The Printmaking Odyssey: Modern Printmaking’s Journey exhibition at Sejong Museum of Art invites viewers to traverse the rich and diverse landscape of printmaking. Running from November 12, 2024, to January 5, 2025, the exhibition brings together over 120 works that span centuries of craftsmanship and contemporary experimentation. This ambitious curation bridges the gap between traditional methods and modern interpretations, offering both a historical and forward-looking perspective on the medium.

One of the exhibition’s standout pieces, Growing Image by Kwon Sun Wang, challenges preconceived notions of printmaking. By integrating living sprouts into wet cotton boards shaped with Dalmatian and deer motifs, Kwon demonstrates the fluidity and evolution inherent in printmaking. The work blurs the lines between installation art and traditional prints, requiring ongoing maintenance to ensure its growth. This interplay of impermanence and control serves as a metaphor for the creative process, emphasizing that printmaking is not merely a method of replication but a medium of transformation.

The exhibition is divided into thematic sections that guide visitors through various facets of printmaking. The Beginning of Carving explores the origins of printmaking, featuring artifacts like Joseon-era woodblocks that highlight the genre's practical and artistic roots. Breath of Nature focuses on works inspired by natural motifs, while Our Faces examines human and animal subjects. Boundaries of Everyday Life turns its gaze toward the mundane, elevating ordinary objects through the artist’s lens. These sections provide a comprehensive overview of how printmaking has been used to reflect, critique, and celebrate the world around us.

Moving beyond traditional approaches, the sections Order in Chaos and Infinity of Concepts delve into abstract and conceptual works. These pieces challenge the viewer’s understanding of what printmaking can be, incorporating new materials, techniques, and even digital media. Media artist Carlos, for example, presents a video installation inspired by printmaking’s repetitive yet transformative nature, extending the medium into a contemporary dialogue.

The exhibition also serves as a reminder of printmaking’s historical significance in mass communication and artistic production. From religious texts like the Gutenberg Bible to political propaganda and contemporary fine art, printmaking has consistently adapted to meet the needs of its time. This adaptability is vividly illustrated in works by global icons like Alex Katz, Frank Stella, Anish Kapoor, and Ugo Rondinone, whose contributions underscore the genre’s relevance in a globalized art world.

Printmaking Odyssey doesn’t merely celebrate the past; it seeks to inspire the future. Interactive workshops, including hands-on printing demonstrations, encourage visitors of all ages to engage with the medium. These programs not only educate but also demystify the printmaking process, making the art form more accessible and inviting.

As a bridge between the tactile and the conceptual, the exhibition highlights the resilience and versatility of printmaking. Kwon’s Growing Image, for instance, underscores a critical aspect of printmaking’s philosophy: no two prints are ever identical. Each iteration is shaped by subtle variations in ink application, pressure, and material, reflecting the dynamic interplay between control and chance.

Ultimately, the Printmaking Odyssey serves as a vital reminder of printmaking’s power to transcend eras and aesthetics. With an affordable entry fee of 5,000 KRW, the exhibition offers an enriching experience for art enthusiasts and casual visitors alike. By uniting traditional craftsmanship with contemporary ingenuity, the Sejong Museum of Art positions printmaking as not just an art form of the past, but a medium of endless possibilities for the future.

Sayart / Nao Yim, yimnao@naver.com