate from this word. As such, issues of representation derived from painting techniques provide existential reasons about art itself. In other words, art begins from the essence of painting. For this reason, perhaps, contemporary art sometimes stays its farthest away from painting, only returning to it after a certain length of time has elapsed. Painterly representation in art provides a special meaning to the word ‘attitude.’ Through paintings, art displays layers of representation that develop from one-dimensional, realistic representation, that is, from a visual illusion that might be described as the object’s ghost, to two-dimensional representation that refers to the representation of concept, method, and attitude. Rather conceptual in nature, this artistic progress has been elevated so as to share equal status with the philosophical musings of the 15th century Florence-born writer, scientist, and artist, Leone Battista Alberti (1404-1472). He speculated that progress was a function of Pinguiore Minerva (literally, ‘fleshy wisdom’) in which intellect was revealed not through theoretical efforts, but through artistic effort. As he described in the first volume of De Pictura, written in 1435, Alberti concluded that a person who does not understand what he is painting could never be a painter.
When studying symptoms that enlighten our awareness of the importance of painting, what comes to mind is painting as something undefinable. As an art form, painting cannot easily be represented in reality. Just like many fundamental ideas, paintings exist as questions, not as answers. The reason painting is regarded as an advanced cultural system is because it has been recognized as a site that continuously responds to the historical and collective questions directed towards it. Instead of obtaining a complete visual outcome, those viewing painting attempt to extrapolate new events from the painting based on their own individual memories and experiences. When addressing those artworks that do not resemble questions, or are deficient in posing questions, one must rephrase the problem in terms of the division between painterly techniques of representation and artistic representation. In reality, there are too many paintings comprised only of the former.
The title of this show comes from Alberti’s book. On Painting is not a complete sentence. It is a symbol that indicates the beginning of the question about a theme implied by the title. On Painting attempts to achieve that which artists, critics, and viewers express as the higher order of painting. In order to achieve this, Alberti concludes that it is to their honor for those who encourage the artists with their own views. This exhibition starts from the proposition of how such value should be discovered in today’s painting. It includes works by Kwang-Ho Lee, Choong-Hyun Roh, and Sung-Sic Moon, all of whom use paints to represent individual styles. This notwithstanding, the reason for exhibiting all three artists together are as follows: First, among young Korean artists, these are the artists who follow the traditional technique of painting most closely. Kwang-Ho Lee directly takes up traditional painting techniques; Choong-Hyun Roh assumes a special position with regard to the realistic representation he enacts through the galp’il method (a method used in traditional calligraphy which involves the use of a dry brush) using a brush otherwise employed in oil painting; and Sung-Sic Moon, whose paintings comprised of thin, hairline brushstrokes remind the viewer of the perspectival displays found in early Renaissance paintings. All three artists manifest a realistic painting style. However, the two-dimensional implications that these ‘painterly techniques’ produce are not so easily deduced. Secondly, the artists share a common feature in that the body of their respective series of works infuses a deep, conceptual narration to their individual paintings. As frequently seen in paintings of the present, this common feature prevents each work from dissolving into a mere visual fragment. Even though they are young, the artistic languages that these artists form produce a strong pattern, albeit slowly. One familiar with the history of art would understand what kinds of possibilities these languages might generate.
Sung-Sic Moon: Idealist Realism
The most significant element in landscape depiction is the portrayal of the theme of ‘whole and part.’ This is more the case in painting as the entire canvas is filled with realistic representation, unlike the situation found in Oriental painting. The whole that is filled with realistic elements is endlessly reinterpreted by each part. Sung-Sic Moon fills a canvas by layering paint from one end point to another. His paintings of forest scenes are filled with trees and leaves. Moon is the youngest of the three artists in this exhibition – a student – yet he uses one of the oldest painting methods, one dating to pre-Renaissance days, which requires the use of a thin hairbrush. Each and every leaf is painted in such great detail so as to make the viewer aware of the kind of tree depicted, along with its ‘mood.’ In addition, the shape of the forest formed by the trees appears to be selectively positioned at a specific point. Surrounded by the dominant white background, the forest appears to be an artificial park or part of another forest. Moon’s landscapes more closely resemble a visual hallucination or a dream rather than a stage or a garden. It is an unnatural space filled with accidents. In his forest, one stumbles upon the traces of someone’s footsteps. Tree branches remain broken, perhaps by some random accident, but no one is there to explain what happened. Instead, a photo-realistic tree leaves densely fills up the painting’s space.
In order to understand Moon’s paintings, we must refer to his drawings. His drawings illustrate numerous events that are not revealed in his paintings, as if to enable them to converse on their own, in silence, and in secret. Although the encounter of characters and the crossing of gazes depict a relationship that almost failed, the two-dimensional techniques Moon uses to enact realistic representation through sharp and regular pencil lines tell us that a painting’s representation depends on the existence of deep psychological situations. More akin to a surrealistic narration, Moon attempts to arrange not just the objects but his experiences. The experiences seem to encounter each other for the first time on the canvas; however, they also convey old feelings, or what might be described as nostalgia sans explanation. Perhaps such feelings are derived from the thin, detailed hairbrush strokes, or the illusion or sense of déjà vu created by the encounters between the detailed parts of the painting’s whole. The paintings of Moon contribute to idealist realism’s repertoire. If the viewers can obtain pleasure from this, it is based solely in the pleasure that the artist himself takes away from the labor of painting. Moderation, concentration, transcendence, labor, and pleasure are the core elements of Moon’s paintings.
Three artists, three realisms, and three realms of representational themes construct the substance of this exhibition. On Painting is also about how we look at painting today as opposed to what Alberti sought to gain from painting in the past. At its source is pleasure. Three different types of painterly pleasures, each one different from the other. To find them is to come across the greatest pleasure of them all.
By Jin-Sang Yoo / Art Critic
