Meeting the greatest artists again through picture books

You can meet the greatest artists again at the 《Artists in Books》 exhibition at the Hyundai Museum of Kids' Books & Art (MOKA). Picture book authors reinterpreted the art works of great artists, expressing them in their own works with respect and love. The authors represented in this exhibition successfully captured the era in which each artist lived, the artist's life, the themes and techniques of the art works, etc., in their own unique way. Even without the contents related to the artists, the picture books themselves have an outstanding artistic value.

The era in which the artists lived plays a big role in understanding their works. Barbara Stock presented the stories of 'Vincent Van Gogh' in Arles, Saint-Remi and Auvers, where he left his most splendid works, in a 140 page graphic novel through historical and field researches. Kim Yong Cheol recalled his own childhood, when he used to draw alongside the stream in Yang-gu, as he thought about ways to pay tribute to his hometown’s favorite artist, 'Park Soo Geun'.

Some expressed the world of artists through the similarity in their techniques and themes. Klaas Verplancke allows readers to understand the surrealistic works of 'René Magritte' easily, through the artist’s character, in a picture book, showing him as the artist who draws his imagination in dreams. Christina Amodeo created a picture book that emphasizes the combination of the structural arts and colors through the simple way of cutting and pasting papers, just like the 'cut- out' technique of 'Henri Matisse'. Javaka Steptoe draws the lives of artists on abandoned materials in Brooklyn, New York, as Jean Michel Basquiat did.

Picture book authors use completely different techniques from the art works of these artists in order to portray them. Sieb Posthuma used free drawing with an ink pen to show the wire work of 'Alexander Calder', and the process by which it becomes a mobile. Patricia Geis explained various works of 'Pablo Picasso', including his cubist works, in a pop-up book that allows the participation of the viewers, and Violet Lemay unraveled Pablo Picasso in 100 different ways, and provides the joy of discovering these ways. Fausto Gilberti explains how 'Jackson Pollock' made action paintings through his fun interpretation of a simple character.

Just as picture books about artists give us a new and fun perspective on them, each composition in the 《Artists in Books》 exhibition allows viewers to experience these artists in more diverse and profound ways. Once the viewers walk through the large book cover that opens up to reveal the space of each artist, a special place to understand the works of these artists better through various activities appears. You can see the steps in the interpretation made by the picture book authors about the artists, and their ways of expressing it as you observe the sketches, dummy books and original paintings of the picture book authors. A variety of books about the artists will help you to understand them more deeply.

From textbooks to posters, you can feel a new interest in these artists that you could not see before, because they were too familiar, through the various works of the picture book authors. The 《Artists in Books》 exhibition will be an opportunity for you to newly understand these great and beloved artists.