Mysticism
Simplicity
i
Korean art show opens doors to the world of
Far East shamanism and everyday life.
By Jack Clifford
Oregon Daily Emerald
hrough artistic simplicity sometimes
emerge beauty and appreciation.
JL perspective when he put together
the first major exhibit of the new century
at the University Museum of Art, “The
Realm of Revelation: Vision and Imagina
tion in Later Korean Art.”
As the museum’s associate curator of
Asian art, Lachman says that his overall
aim with this show was to enlighten the
public on certain multi-layered aspects to
Korean art.
“What I came up with, looking through
things and thinking about the exhibit,” he
says, “was the way in which, tigers for in
stance, or landscapes — which might seem
like very prosaic kinds of things — actual
ly represent sacred places or people who
have special powers.”
“The Realm of Revelation” exhibit
opens Friday with a free reception from
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the UOMA.
Throughout the next three months the
museum will offer lectures and other
events designed to further educate the
public on Korean culture, especially late
19th and early 20th century periods when
these pieces were created.
“Most of the art in this show, from a so
ciological point of view, represents a dif
ferent segment of Korean society than was
represented in [“The Fra- __
Charles Lachman relied on that
grance of Ink”] show we
had here a few years ago,”
Lachman says, referring to
a 1997 UOMA exhibit.
“Most people, if they’ve
seen any Korean painting,
what they’ve seen is this
more refined, ink painting
that’s in the mainstream
Chinese or Japanese schol
arly tradition.”
The focus of this current
exhibit is geared more to
ward the folk art realm,
the curator says. Most of
the paintings and draw
ings on display were nev
er really meant to be pre
served as artwork per se
but instead might have
been used during special
occasions.
“The tiger and magpie
themes have been very
popular in Korean art for a
long time, but they’re basi
cally New Year’s kinds of
themes,” Lachman says.
“You would paste them
up in your house, but they
weren’t really kept or col
lected. Sometimes a paint
ed example, which you
would find in an upper
class home, might be
mounted as a scroll and
would more likely be pre
served.”
Approximately 20 per
cent of the artwork in
“The Realm of Revela
tion” is from the UOMA
private collection, with
the rest on loan from
Robert and Sandra Mat
tielli, art collectors who
live in Portland. The Ore
gon couple spent 30 years in Korea, until
1988, and collected local artifacts and
farming implements, along with more aes
thetic pieces. The Mattiellis sometimes
utilized rather interesting ways of gather
ing their wares.
“[Robert’s] ‘collecting’ included going
through recycle piles and other forms of
rescue work as well as becoming a trusted
fri end of a number of itinerant dealers who
searched out old stuff in the villages,” a
museum press release states. “This kind of
serendipitous collecting probably no
longer exists in modern Korea.”
Good thing Mattielli succeeded when he
did. Besides paintings, the current exhibit
consists of traditional folding screens,
hanging scrolls and fans, plus several in
tricately folded prints.
University graduate students Josh Tollef
son and Cara Forrler created a video for the
exhibit titled “Unfolding Beauty: A Brief
History of Screens.” The short film, which
took about six weeks in research and pro
duction, will play regularly in the gallery.
“The video is used to put the screens
into context, how they were used in the
homes or how they functioned in religious
ceremonies,” says Tollefson, who is seek
ing a master’s degree in printmaking. “Un
til this project, I thought they were just
decorative, but they actually had a wider
use in a more spiritual realm.”
The screens were just re-mounted — pre
viously they were in the UOMA collection as
just loose sheets — and this is the first time
that they’ll be on display in the museum.
Lachman has divided the museum’s ex
hibit space into three separate areas: maps
and charts, folk art and what he calls the
“hell and paradise room.” The hell con
cept is depicted in paintings that relate to
everyday, judicial settings one might find
in a Korean court system.
“In Buddhism there’s this idea that after
you die, for a number of days you have to
keep appearing before judges of these dif
ferent hells,” Lachman explains. “Officials
have these scrolls which have all the deeds
of your life written out, with all of the mis
deeds, so each judge decides what your
punishment is going to be. These scenes
[on the paintings] are cast in sort of an
every day kind of way.”
Paradise seems to be the place to reside
in Korean culture, at least according to one
artist’s rendering. In one specific painting
on display — Lachman points out that al
most all of these artworks are untitled —
traditional elements used as symbols of
_ longevity, such as deer,
MusEvenings! line-up
for “The Realm of
Revelation.”
In conjunction with “The Realm of
Revelation” exhibit, the Museum
of Art will host a series of free
weekly MusEvenings! programs
and other special events. Unless
otherwise noted, all programs will
begin at 6 p.m. at the UOMA.
Jan, 19—Gallery talk: Robert and
Sandra Mattielli, Portland art col
lectors, “Collecting Korean Art.”
Jan. 26—Lecture: Kyung Gregor,
Eugene art collector, “Women in
Korean Culture.”
Feb. 2— Lecture: Song Nai Rhee,
University courtesy professor of
cultural anthropology and former
dean of Northwest Christian Col
lege, “The Choson Kingdom: His
torical Background, Ideology and
Society.”
Feb. 16—Gallery Talk: Charles
Lachman, University associate pro
fessor of art history and curator of
“The Realm of Revelation.”
Feb. 23—Lecture: Hattie Mae
Nixon, Museum of Art docent and
textile expert, “The Floating Skirt
and Other Korean Textiles.”
Feb. 26— Korean Art and Culture
Family Day: Free event from 1-3
p.m., with activities that include
storytelling, creating paper-cuts
and Korean screens, music and
tours led by the museum’s teen
docents.
March 1 —The Korean film “Why
Has Bodhi-harma Left for the
East?” will be shown at the UOMA.
turtles, cranes, mush
rooms and the sun, com
bine with more human
forms to create a utopian
landscape.
The painting portrays
various gods of longevity
coming to attend a ban
quet hosted by the Queen
Mother of the West, who
is the Chinese goddess of
longevity.
“She’s supposed to
dwell in this sort of para
dise land,” Lachman ex
plains, “where they have
these great, huge peaches
and if you take a bite it
will confer immortality
on you.”
Immortality or person
ification of natural spirits
are recurring themes
throughout most of the
“The Realm of Revela
tion” exhibit. The ideas
are not directly repre
sented but instead use
symbolism. Even in to
day’s Korean culture,
Lachman says moun
tains, rivers, trees, even
rocks, can be seen as hav
ing an aura or presence
within them.
In turn, those “moun
tain spirits” are trans
formed via an anthropo
morphic manner,
through shamanistic
practices. Although most
of the practitioners are
women, Lachman points
to a painting illustrated
with a male figure.
“At first look, you have
what just looks like some
old guy sitting out in the woods, Lach
man says. “But the fact that he’s depicted
in a particular way, holding this fan, with
the tigers sort of tamed by him, all of these
are indications of his special powers.
“So this very abstract form, the spirit of
this mountain, came to be represented as
an old man and tigers.”
Lachman recalls that the 1997 “Fra
grance of Ink” exhibit was one of the most
popular shows the museum has ever held,
as he remembers huge crowds showing up
to view the more “fine art” pieces. Even
though this show spotlights a less elegant
form of Korean art, Lachman doesn’t ex
pect a drop-off in attendance.
“I’m very excited about [this exhibit] be
cause it’s a chance to bring up a number of
things that we haven’t had on view very of
ten,” he says.
The Museum of Art is open from noon
to 8 p.m. Wednesday and from noon to 5
p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Suggested
admission is $3. Museum members, stu
dents, University employees and children
are admitted free.