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57STUDIO는 국립현대미술관의 열린강좌 프로그램 중 미술관 소장품 강좌 시리즈를 제작하였습니다. 윤범모 관장이 직접 작품을 설명하는 형식으로 구성하였으며, 실제 교육 현장에서 효과적인 학습 자료로 활용될 수 있도록 제작되었습니다. 또한, 어느 장면을 캡처하더라도 교육 자료로서의 기능이 충실히 전달될 수 있도록 화면을 구성하였습니다. 이 시리즈는 작가 12명의 작품을 조명하며, 매주 수요일 YouTube LIVE를 통해 공개되었습니다.

57STUDIO produced the Museum Collection Lecture Series as part of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s (MMCA) open lecture program. The series was structured in a format where Director Yoon Bum-mo personally explains each artwork, ensuring its effectiveness as a valuable educational resource for use in learning environments.

The videos were designed so that every frame could function as an informative material, regardless of where it was captured. This series highlights the works of 12 artists and was released weekly via YouTube LIVE every Wednesday.

Chang Ucchin, Village, 1956

Chang Ucchin… The artist‘s name seems to give off calm reverberations. In particular, Chang Ucchin’s works are very small. Exaggerating just a bit, one may say he made palm-sized works. The subject matter of his works is very simple as well. The artist himself often commented, “I am simple.” Likewise, the contents of his paintings are very simple, and the methods of expression also are very simple. Sometimes they look like children’s paintings. They are works one can appreciate easily and without burden. Nevertheless, they have a profound philosophical background. This is one of the unique charms of Chang’s paintings. Artist Chang Ucchin. Today we will look at a work titled Village, painted by the artist in 1956.

Shall we first look at the formative features? Seen as a whole, it is a village. However, it is by no means a conventional portrayal of a village. Large trees are painted in the upper and lower sections to compose the picture-plane,with two green trees in the upper part, and a single tree in the lower part, with houses on each side of it. In composition, the canvas is divided horizontally into two sections. In the lower left corner there is a large house with a human figure in the center, filling the entire space. As you can see, it is not a photograph-like representation, but a scene staged according to the artist’s free interpretation. Take a closer look at the tree, and you can see that all of its branches are visible.

Unlike more common examples, where parts of trunks and branches are covered by leaves, We can see the trunk and all the branches in Chang’s painting. It is a expression of the skeleton. Moreover, the branches are painted symmetrically. It seems that he did this to give a sense of stability. While portraying the overall shape of the tree against a green, rounded background, the artist has erected a powerful symmetric stem. Between the houses and the trees are a dog and other livestock, and a circle in the sky suggests a sun. However, the background color is not sky blue, but a darker tone, resembling the color of earth, indeed a peculiar color for a background.

The houses as well are not painted in bright colors, but in darker shades, and the people in the houses are also quite peculiar. They seem to fill up doors and windows, very differently from most depictions of human figures. As for the characteristics of Chang‘s painting method, you can see that he disregards the law of perspective. He has omitted portrayal of close and distant scenes, and ignored any shading technique based on a sense of volume. In other words, he has not considered depicting shadows. Instead, he has flattened his subjects. He uses a form that arranges the elements in rows, like a kind of design.

Besides village scenes, Chang Ucchin also painted many family images. Such emphasis on villages and families reflects life in the modern days of Korea. Chang studied in Japan during the colonial era, and after the war, became a professor at Seoul National University. Previously, he had worked at a museum. I imagine that this led him to recognize tradition as important nourishment for his world of work. As a child, he lived for a time at Sudeok Temple in Yesan, receiving the teachings of Priest Mangong. If we are to identify a philosophical connection with Chang’s paintings, we may say his works are linked to the Buddhist world of Zen. We can interpret them as being permeated with elements of Zen.

One of the artist‘s most famous pieces, titled Jinjinmyo, is a portrait of his wife. The figure is drawn in a simple form revealing her skeleton like an X-ray image. A typical characteristic of Chang Ucchin’s painting is that he includes all his stories simply in a small picture-plane. The magpie appears often in the artist’s works, and may be seen as a symbolic subject. Sometimes the magpies are flying in the sky, and at other times they perch on tree branches. As you know, people are fond of the magpie, because it is a messenger from the sky, bringing happy news. The birds flying in the sky are usually in pairs, another of the artist‘s characteristic painting methods to simplify and symbolize. This is a typical example of Chang’s painting style.

In his self-portrait painted during the Korean War, there is a gentleman-like figure dressed in a tailcoat, standing in a barley field, and holding a long, black umbrella. Two interpretations are possible. One is that he tried to express an ideal situation, in hopes of escaping from the miseries of war; a more critical interpretation is that it is a unique work, excluding any sense of reality.

According to the location of the artist’s studio, Chang’s career can be divided into three periods: Deokso period, Myeongryundong period, and Suanbo period, as he moved around a lot during his lifetime. Yet, he maintained a consistent painting mode: simple subjects and subject matter. His methods of expression were also minimal, portraying subjects simply, like children’s drawings. It is estimated that about 700 of his works remain, all of them made by the artist using oils. They are all masterpieces. In his later years, Chang made many drawings of various subjects using implements such as magic markers with rapid, simple strokes. Putting it simply, he made works that show the beauty of temperance.

I must say, Chang Ucchin was an artist of unusual style. While looking at his works, I feel a sense of village community spirit and love of family. Chang‘s family love was not limited to people, but embraced a broader kinship with all living things, such as trees, birds and animals, which together form the feeling of a village. His paintings give a sense of peace or a vision of utopia. Though they are small in size, their resonance is gentle and steady as they touch us within. Looking at Chang Ucchin’s small paintings, which tell us about community spirit, and particularly looking at his Village, we are moved to think about the value of community consciousness in times of hardship.