UNTOLD BEAUTY: KOREAN CRAFT AND DESIGN
Untold Beauty draws on a distinctive period in Korean craftsmanship refined during the Joseon dynasty (est 14c). Presenting works by contemporary practitioners, it explores the current return to Joseon’s contemplative aesthetic: featuring ceramics, furniture, textiles, and woodwork, including the So-ho (small Moon Jar).
Image: Shin Dong-boem, Joseon Porcelain series. Image above: Lee Sora, Ottchil Jogakbo no.3, 2019, Salvaged ramie fabrics, Ottchil (Korean natural lacquer) and handstitched. Hanging with bamboo. 79 9/10 × 50 in | 203 × 127 cm.
Clean, non-decorative and functional everyday objects were made and used as ethical propaganda in Korea’s last dynasty: the Joseon period that spanned 500 years (14th – 19thC). The Joseon style was established as a reaction to the previous dynasty’s rich and lavish culture, with the new country following the teachings of Confucius and advocating a modest way of living. The royal court used non-decorative white porcelain ware whilst noble men and women preferred smaller, simpler, and fewer objects to display in their homes. The ‘luxury’ that endured however, was the use of fine materials and the meditative craftsmanship that was required to remove impurities from the raw materials to achieve a pristine surface.
Image: Image above: detail of Moshi Jogakbo by Lee So-ra.
Image: Lee Sora, Oksa Jogakbo, 2013, Cold indigo dyed Oksa silk and fine hand stitched, 78 7/10 × 78 in | 200 × 198 cm.
Untold Beauty: Korean craft and design is on show at Cromwell Place, London from 16-24 September 2023.
Find out more:
www.tickettailor.com/events/cromwellplace/96789
Image: Shin Dong-boem, Joseon Porcelain series. Image above: Lee Sora, Ottchil Jogakbo no.3, 2019, Salvaged ramie fabrics, Ottchil (Korean natural lacquer) and handstitched. Hanging with bamboo. 79 9/10 × 50 in | 203 × 127 cm.
Clean, non-decorative and functional everyday objects were made and used as ethical propaganda in Korea’s last dynasty: the Joseon period that spanned 500 years (14th – 19thC). The Joseon style was established as a reaction to the previous dynasty’s rich and lavish culture, with the new country following the teachings of Confucius and advocating a modest way of living. The royal court used non-decorative white porcelain ware whilst noble men and women preferred smaller, simpler, and fewer objects to display in their homes. The ‘luxury’ that endured however, was the use of fine materials and the meditative craftsmanship that was required to remove impurities from the raw materials to achieve a pristine surface.
Image: Image above: detail of Moshi Jogakbo by Lee So-ra.
Image: Lee Sora, Oksa Jogakbo, 2013, Cold indigo dyed Oksa silk and fine hand stitched, 78 7/10 × 78 in | 200 × 198 cm.
Untold Beauty: Korean craft and design is on show at Cromwell Place, London from 16-24 September 2023.
Find out more:
www.tickettailor.com/events/cromwellplace/96789