| Title | Dream of Zhuangzi - Oh Kwang Soo(art critic) | |
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Dream of Zhuangzi
Opening Female artist exhibition of Korean painting
Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering in joy. Full of happiness, I was unaware that I myself was Chuang Tzu. Suddenly, I awaked, and there I lay, but it was clear that Chuang Tzu was there. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”
This is described in the Second Chapter of “On the Equality of Things" of Zhuangzi. Chuang Tzu became a butterfly in his dream, but he soon became a human Chuang Tzu again on waking up. In this case, Chuang Tzu and a butterfly are one but two separate beings at the same time. If the dream of Chuang Tzu is a reality and the reality is a dream, we can expect a situation of which the substance of Chuang Tzu is a butterfly and the butterfly becomes human Chuang Tzu. This situation is possible because humans are able to dream. Without this ability of dreaming, we will not become a butterfly or fly freely in the air. We do not know if animals can dream, but it is quite probable that they do not dream as diversely as humans do.
Artists are the ones who dream. Though everyone dreams, artists dream even without sleeping. This is the privilege of artists. Even without dreaming in sleep, they have this freedom of flying as butterflies. A human can not only become a butterfly but also transform into thousands of forms of objects. Besides, it is possible to fly in the air and traverse the universe. Without this free power of imagination given to artists, there would not exist such an element called art in the human society. Just imagine the situation how much the world can be desolate and dreary without art. Art enriches our society and power of imagination diversifies it.
The Women’s Association of Korean Painting composed of female artists, who majored in Korean painting, celebrates its eighth anniversary this year. Unlike other associations that are mostly composed of members from some particular universities with strong “clan-like” features, this association is characterized by its open door to all colleges of arts by avoiding the composition of membership from some particular universities. For this reason, this association will facilitate mutual exchanges and friendship among members in a harmonious manner. Among many other associations of female artists, this association stands out in manifestation of the most dynamic activities and this power can be explained from its composition structure.
In the general sense, inclination of a group is defined as a community sharing the same ideology. Howerver, this association does not own a unified ideology. In other words, it has somewhat complex characteristics for it is composed of members from heterogeneous backgrounds and age groups. Despite this, it reveals some unified aspect in the middle of variety in the sense that member artists share not only awareness as artists living in the same era but also the common genre called Korean painting. This is considered advantageous in that it provides a stage of reciprocal influences and impression among members.
This exhibition was designed under the theme of “Dream of Zhuangzi” because it is a trial to see how each artist leads and achieves unification as a whole under the sole theme. In this digital age of flood of imagination, this exhibition paradoxically brought Zhuangzi, the classical figure of the Orient, to the reality as an appropriate alternative to overcome fantasy of current status full of superficiality.
I hope that this exhibition can provide a stage of foresight reflecting on today through Zhuangzi.
Oh Kwang Soo(art critic)
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