Art, War and Exile in Modern Korea: Rethinking the Life and Work of Lee Qoede - Hardcover

Inhaltsangabe

. Lee’s masterpieces illuminate much about Cold War politics, expanding the richness of Korean modern art as part of global cultural flux and exchange with the Mexican mural art movement, which has been previously unknown to scholars. By connecting unidentified dots, vintage photographs, documents, drawings, and periodicals, this volume offers a new assessment of Lee, acknowledging the influence of Diego Rivera on Lee’s style, subject matter, and ideology of art. The Mexican mural influence is especially prominent in Lee’s masterpieces, People series (1948) and the state-sponsored mural (1959) Lee created for the China-Korea Friendship Tower in North Korea. Its inclusion is the most intense research performed on Lee’s work to date. . Lee’s artworks analyzed in this book were selected from the more than 300 pieces in his surviving oeuvre owned by his family in South Korea, and the murals still exist in North Korea. This book also debunks several stereotypical assumptions about Lee, who is often disparaged as a socialist realism artist. Rather than ostracizing him, this volume reveals much about Lee’s life and works, and it provides a visual representation and narrative of the Cold War. . The reassessment of Lee Quede’s life and works is based on themes of displacement, political violence, and trauma. By decoding and demythologizing Lee Quede, this book offers a contemporary critique of distorted artistic and political identities and the manner in which Lee and his art have historically been framed. This book celebrates the life and works of Lee Qoede (1913–1965), who focused on art’s social purpose and representation of civilians. He believed “art must be an integral part of the struggle in reality. It cannot simply be a still-life of apples, flowers, or scenery.” Born in South Korea, he was a prisoner of war, defected to North Korea, was politically purged, and died at fifty-two. His works were banned in South Korea until 1988.
This monograph explores Lee Qoede’s art within the context of Cold War politics and international leftist exchanges, including his experiences of civilian massacres, prisoner-of-war camps, and his defection to North Korea. It examines social realism, socialist realism, and Mexican mural influences on Lee’s oeuvre, reevaluating his place in South Korean art history. Highlighting the global impact of Lee’s work, the book integrates insights from international artists and movements, challenging Eurocentric modernism and offering a comprehensive understanding of his artistic journey.

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