[the webdaily=Reporter Kim Bongsoo] Great efforts are being made to bring down the lofty barrier between the specialized field of art and painting, and the general public, so that the general public can have an easier access to it in a friendly way.
As the interest in the field of art and painting in Asia has increased recently, there is a growing consensus for Korea to prepare itself to become a cultural powerhouse.
Park Chul hee / Photo by Lee Han Kil
Park Chul hee, the president of Asia Art Management Association is a well known China art expert.
Following the opening of the "Gallerymun" studio in Jiu CHang in 2006, for the first time, he established the Gallerymun studio in Beijing in 2007 to support the Korean artists.
In 2016, he founded the incorporated association known as the 'Asia Art Management Association' in Jeju Island to represent the leading artists from Korea, China, and throughout Asia.
Since then, Mr. Park has continued to interact with the artists from the Asian region through various activities such as painting exhibitions, art film productions, documentary productions, and art exhibitions.
We met Park Chul hee, who was on his way to attend the Indian Art Fair and the Indian Kochin Biennale, at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul. He said, he wants to help Korea to become a cultural powerhouse internationally.
Q. You are running a gallery in China. Did you have any special relationship with China?
My major in college was calligraphy. So I went to China, and also to study for my Ph.D. While studying there, I got an opportunity to work in the field related to art auctions in China. and as I got involved in the field of modern art and other areas, I had numerous opportunities to interact with many famous artists.
In March 2006, the Gallerymun was opened in Jiu CHang Art District. It was the first time for a Korean artist to operate an art gallery in China. He worked together with the leading painters of China.
The following year, he started a creative studio, which was first among the Korean galleries located there and he ran it for 8 years. The gallery was operated mainly for the Chinese star artists, and the studio was designed to promote and support Korean artists to the world.
Many Chinese artists are playing a big part in the world art market and there are many successful artist. As the Asian economy develops, Asia is drawing more attention. Korea also needs to aim for the global stage.
Q. The Asia Art Management Association's activities are based in Jeju Island. Is there a reason for that?
First of all, Jeju Island is beautiful. After visiting Jeju Island with the Chinese artist,. Feng ZhengJie, in 2011, I became more attached.
After that, Feng ZhengJie set up a studio in Jeju Island. It was the first time for a famous artist to set up his studio in Korea just because he liked Korea, so naturally it drew a lot of attention
In March 2016, I joined forces with the Asian artists that I had worked with in the past to create Asia Art Management Association.
I realized that if we build a place like China's 798 Art Zone in Jeju Island, it was possible for Korea to develop into a center of art and culture.
Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised after seeing the Jeju Artists Village. The environment and the assets of Jeju Island are very competitive in comparison to any other regions of the world. With the opening of the Chinese artist's studio, I am visiting Jeju Island with other Asian representatives to showcase the assets of the Island.
Q. What are the areas that the Association is pursuing?
The reason why we created the association is to provide art-tainment.
Now we are presenting 'Jeju Paints Asia' exhibition, which represents the works of the leading Asian artists. This is the third consecutive year in which we have sponsored this event.
Also, this year, we are planning to produce an art film titled, 'The Grassland on the Sea', directed by Ju Anqi. The film uses Jeju Island as its backdrop artists. Overall, we are promoting Asian art through movies, videos, art, and exhibitions. Moreover, we are also planning to develop Asian art films and forums.
We will also continue to find and develop Asia's leading artists, curators, dealers and collectors.
The professional personnel specializing in Asian art are very important. They should be able to understand and explain in simple terms about the difficult aspects of art to the general public. Although professionalism is the essence, it is important to share our knowledge with the general audience.
Besides this, the structure for Korean artists to make money is lacking. With many projects underway recently, the system is being gradually established, so I would like to make further efforts to create a vibrant market for these artists.
Park Chul hee / Photo by Lee Han Kil
Q. What are the special characteristics of the Asian art market?
In Asia, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing are famous for their global markets and their vast market size. Among existing artists, five out of the world's top ten are Chinese. But, the leading Korean painter, Lee Ufan, only ranks in the top 40 to 50. The whole world is trying to capture the Chinese market. The famous galleries around the world are also paying a close attention to the Chinese market. With the opening of the branch of the Pompidou Center in Shanghai this year, many countries are rushing to open branches in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Now, China's role has grown to the point where the art lovers around the world say we have to go to the Hong Kong Fair in the spring and the Shanghai Art Fair in the fall. With the growing markets in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and even in the Philippines, it is important to think about the role of Asia, and more importantly, about the role of Korea in the art world.
Q. What are the unique characteristics of Western and Asian artists?
The unique characteristic of Asian artists is that they use tradition as their basis.
For example, I once visited a famous Chinese artist at his house and found something very interesting. It was a 'Seatak-desk' with a Chinese paper and a brush. Most Chinese writers' homes have a desk for writing. Chinese contemporary artists working with calligraphy often use this in their art works. If we were to compare this to a tree, the tradition represents the roots. And the modern art is the flower. The roots have to be strong for the flower to bloom, does it not?
It is true that it is difficult for Korea and the Asian region to catch up to the West in modern art. But recently, Dansaekhwa is gaining popularity. It is a concept that is new to the art world. It's an Oriental philosophy. Current art history books are filled with Western concepts. There is a difference between the modern art and the Oriental art in the Chinese art market. The Chinese artists value tradition in their work and they are sold at a fairly high price with the work of Qi Baishi being sold for 140 million dollars recently. Although many artworks are traded in the Korean market, the buyers tend to prefer foreign artworks compared to those of Korean artists. We need to find ways to overcome these issues and further expand the cultural market.
Q. What are your plans for the future?
We are looking for ways to increase the role of Asia and Korea in the international art market. We will work to improve the market step by step.
By the way, the highest priced Korean art work is around 10 million dollars. It's the work of the deceased artist, Kim Whan ki, although it's not good to compare the price here, a living Chinese artist in his 40s was sold for tens of million dollars in comparison. The reality is that it is not enough to be a world-class art power. Korea should also aim to produce 10 million dollar artists.
While various plans are being worked out as we speak, one special plan is under way to create a media entity to explain and represent the Asian art market in detail. It is often called promotion, but we believe promotion is the most important thing. The popularity of Dansaekhwa is growing enormously now.
During the Dansaekhwa exhibition at the Shanghai Powerlong Art Museum last year, many foreign friends showed a lot of interest in the artwork, but it was sad to see the lack of material to promote these artworks. So, early March of this year, we will establish and operate a new media entity in consortium with the Korean, Chinese and American media.
Now, Hallyu should not be just limited to the field of music, but should expand to the field of art and culture. Until now, many works have been presented through festivals, including numerous art fairs and biennale, but there was a clear lack of systematic archives and publicity. We will do our best to push Korea to become a cultural powerhouse by creating a foundation where one can easily access many important information about the art market around the world.
본 기사는 2019년 2월 15일 게재된 "중국 미술통(通) 박철희 대표 "한국도 100억대 작가 나와야"" 인터뷰를 영문으로 번역한 기사입니다.
