Resurrected Ruins and Renovated Visions of Gyeongju in Korean Modern Art

Located in the Southeastern Korean peninsula, Gyeongju has been historically significant, with an abundant cultural heritage based on its status as the Silla kingdom's capital for about one millennium, until 935. It is a locus for royal tumulus and burial goods of the golden kingdom and ubiquitous Buddhist sculptures and architectures. Many pilgrims, scholars, and tourists have visited Gyeognju and reported on its glorious past since the 18^th century. During the late Joseon period, scenic spots of Gyeongju appeared in the trend of true-scenery landscape paintings. Under Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), Gyeongju became a historic site that attracted Japanese archaeologists and artists for collecting and reconstructing Korea's past as part of projects for cultural colonization, in which aesthetic memory of Korean tradition was reinterpreted. The faded glory of the old kingdom was depicted with exoticized nostalgia by Local Color artists during the colonial period. Gyeongju and its heritage continuously inspired modern artists during reconstruction efforts after the Korean War (1950-1953). The accumulated memory on the tradition was used for advertising Korean art in global stages. Since the 1990s Gyeongju has changed rapidly with cultural commodification and technological adaptation in various media and dimensions of arts. This paper discusses a master of Korean ink painting, Park Daesung (b. 1945), who has revived and modernized visualization of Gyeongju in his new painting style with transformation and innovation of historicized traditions, and his paintings that were donated for establishment of Gyeongju Solgeo Art Museum in 2015.