[소마미술관] Line drawings show complex emotions

2009.2.26

---

Line drawings are usually regarded as rough sketches for more complex art. Simple drawings, however, can be very expressive and highly artistic in their own right.

Soma Museum of Art in Bangi-dong introduces 250 such drawings by 18 artists from Asia.

The exhibition, "Emotional Drawings," was planned by and took place at the National Museum of Modern art in Tokyo, Japan last summer. It then took place at the museum's Kyoto branch in November and Seoul is its third stop.

"Emotional drawings feature the personal feelings of the artists, which the audience can immediately connect to," said Kenjiro Hosaka, assistant curator of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, at a press conference last week. "We tried to choose diverse artists who express their emotions in unique styles of drawings."

When you look around the exhibition, however, you will notice some paintings, animations and even installations, which are not commonly referred to as "drawings."

"It is meaningless to raise the question, 'Is this a painting or a drawing?'" said Kim So-yeon, a Korean artist who participated in the exhibition.

"If I can quickly visualize what I felt at a certain moment, I call it a drawing. It is born at the moment when my imaginations are maximized, which is usually the starting point of my work."

In the exhibition, Kim displays oil paintings done in brisk, quick strokes as done with a pencil.

Naoyuki Tsuji, a Japanese artist, meanwhile, made a video clip by drawing and erasing many images on a single paper with charcoal. Viewers can see the traces of the erased charcoal.

Some artists showcase drawings in a more traditional way. Japanese artist Chiyuki Sakagami depicts his imaginations about fish and birds through tiny paranoiac drawings. Jose Legaspi, a Filipino artist, expresses the anguishes of his life as a homosexual through charcoal drawings.

According to Soma, some of the original contributions to the exhibit, like some erotic drawings by Indian artist Mithu Sen, were removed for the Seoul show because they were deemed too sensational for Korean audiences.

"Emotional Drawing" runs through April 19 at Soma Museum of Art in Bangi-dong, southeastern Seoul. Tickets are 3,000 won for adults, 2,000 won for students and 1,000 won for kids. The museum is closed on Mondays. For more information, call (02) 425-1077 or visit www.somamuseum.org

By Park Min-young

(claire@heraldm.com)