Appreciation of Korean Art in America

Introduction

“Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse”.

Above are the words of Winston Churchill. His opinion clearly emphasize on the usage of traditional aspects and cultural aspects in artistic representations all over the world. This in turn implies the need and necessity of cultural collaboration and intercultural portrayal of arts. In old days, the field of arts was not so common. Where it was immensely difficult for an artist to get the recognition for his work then at that time imagining intercultural and fusion work was impossible. Over the period of time the field of art has shown drastic changes. People began to accept and appreciate artistic work. This gave rise to the use of fusion themes in arts and paintings. As a result of this change artists began to travel and began to display their work all over the world. This provided them an opportunity to get inspired from other culture and combine it with their own tradition and present a fusion of creativity. This also inspired Asian artists to travel to different places first to display their work and second to get inspiration.

After the Cultural Revolution in most parts of Eastern Asia, art revolutionized in the 20th century and the world looked deeper into art seeking a unique style of expression. According to the views of professor Shamsul Wares:

“Asia has realized the rising need of creating art pieces uniquely Oriental art, which would allow them to tell a story about the vast Eastern Asia continent. Asian art has had influences from the west and America as well and artists' envisions are creating unique Asian brand of art that blends the borrowed aspects and traditional Asian cultural aspects”.

Since the start of modern art in Asia, there was a struggle and opposition about what was modern or traditional. New deliberations have gradually evolved where tradition is accepted as still living in the contemporary age. America has had a taste of the Asian experience from the Asian-Americans such as Michael Joo and Byron Kim who incorporate distinctive forms with their cultural backgrounds. This research paper explores the uniqueness of Asian art specifically Korean art and its level of appreciation in America.

Background

Art has attained a different definition in the past few decades. Art depicts multiple cultural and historical values. Since the mid- 20th century, America assumed a central position in the appreciation of art since New York became the global art centre after Paris. The multicultural experience of America puts it in a good position to display a wide variety of art. Art symposium in America provides a way to have the unique Asian experience. Asian art is rich in cultural aspects. However, Asian artists like Kim Whanki who was one of the first notable Korean artists in America, have been working on establishing a unique brand of Asian art that can create a global impact. Some of his works which include gouache paintings integrates primary ...