Artist Park Seo-Bo (1931-2023) ©Kukje Gallery
On September 26, the first autobiography of
Park Seo-Bo (1931–2023), the master who led Korea’s Dansaekhwa movement, was
simultaneously released worldwide. Based on the autobiographical writings he
left after turning eighty, the book offers a deeply personal look at his life.
The PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION, in collaboration
with the Italian art book publisher Skira, is releasing both Park’s
autobiography and a graphic novel about his life simultaneously in major
bookstores in Korea, art-specialty bookstores worldwide, and on online
platforms. This marks the first time Skira has published a book focusing on a
Korean artist.
Park Seo-Bo’s Autobiography
& Graphic Novel ©Skira
The autobiography is based on an unfinished
manuscript Park Seo-Bo wrote up to the early 1980s. As such, it vividly
reflects his concerns as an educator and administrator about the direction
Korean art should take from the 1950s through the 1970s.
It offers detailed accounts of his
resistance to the mainstream, figurative art scene in his youth, his leadership
in the Art Informel movement, and his anti-National Art Exhibition movement, as
well as his efforts to introduce Korean artists to the Japanese art world and
to the Paris and São Paulo Biennales in pursuit of international exposure.
Through Park’s eyes, readers can also catch glimpses of some of the most
prominent figures in Korean art—his mentors Kim Whanki and Lee Ungno, and his
contemporaries Kim Tschang-Yeul, Lee Ufan, and Ha Chong-Hyun.
Meanwhile, the graphic novel, presented in
an accessible and familiar comic-book format, focuses on Park Seo-Bo’s life as
an individual, making his life story and philosophy relatable to a wide
audience.
Rendering of the ‘PARKSEOBO MUSEUM SEOUL,’ scheduled to open next year ©PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION
This simultaneous publication is expected
to serve as an opportunity to introduce Park Seo-Bo’s art, ideas, and the
broader history of Korean art to an international audience. The PARKSEOBO
FOUNDATION announced that it is completing the digitization of Park’s archive
and is also preparing a catalogue raisonné of his works. The ‘PARKSEOBO MUSEUM
SEOUL,’ which will be located next to the foundation’s site in Yeonhui-dong,
Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, is scheduled to open next year.
Sam Seungho Park, Park Seo-Bo’s second son
and chairman of the PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION, stated, “We also plan to steadily
pursue research not only on Park Seo-Bo but on the artists who shaped the era
alongside him.”
