Guitao Bao (Curator/Art Critic)
In recent years, through the promotion of more and more North Korean oil painting art exhibitions, the characteristics of landscape oil painting in the northern vision of the Korean Peninsula have gradually been recognized by people. The mountains, rivers and villages that have not been planned by many people present the simplicity and purity of the original ecological rural style. In particular, some oil painters with obvious personal characteristics also give a private perspective of landscape understanding. For example, there is a time called tranquility, which can now be glimpsed from the Painting of The Korean Landscape. The humanistic beauty that can be expressed in the current context of North Korea is also enriched. Among the oil painters who express the rural style, Cui Mingguo's artistic value is only recently respected and concerned.
Private collections
From the perspective of color, Cui Mingguo's creations particularly strengthen the treatment of gray tones. And further formed a personalized color habits and performance characteristics. This is an in-depth exploration at the language level, that is to say, Cui Mingguo's artistic pursuit is very clearly reflected in the cognition of the language level. This is very different from most North Korean painters who pay more attention to the subject matter. Focusing on the characteristics of the subject matter is often easier to speak in an ideological context, and personal things are often subordinated to the collective unconscious, or the influence of social context. In this case, sometimes the concern about the language of art may not be deep and not emphasized. Obviously, Cui Mingguo's creation first emphasized the importance of artistic language, and precisely personalized language pursuits.
For North Korean artists, they are still in the historical stage of painting what is more important than how to paint. The limited external contact makes the value of the artist's talent accurate and very important, that is to say, the painting is good, as an artist with solid training, it is not difficult, everyone can do as good as possible in the category of realism and aesthetics, which is also the reason why the outside world can give considerable respect since the export of North Korean art. However, the recognition of the personal style of artists brought by artistic talent at this stage is often more important for collectors and the market. If North Korean art now lacks various references and inspiration from various "isms", it is mainly because artistic talent plays a leading role. Judging from Cui Mingguo's creation, it is obvious that under the guidance of artistic talent, he is practicing the difference of artistic appearance.
Also in the field of rural context, Choe Myung-kuo clearly emphasizes the importance of artists' feelings, rather than conforming to the current Korean social background and the factors of the times to format the creation of rural theme art. For example, the color and vulgarity brought about by praise and praise, the dogma of the scene, or the Korean-style socialist new rural construction schema, and so on. In Cui Mingguo's artistic creation, it has become the artist's personal interpretation of the rural context. First, the artist wants to express the daily life under the calm and quiet gray tone, without the construction of the world or the rural paradigm that presents political needs, and secondly, the artist subjectively determines that the rural daily life is shrouded in emptiness and melancholy, not a performance-like bright color or a high-spirited missionary interpretation. Third, Choe Myung-kook's color expression is both emotional subjectivity and combing through the "scene" of the regional scenery in the north of the Korean Peninsula. For example, in the early morning in the mountains, it is often after the fog of the gray tone slowly dissipates that the true appearance is revealed.
It is precisely because there are personalized artists like Choi Myung-kook that everyone will look at the output of North Korean art differently. That is to say, North Korea does not lack artists with artistic talents and creative talents, what they need is time and understanding, and the best of them will give a different answer to the Korean value of paintings on the shelf.
Source of content (Imagasai Museum of Art)