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Walsh Library Gallery
presents

Politics in Art

Thoughts about Politics in Art

In this exhibition we present a selection of the works in the art collection of Andrew and Wan Kyun Rha Kim. The thirty-three works exhibited are by artists from Korea and China, and date from the last half of the twentieth century. In this collection we see the role politics can play in artistic expression, showing both a free and imposed aesthetic. To understand this effect, the exhibition is divided into three stylistic areas: traditional, propaganda and revolution, and a new freedom. These styles do not follow a chronological path, but are fluid, reflecting both the traditions of the past and the current artistic style practiced. Each is influenced by the political ideology of the time.

Traditional Asian art reflects a religious belief in peace and harmony with nature. The traditional medium used was watercolors and ink, the two often combining to show nature and man's relationship to nature. This traditional imagery is centered, and consists of a shallow depth of field or perspective. The background for these images is usually washed and incomplete. The focus is on the central image not the entire picture plane. We see examples of this in the works by Korean artist Lee So-Ji, but also in Chinese artists Wang Zhenghua's Children Going to School and the series of works by Zhang Hongtu. Despite the tight control over artistic expression in China after the communists came to power in 1949, artists still used this traditional form but were forced to redesign their work in a politically acceptable format. The work by Zhenghua, painted in the new medium- oil, uses red scarves on the children (the symbol of the Party) as a central feature in an otherwise traditional format. In Hongtu's watercolors and oil paintings we see depictions of simple landscape features that were deemed "not harmful" by the Party. 

Revolution and Propaganda clearly shows the new imposed style of the Communist Party. Images are realistic, full of detail, and have proper perspective. Artists were retrained in the Soviet Socialist Realism style. Art was no longer a means to express ones love of beauty and nature, but was instead used by the government to further its ideology. People were citizens of the state, working and living only to serve and better the state. Images from large-scale historical oil paintings (Yanan Political Rectification Speech, 1949-1950 by Luo Gongliu) to propaganda posters (see series by Xu Wenhua), show citizens in their new roles and glorify Party leadership, especially Chairman Mao.

As the century moved towards a close, we see change again. After the death of Mao in 1976, strict control began to loosen. Finally, by the 1980s, there was a new freedom in China. Zhang Mingji's, Memory of the Window, July 1994, introduces this section:
During the Cultural Revolution, people would often break each other's windows. However, if you put Mao's portrait in the window, no one would dare do such a thing. Here, the window is broken, exposing the ocean and horizon beyond.*

In A New Freedom, we look beyond the Cultural Revolution to a new cultural liberalism and finally a new aesthetic. As restraints from the government loosened, artists explored both traditional and contemporary styles. The goal was a new artistic vocabulary that could incorporate both the old and new. This is evident in the strong detailed realism found in February, 1994 and The Misty Li River, 1993; in abstract images like Mao, 1996; or the Renaissance-esque Bacchus, Apollo and Mars Hunting Together, 1994. As different styles continue to be explored and the political sphere becomes more inviting, what new role will artists play? What new dimensions will experimentation bring?

Scott Hankins and Nina Pierro, Co-curators
September 2000

*Kim, Wan Kyun Rha., The Collection of Andrew B. Kim and Wan Kyun Rha Kim: Art of the Cultural Revolution and Beyond. Hong Kong:
Pressroom Printer & Designer, 1997: page 51.

                                 
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