::corngrowth

gallery

In Goes, a town in Zeeland, The Netherlands, at the end of August 2017 an exhibition was held, showing more than fifty North Korean paintings, made between 1960 and 2007 by professional North Korean painters. All paintings were made on behalf of the North Korean state and are originally intended for domestic use in public buildings and hotels.

Art in North Korea is not free of obligation and is always in the service of the leader, who benefits from an idealized image of North Korea. The regime uses this well-painted socialist-realistic art to create and maintain an utopian North Korea. Essentially it's the glorification of the system by means of paintings with subjects like 'family', 'agriculture and industry', 'war and confrontation', with enemies like the US and Japan: propaganda wrapped as art!

The paintings were collected by the Dutch art collector Ronald de Groen. Ronald started collecting paintings at the end of the 1990's together with the Dutch Willem van der Bijl. Van der Bijl, a stamp dealer, had an official office in the North Korean city Pyongyang, allowing him to do business there legally. A big collection has been gathered by means of a North Korean intermediary.

I got the opportunity to capture all the exhibited paintings, so this one is the third one of a series of the by me selected images for uploading to Caedes. Although the last exhibited painting was made in 2007, think that this series will still show you an unique look at the closed/isolated North Korea.

Some details/description of the third one in this series:

Artist: Hyok-shin

Without title. Painted in 2003

Oil paint on canvas, 72 x 177 cm.

The signing of the treaty, which ended the Korean War (1950 -1953).

The generals Harrisson and Nam II signed on behalf of the United Nations and North Korea respectively. Despair dominates the UN camp. As always, the (international) press shows only interest in the winner. Apart from the clear facial expressions, the message is further enhanced by the contrast between light and dark and the central place of Nam II. He triumphantly looks down at the defeated UN delegation, including General Harrison, while Paek Sim-yop, a reckless South Korean general, makes a last attempt to convince Harrison not to sign.