East Asian and Western Perception of Nature in 20Th Century Painting
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
East Asian and Western Perception of Nature in 20th Century Painting Sungsil Park Ph.D. 2009 1 East Asian and Western Perception of Nature in 20th Century Painting Park Sung-Sil A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University of Brighton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2009 University of Brighton 2 Abstract The introduction aims to investigate both my painting and exhibition practice, and the historical and theoretical issues raised by them. It also examines different views on nature by comparing and contrasting 20th Century Western ideas with those of traditional Asian art and philosophies. There are two sections to this thesis; Section A contains an historical overview of Eastern and Western philosophy and art, Section B presents observations on my studio and exhibition practice. Section A is divided into two chapters. Chapter 1 examines concepts of nature in the East and West before the early 20th Century. It discusses examples of different approaches to nature and cross-cultural world views and explores the diversity of perceptions, especially Taoism and Buddhism, which emphasize harmony within nature and the principle of universal truth. It also gives pertinent and relevant examples of attitudes to nature in the Korean, Chinese and Japanese art of the 20th Century. Chapter 2 discusses new and changing attitudes to ecology, post 20th Century, and the environmental art movements of the East and West. Their ideas have a great deal in common with traditional Eastern views on nature and the mind, so have the potential to change both our identity and our relationship with nature. Section B draws together this material to establish the main argument of the thesis, concerning a connection between modern ecological approaches and traditional Zen Buddhist ideas which emphasize the interconnection of all natural forms. The section consists mainly of observations on studio practice divided into 3 chapters and a conclusion. Chapter 1 compares ways of approaching nature in my own paintings, entitled ‘the story of mud’ (1985-1992). Chapter 2, ‘nature-culture’ painting (1993-1999), examines the way that, for me, the meanings of nature were affected by the environment when I settled in London in 1989. It discusses cultural gaps between Eastern Asia and the West. Chapter 3 is concerned with a series of plant paintings (2000-2007). It deals with ideas on finding an identity and the views of others on the way monochrome colour painting works. Lastly, the conclusion provides a summary of differing Eastern and Western attitudes towards nature. It also examines the relationship between painting and painter in reflecting an acceptance of the here and now. This chapter finishes with a discussion of my plant paintings which attempt to present a visual equivalent of Zen ideas about the here and now and the oneness of subject and object. Illustrations of paintings and photographs, which were shown in Seoul, Beijing and London accompany and illustrate the thesis together with a CD Rom. 3 Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 The List of Illustrations 5 Preface 12 Acknowledgments 13 Author’s declaration 14 Section A. Context (Chapters 1 & 2) 15 Chapter 1 Concepts of Nature in the East and West before the Early 20th Century 15 The Western view of nature 16 The Eastern view of nature 18 Taoism 19 Buddhism 21 Zen Buddhism 23 Confucianism 24 Chapter 2 The Post 20th Century Western Ecosophy Movement and Environmental Art 28 The Western Ecology Movement and Philosophy 28 The Environmental Art Movement 33 Ecological Art 35 Section B. Observations on Studio Practice: a Series of Exhibitions undertaken between 1985 and 2007 38 Introduction Experiencing nature in the mountains (1964-1974) 37 The cultural gap between Seoul and Muju-Ahnsung(1975-1988) 42 Academic background 43 4 Chapter 1 Mud Painting (1985-1992) 49 Mud painting: project, concept, description and statement 49 Description and statement 51 Mud painting exhibitions 1986-1988 52 Chapter 2 Nature-Culture Painting (1989-1999) 56 International experience between East and West 56 Educational background and artworks 58 Nature as a subject 60 Culture as a subject 68 Doll painting 76 Weed painting 81 Chapter 3 Alien Painting Series (2000-2007) 90 Introduction 90 Who am I and who are you? 90 Existence and recognition 93 How and what? 104 Views on life and identity in the art in UK 136 Conclusion 147 What nature means for me 148 Art: deciding who I am and how to live 149 Here and now 151 Nothingness and somethingness 152 Duality and oneness 154 Bibliography 156 CD 5 List of Illustrations Fig 