By Craig Kirk

Korean traditional arts take center stage at the newest exhibitions featured at the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art. Running concurrently, the exhibits "Drawing on Faith: Ink Paintings for Korean Buddhist Icons" and "Transmitting Culture: Korean Ceramics from Korean-American Collections" explore the two rich fields of traditional Korean art, figurative religious drawing, and ceramics.

Installed in the lower level of LACMA's Ahmanson Building, these two small exhibits play off of the accompanying exhibits featuring other realms of Asian art. These exhibits are closely seamed together in their space, as "Transmitting Culture" sits in the middle of the "Drawing on Faith" exhibit space. The results are impressive, with the two exhibitions working to complement each other.

Black Ink, on Paper

"Buddha Amitabha with Divine Attendants," ink on paper. Courtesy of APA

The exhibition "Drawing on Faith," features a wide array of ink drawings of Korean Buddhist icons popular during the Chosun Dynasty. The bulk of the images appear as simple black ink drawings on white paper. A couple of the images, such as "Buddha of Flaming Abundant Brightness with the Buddhas of the Big Dipper, Celestial Officials, and Attendants," features color and gold filling in the whitespace. This specific drawing, features a rare glimpse into the process of colored image production, as the exhibit features the inked prototype of the image atop which the colored version was produced.

The focus on paper as a medium has a significant limitation. Given the short lifespans of some papers, it is little wonder why the bulk of the images hail from the 20th century. While this lack of permanence is disappointing, it is to be expected, as the older images show their age with sections of significant damage.

Despite this shortcoming, it does not take away from the personality of the exhibition. The audience gets a wonderful peek at the world of Korean spirituality through these images of their Buddhist figures. With little knowledge of Korea's religious background walking into the exhibit, I walked away with a small, yet pleasant, glimpse into the pantheon of Chosun-era religious icons.

Favorites of the exhibition included two wood-carved sculptures accompanying several large drawing panels. "Seated Arhat (Nahan), Probably Panthaka, with a Dragon" and "Seated Arhat (Nahan), Probably Panthaka, with a Tiger" accent the exhibition well, adding to the warm personality of the exhibition.

Ceramics, A Companion Piece

Choson-era White Porcelain. Courtesy of APA

"Transmitting Culture's" one small room relegates it to an aside from the surrounding drawing exhibition. It makes up, though, in areas which "Drawing on Faith" falls short. The permanence of ceramics allows for an exhibition with much more historical depth. While little more than a quick survey, it shows off a wide range of the history of Korean ceramic making, some pieces dating back to just over two thousand years.

The pleasant minimalist forms of the Korean ceramics make up for the lacking personality in the ink drawings. Subtle ornamentations are present in some of the work, such as a beveled dolphin in one saucer, but never overpower the clean form. The room offers clear testament to the craftsmanship of Korean pottery, as liner text describes the dissemination of superior Korean pottery skills across the Asian continent.

Most impressive is the work in white porcelain which emerged during the Chosun Dynasty. Clean and pristine, the porcelain demonstrates the Korean minimalist, yet sound craftsmanship.

"Transmitting Culture" works well to fill out the historical record of Korean culture LACMA is trying to achieve with both exhibitions.

Final Thoughts

LEFT: "Buddha of Flaming Abundant Brightness with the Buddhas of the Big Dipper, Celestial Officials, and Attendants," color and gold on cotton. RIGHT: Ibid, Ink on Paper. Courtesy of APA

The combination of the two exhibits works well together, each making up for small deficits in the other. Small glimpses into fairly separate elements of Korean life are represented at LACMA, leaving the viewer with a taste of ancient Korean culture.

The installation is fairly standard, with some interestingly weathered wood-paneling lining the dark grey-blue walls of the Ahmanson basement level. All of the works are shown behind glass, which, although distancing the work from the viewer, is necessary due to the fragile nature of the work.

LACMA's Korean exhibitions are merely one piece of their autumn celebration of Asian Art. Over the next five months, a variety of exhibits on Asian Art and cultural life will be featured, including their flagship exhibit, "The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art," opening in October.

"Drawing on Faith" and "Transmitting Culture" each run through January 11th at LACMA. Museum hours are from 12 noon to 8 pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, noon to 9pm on Friday, and 11am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday. Closed Wednesdays. LACMA is on Wilshire Avenue's Museum Mile, along Wilshire Avenue at Fairfax.

For more details, visit www.lacma.org

August 29, 2003