Yoo Kangyul and His Friends: Reframing Craft is an inquiry into how contemporary craft expanded and developed from the 1950s through the 1970s. Commemorating the centennial of the late Yoo Kangyoul (1920–1976), a pivotal figure in contemporary Korean craft, the exhibition focuses on the activities of Yoo Kangyoul and those of his colleagues and students. The exhibition introduces the traditional aesthetics and values inherited by craftsmen and examines the works resulting from exchanges and collaborations among artists who crossed genres, including painting, printmaking, architecture, and design, working in art as well as industrial fields. The works in this exhibition will present the way in which concepts of craft introduced from the West and Japan expanded with the development of Korean society. Following Glimpse into Korean Modern Crafts (1999), this exhibition will present a macroscopic view of the modern and contemporary history of Korean craft.
