Tradition as Inspiration: Contemporary Korean Ceramics

Beginning in the Three Kingdoms period (about 1st century BCE–668 CE), ceramics were an integral part of both daily and religious life in the Korean peninsula. Around the 10th century, new techniques from neighboring China spurred the development of fresh expressions in ceramics. Greenish stoneware, known as celadon, with its iridescent hues, unique forms, and delicate decorations, rose to international prominence across East Asia during the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), and in the subsequent Joseon dynasty (1392–1897), a unique greyish stoneware with white slip decorations later known as buncheong ware, along with white porcelain continued to redefine ceramic productions in Korea.

TRADITIONAL KOREAN CERAMICS

For contemporary Korean ceramic artists, such a rich tradition serves as a valuable resource as well as a burden that they carry—and strive to surpass. Contemporary ceramics in Korea actually originated as an effort to preserve the traditions of the past after World War II when Korea was liberated from Japan’s colonial rule (1910–45), but the practice rapidly developed to produce visually innovative and conceptually engaging works that speak to global audiences. 

Yoon Kwang-cho is one of the key figures who led the contemporary reinterpretation of buncheong ware after he rediscovered the beauty and depth of Korean ceramics while studying in Japan. Yoon’s works, however, are not tied to buncheong visually; instead they evoke the landscape and aura of the place where he lives and works, a mountainous region in Gyeongju.

In Heart Sutra, Yoon, a devout Buddhist practitioner, used a nail to inscribe a short Buddhist text known as the Heart Sutra onto an irregular, hand-built form, creating a surface that resembles ancient rock carvings the artist encountered around his home.

Lee Kang-hyo also refers back to the buncheong tradition. Closely adhering to the traditional method of ceramic-making, Lee works with a manual potter’s wheel and builds his own kilns using mud. Yet his large-scale works, such as Buncheong Landscape, became much more than ceramic objects. As a way of highlighting the spontaneity of traditional buncheong ware, Lee expanded his animated process of painting his ceramics with slip (liquified clay) into performance to further engage audiences.

In the 20th century, art historians and collectors rediscovered Joseon-dynasty moon jars, and these minimalist vessels subsequently became an enduring inspiration for many contemporary artists. Most famously, the British ceramic artist and educator Bernard Leach (1887–1979) advocated white porcelain from Joseon as an aesthetic ideal that modern ceramicists should pursue.

Young-jae Lee is one of the Korean artists who embraced this particular form into her practice. While visually similar to traditional moon jars, Lee’s Spindle Vase differs in its approaches and aesthetic pursuits. Historical moon jars are made from two halves, but Lee’s form was created by three separate bowls: two identical large ones and a third small, shallow one that forms the rim. With its elegant and restrained body, her work embodies the aesthetics of her native Korea but also bears the simple lines and geometric shapes of the Bauhaus legacy that she absorbed while serving as the director of the Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe GmbH, Essen, a ceramic workshop founded as part of the Bauhaus Ceramic School.

The works of Yoon Kwang-cho, Lee Kang-hyo, and Young-jae Lee join those by Lee In-Chin, Kwon Dae-sup, Yikung Kim, and Hyejong Kim in a display of works by contemporary Korean artists whose ceramic forms connect with and reshape tradition. I hope you are able to visit this presentation and experience both the richness of Korea’s ceramic history and the innovations of current makers before the display closes on October 26, 2025.

—Yeonsoo Chee, associate curator of Korean art, Arts of Asia

Topics

• From the Curator
• Contemporary Art
• Arts of Asia