사진일까요 그림일까요?

Are these photos or paintings?

 

A picture shows two puckered lips on the verge of kissing. One can even see the tiny wrinkles. Think it is a photo? It is a painting. Seongnam Arts Center is exhibiting more than 70 such realistic paintings by 48 local and international artists including Ju Tae-seok, Lee Eun and Roberto Bernardi at the exhibition "Hyper Realism."

"'Hyper realism,' also known as 'photo realism' or 'super realism,' depicts things in the everyday life such as cars, people or the city so delicately that they almost looks like photographs," said the exhibition curator in a statement.

In Korea, the trend began in the 1970s, following Western countries.

Divided into three sections, the exhibition views different tendencies of the trend according to the times.

The first part showcases works by the first generation of hyper realism painters in Korea, who actively worked in the 1970s and 1980s.

"The artists were influenced by the urbanization of the time. Not all, but most of them implied how Korea went through such a fast urbanization in their paintings," said Seo Seong-rok, art professor at Andong University, in a statement regarding the exhibition.

Meanwhile the painters of the 2000s, as their works are displayed in the second division, do not share a common trend but rather show their own unique styles.

The second generation artists benefitted more from digital media like cameras or computer graphics so they could make their paintings more accurate and diverse.

Viewers can compare hyper realism paintings from different countries in the final section. Works by Korean, Japanese and German artists are on display.

The exhibition runs through Aug. 27 at Seongnam Arts Center in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. Tickets range from 2,000 won to 6,000 won. Guided tours are available in English.

For more information, call (031) 783-8000 or visit www.snart.or.kr

(claire@heraldm.com)

By Park Min-young