국립현대미술관

Celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Korean modern art masters, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea presents a series of exhibitions to introduce the life and art of the three artists: Lee Jung-seob (1916~56), one of the nationally noted artists; Yoo Young-guk(1916~2002), one of the pioneers of Korean abstract art; and Pen Varlen(1916~90), the artist who has not been very well known in Korea until now.

Pen Varlen is a Goryeoin(Koreans in Russia and Central Asia) artist and educator who was born in Primorsky, or the Maritime Province, Russia, studied art in Saint Petersburg(former Leningrad), and spent most of his life in the city. His life and art penetrate not only the modern and contemporary history of Korea such as colonialization, division of the nation, war, and ideological conflicts, but also that of Russia, the country which experienced the communist revolution, the Second World War, totalitarianism, the cold war, Perestroika and Gladnost. Born outside the national border when Korea lost its national sovereignty, Pen belonged to a minority group who could not be protected even in the land he and his family migrated to. The artist, however, never let go of his belief on human dignity and his passion for art. Fate sometimes leads one's life against one's will, but Pen never yielded to this uncontrollable force. He rather embodied his view towards the world and his inner self on canvas as a witness to history and a "border rider."

Research on Pen Varlen has merely begun. The act of summoning this unfamiliar artist here and now should be something beyond criticizing the backwardness of Korean modern art basing on the Western criteria or that of modern Japan which aspired for the West. It should also be something beyond embracing the diaspora and expecting to discover within ourselves a quality of advancement which accords with the Western standards.

We hope that Pen Varlen 1916~1990, the first retrospective of the artist, would become an arena which discovers and newly generates multiple layers of contexts embodied in Pen's life and art as well as in Korean modern and contemporary art. Above all, Pen Varlen's significance in establishing the foundation of North Korean art would awaken the historical imagination and responsibility of the current generation who succeeds the duty to realize the unification of Korea.

BIOGRAPHY