Bridging an ocean's divide through art

When Jung-Han Lee came to Philadelphia, he did not want to leave his Korean heritage behind. So he decided to bring it with him. Lee, a second year student in the Graduate School of Fine Arts, organized a Korean art exhibit that opened yesterday in Logan Hall's Fox Galleries, marking the start of a cultural art exchange. The show, entitled "About Contemporary," was the first step in an exchange between the GSFA faculty and the faculty at the Korean National University School of Visual Arts. Participants said they hope the exchange will be a catalyst to increased international understanding. "There's a big difference between Asian culture and American culture," Lee said. "Penn students and faculty don't know about Asian culture." John Moore, chairman of the Fine Arts department, said that the swap will help to "increase the flow of visual culture" between the two societies. Next fall, GSFA artists will have an exhibit at Korea National University to complete the cultural exchange. "Any time you're exposed to ideas and experiences that cross cultures, doors open -- visual doors, aesthetic doors, intellectual doors," undergraduate Fine Arts Department Director Julie Saecker Schneider added. The Korean artists said they wanted the show to be a gateway to a new cross-cultural understanding, as American knowledge of Eastern culture is often limited. "Our artistic concepts are sometimes misunderstood, sometimes difficult to understand," artist and Korean National University Professor Sea-young Oh said. But organizers said the learning is not expected to be one-sided. For example, Lee said the relative equality of women in Western Culture surprised him, noting that females take a more subordinate position in Korean society. "I'll be really curious as to what they say about the persistent feminism in my work," said Schneider, one of thirteen GSFA faculty participants. "I think they'll ask some questions about the specific mythological and political references." Four art professors from the University in Seoul, South Korea, came to the opening of the show, which included about 40 works. The art varied from abstract mixed media pieces to a series of cartoon-like pencil drawings with English narrative describing a "Perspective Teleportation Machine." Hypotheses as to the fundamental differences between the two artistic cultures varied. Philosophy Professor Kwang-Myung Kim suggested that the Korean painters were more emotionally oriented, while the Americans focused on rationality. Steven Labadessa, a second year GSFA student, said the Korean art seemed more sentimental. Kim, who participated in the exhibition, is a professor at Soongsil University in Seoul and a visiting professor at Temple University. He said the exchange of art was a way to universalize human understanding. "Through the different techniques and technology, we make an effort to understand humanity. It is the first step for mutual understanding between people of Korea and the United States of America," he said. The professors said that the program had the potential to continue with future faculty exchanges, and possibly the exchange of student work as well. Korean National University is already engaged in faculty work exchanges with Pratt and the School of Visual Arts in New York.