1. The Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate (Yin and Yang) Fig 2. Duckyu Mountain (winter) Fig 3. Photo image of myself in the early 1970s Fig 4. Photo image of my parents and younger sister in the early 1970s Figs 5 & 6. Chilyoun and Yongchu Falls in the Duckyu Mountain Range (summer) Fig 7. Family picnic in the Dukyu mountains range, 1978 Fig 8. ‘Ahnsung Stream’ in the BA Studio, 1983 Figs 9 & 10. ‘Urban Landscape Painting’ in the BA studio, 1984-1985 Figs 11, 12 & 13. ‘Urban Landscape Painting’ in the BA studio, 1984-1985 Fig 14. View of ‘The Story of Mud’ solo exhibition at Kwanhoon Gallery, Seoul, 1987 Fig 15. ‘Mud Painting 2’, solo exhibition, 1987 Fig 16. ‘Mud Painting 3’, solo exhibition, 1987 Fig 17. ‘Mud Painting 1’, solo exhibition, 1987 Fig 18. ‘Winter Landscape Painting’ in the BA studio, 1985 Fig 19. ‘Untitled’, a scratched painting in the MA studio, 1986 Fig 20. ‘The Story of Mud - I’, solo exhibition, 1987 Fig 21. A part of ‘A Story of Mud - I’, 1987 Fig 22. ‘The Story of Mud’, solo exhibition at Eal Gallery, Seoul, 1988 Fig 23. ‘The Story of Mud-II’, solo exhibition, 1987 6 Fig 24. ‘The Story of Mud’, solo exhibition in 1987 Fig 25. ‘The Story of Mud - IV’, Solo exhibition at Eal Gallery, Seoul, 1988 Fig 26. View of solo exhibition, 1987 Fig 27. ‘Destiny I’, from a series of 3-D works, 1989-1990 Fig 28. ‘Destiny II’, from a series of 3-D works, 1989-1990 Fig 29. ‘Destiny III’, from a series of 3-D works, 1990 Fig 30. ‘Destiny IV’, from a series of 3-D works, 1989 Fig 31 ‘Destiny V’, from a series of 3-D works, 1989 Fig 32. My studio at Wimbledon School of Art, 1989 Fig 33. My studio at Wimbledon School of Art, 1989 Fig 34. ‘Destiny-White’, 1989 Fig 35. ‘Destiny-Black’ and ‘Destiny-White’, 1989 Fig 36. ‘Just as it is – the Glass Beads’, from a series of oil paintings, 1994-1996 Fig 37. ‘Just as it is – the Glass Beads’, from a series of oil paintings, 1994-1996 Fig 38. ‘Just as it is – the Glass Beads’, from a series of oil paintings, 1994-1996 Fig 39. ‘Just as it is – the Glass Beads’, from a series of oil paintings, 1994-1996 Fig 40. ‘Shell’ series of oil paintings, 1994-1996, exhibit at the Battersea Art Fair, Battersea Park, London, 2002 Fig 41. ‘Shell’ series of oil paintings, 1994-1996, exhibit at the Battersea Art Fair, Battersea Park, London, 2002 7 Fig 42. ‘Shell’ series of oil paintings, 1994-1996, exhibit at the Battersea Art Fair, Battersea Park, London, 2002 Fig 43. ‘Shell’ series of oil paintings, 1994-1996, exhibit at the Battersea Art Fair, Battersea Park, London, 2002 Fig 44. ‘Destiny VI’, from a series of 3D works, 1990 Fig 45. ‘The Story of Mud – London’, 1990 Fig 46. ‘The Story of Mud – London (1990)’, exhibit at the PhD degree show at Brighton University, 2006 Fig 47. ‘Destiny V’, from a series of 3-D works, 1989 Fig 48. ‘Who Are You?’: ‘Do You Know Where We Came From?’, (Relief Print, 1991), exhibit Sapporo International Print Biennale Exhibition, Sapporo, 1993 Fig 49. ‘Who Are You?: Know Yourself’, (Relief Print, 1991), exhibit Sapporo International Print Biennale Exhibition, Sapporo, 1993 Fig 50. ‘Genesis’ (Lithography, 1991), solo exhibition at the Indeco Gallery in Seoul, 1992 Fig 51. ‘Genesis 1-1’ (Relief Print, 1990), solo exhibition at the Indeco Gallery, Seoul, 1992 Fig 52. ‘Let’s go home’ (Mono Print, 1992), solo exhibition at the Indeco Gallery, Seoul, 1992 Fig 53. ‘Food Chain’ (Silkscreen Print), Camberwell College of Arts (MA), 1990 Fig 54. The print work ‘Genesis’, MA Printmaking degree exhibition, Camberwell College of Arts (held in ‘Art for offices Ltd’), London, 1992 Fig 55. ‘Genesis’ (Silkscreen Print), solo exhibition at the Indeco Gallery, Seoul, 1992 Fig 56. ‘The White Cat’ (1996), solo exhibition at the Choheung Gallery, Seoul, 1998 8 Fig 57. ‘A Cat Looks at Fish in a Tank - II’, 1997 Fig 58. ‘What is Pluto Looking At?’, 1995 Fig 59. ‘How Beautiful I Am!’, 1996 Fig 60. ‘What a Dangerous Game!’, 1996 Fig 61. The American Indian Doll’ (1997), solo exhibition at the Choheung Gallery, Seoul, 1998 Fig 62. ‘Japanese Traditional Doll’, 1990 Fig 63. ‘Korean Traditional Doll’, 1997 Fig 64. From a series of ‘Cactus’ paintings, 1993 Fig 65. ‘The Weed’, 1998 Fig 66. ‘The Weed’, 1998 Fig 67. ‘The Weed’, 1996 Fig 68. ‘The Weed (He and I)’, 1996 Fig 69. ‘Untitled’, exhibit at the solo exhibition at the Artside Gallery, Seoul, 2002 Fig 70. ‘Untitled’, exhibit at the solo exhibition at the Artside Gallery, Seoul, 2002 Fig 71. The Zen Circle, 1998 Fig 72. ‘The Snails’ (2007), exhibit at ‘2007 Seoul Art Fair’, Seoul Arts Center, 2007 Fig 73. ‘The Weed (Dollar Plant)’(2002), solo exhibition at the Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, 2007 Fig 74. ‘Untitled IV’ (2001), solo exhibition in the Artside Gallery, Seoul, 2002 Fig 75.