| Title | Double layer of shadow labor/ Lee Sun-Young (Art Critic) | |
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Double layer of shadow labor Lee Sun-Young (Art Critic)
Everybody aspires full-time artist but it is the reality that as much as male artists, the female artists also should perform the job and create the work at the same time. They are not only the official work in the world of profession related to the art or not but also the work belonged to the private area meaning home. Such world of jobs is also reflected in the works interacting with the life of creating the works. However, the jobs in the private area where the considerable number of females are working is essential for the society but treated as a shadow work that cannot receive any compensation. The labor in the private domain lasts during the whole life differently from the public labor. In this labor, retirement is barely allowed. In case of childbirth and childcare, one of the most difficult works, they make the women pass the most important period of 20s ~30s as a period of blank. Although it is difficult for male artist, the male occupies the official job far more than the female, and although they do not get such job, they meet with the spouse that can understand the artist and are used to get support. The males artists do not receive the pressure that they should perform the household affairs and the painting well at the same time as much as the female artist. If the couple are the artist, there are not a few works that the female is obliged to concede. Although it is being improved as the society is getting reasonable gradually, there is no doubt that the shadow labor represented with the household affairs is belonged to the domain that conflicts with the life creating the works. And further, the arts is also belonged to the domain of shadow labor that one must devote to it at all cost. This exhibition contains the voice of female artists who have lived creating the works under the double layer of shadow labor. Till now, they should overcome and pass over this domain of shadow labor individually and if it would have been impossible, they should have given up creating the works or should have engaged in it only when they have time. However, it is common that such real life is suppressed. The arts must get over such trivial daily life, isn't it? However, the arts cannot be coordinated with such unsupported life. Under the awareness of the such fundamental problem, the female artist group like Women's Association for Korean Painting deserves to speak actively for the steps to make the ideal of life that devotes themselves to the works come true and I believe that they should. Because it were them that although the life obstruct it, they continue to work without giving up and will do same in future. In the meantime, there is the work that depicts the women's reality in Korean art. There were lots of such exhibition. Last year, the planned exhibition was held in Seoul National University Museum of Art and Coreana Art & Culture Complex. However, in reality, the situation that is divided into two with the ideological and rough works inclined to the simple reflection or ideology makes certain barrier that is hard to be digested by majority of women. Women's Association for Korean Painting is the organization made by many artists having enough potential to speak out the awareness of problem started from their reality with proper formative speech. In this year, maybe by accident, its 20th anniversary, it is the adult age in human life cycle. It is the symbolic period that the women made he family, gave birth to and raise their children, and now, nobody can blame them when they devote themselves to their work. The exhibition with these theme is wide and has an advantage that ut can show strong consciousness of the theme, which will be related to the work contained the self-awareness on the reality that one lives as a woman. Such self-awareness will contain wide range of contents from the calm lyricism to the strong appeal. As these themes are what have been studied a lot theoretically, it seems that abundant discussion can be made. There can be countless exhibition themes but the theme "Shadow Labor" seems to be the issues that the Women's Association for Korean Painting should address once or twice.
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