Oh Inwhwahn, Korean artist: “Modern art in Chile and Korea has a lot in common”

Beginning Sept 13, more than 80 works by 24 South Korean artists will be on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) in Santiago. As usual, we wanted to go beyond the news story, so we spoke to the artists themselves.

Korean contemporary art is not well-known in Chile’s collective imagination. Few know that they, like the Chilean democracy, only began to live free in the 1980s. This strongly marked the way they create art. "Peppermint Candy" is part of the Travesias/Crossings: Chile Asia-Pacific exhibition. It represents a bit of Korea during Chile's national festivities.

The Asia-Pacific Portal had the privilege of speaking with Seungwan Kang, principal curator of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea, and Inwhwahn Oh, a Korean artist. Kang choose the pieces for this exhibition and Oh is known for his works depicting gay culture.

Seungwan Kang, Exhibit curator

What is the difference between Latin American and Korean contemporary art?

I do not believe that there are any big differences in the way we approach contemporary art. A commonality is the influence of American culture. I feel that there is more influence of the United States in your culture than my own. Your city has much of North America in it.

How can we recognize Korean art, as opposed to art from other nations?

I think the most typical thing is the vitality. It is like a confusing mixture of different cultures. It's modern and traditional. We mix past and future; these expressions coexist in Korea.

What should audiences expect from Peppermint Candy?

You’ll see things like the energy of the work itself. Some extreme things like ancient shaman figures wearing robot masks, walking along a giant staircase through three floors of the museum. Also, they will see audio-visual expressions of modern Korea.

To go deeper into detail, the exhibit is divided into three parts. The first part is "Made in Korea". Nothing more to say. The second is more contemporary and ideological, related to social and political affairs. The third is about the history of Korea. It covers the mid-1920s to date. The public will get a chance to experience Korean ideology up-close. Some artists in the 80’s had impact upon the arrival of democracy. I believe that, although this is not the raison d’être of the exhibit, it can be seen in some parts of it.

Inwhwahn Oh, Artist

Inwhwahn Oh, did the installation entitled "Where a man meets" as part of "Peppermint Candy". He completed it with powdered incense. The artist's personal interest involves reducing discrimination against homosexuals. This has led him to create this work in six countries. He came to Santiago where he advised a student of history who is gay. After nearly a week in our country, he had this to say:

Is Chilean contemporary art very different than that of South Korea?

The differences are difficult to perceive, and this is my first time Chile. At first glance, I realize that the contemporary art of Korea and Chile is, in many ways, matched. The fact that the two forms of contemporary art reflect the social factor, for example. Dictatorships are worth addressing, in my opinion. Korea, as is the case of Chile, became free during the early 1990s and that comes across in our respective work.

What is special about your work?

The gay is present in many aspects. They are discriminated against. The book seeks to impact people through words that are easy to associate in Santiago. When you see the whole operation you may understand what I mean. I don’t want to say more, because I want the public to draw its own conclusions.

The exhibit premieres Thursday, Sept 13th at 19:30 and is open to the public until November 18.