[비즈한국] There is a saying, "The value of 'together'." It appeared in a corporate image advertisement about a decade ago. It is a wonderful copy that carries the meaning that the power of being together can change the world. Being together signifies empathy or communication, and with this power, a new paradigm can be created. Art also holds value when it resonates with people. Empathy comes from the spirit of the times and a universal artistic language. The 'Korean Art Support Project' also aims to showcase the thoughts of various people through an accessible artistic language. As we reach Season 10, we support artists who strive to practice Confucius's idea that "good art must be easy to understand."
An artist reveals their own self through their work. Some do so in the raw, while others hide themselves completely and invite the viewer to guess. There are also artists who cover up just enough and reveal only a glimpse.
Works that reveal everything nakedly, as if peeling back layers, leave no lingering impression because they do not give the viewer the leisure to ponder. These are ideologically biased works that push a message to the forefront. Popular culture also enjoys using this method.
Works that emerge wearing the costumes of form or concept often lack substance to read or see, leading the viewer to simply turn away after only thinking. It is like a play of logic for those accustomed to emotional numbness. This is the case with conceptual art, including abstract art.
Works that carefully filter what to say and what to leave unsaid possess a balance of things to chew on and things to engrave in one's heart, providing the beauty of appreciation and room for imagination. Since such work keeps communication with the audience in mind, the artist must put in a corresponding amount of study. These are works that display the artist's thoughts through familiar forms.
That is the power of form held by painting. It refers to conveying what the artist wants to say through the concrete form of an object. In this case, thoughts or images that can be associated are added to the nature of the object or the characteristics of the form.
For example, it is like this. Among the famous works known to have foreseen Van Gogh's death is 'Wheatfield with Crows'. The crow that appears here is a bird usually known to symbolize an ominous sign. One feels this way because of its black color and eerie cry.
Perhaps that is why many art historians interpret that Van Gogh foresaw his death and included the crow in the painting. Being able to express death just through a crow, without painting the concrete figure of the deceased—this is precisely the power of form.
Park Yong-il also displays this power of form in his paintings. He is known as the 'Bojagi Artist.' He has stubbornly painted bojagi for over a decade. He shows his thoughts through the function of the bojagi and the meaning of bundling. What kind of thoughts are they?
"I lived in Goyang for about 20 years. I experienced firsthand the turbulent period when rural areas collapsed and new cities were built. I felt sorry for the precious memories that were lost in the midst of such times. A bojagi may look trivial, but to someone, it is something that gathers and keeps precious things together. My work started from this function of the bojagi."
Park Yong-il's 'Bojagi' work, which started from the meaning of gathering and preserving the stories of various people, has evolved further since then. The meaning of harmony, which fuses different thoughts or opinions, has been added. The traditional meaning of the bojagi serves as a metaphor that captures the spirit of the times. Today, Park Yong-il's bojagi paintings, which create beautiful combinations through various objects and painting, seem even fresher.