You Are With Me.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran College of Art + Design, 2014. Quarto. (17)ff. spreads, accordionfold. One of ten copies, signed by Kwon. Letterpress printed, lithograph illustrations. Kwon's graphically and physically substantial concertina grapples with the immediate and generational trauma of the mid-century South Korean authoritarian government's oppression of dissent. Between 1945 and 1960, first under the United States' post-WWII administration and then under the first republic and South Korea's first president, Syngman Rhee, citizens experienced incredible upheaval due to the deterioration of the relationship with Soviet-controlled North Korea and resulting war, and later the repressive tactics of Rhee. Land reform compelled large farm operations to divest their holdings, uprisings were met with violent suppression and killings, Rhee's political and popular opponents were arrested, and the National Security Law was wielded to heighten surveillance and grant more power to the president. Estimates indicate that during this period as many as 300,000 people were falsely accused, imprisoned, and/or executed, including two of the artist's grand-uncles. Kwon's text within, presented in both Korean and English, details the lasting impact of cruelty, as it was and continues to be felt by Koreans both remaining in the South and in the diaspora. Kwon has also included the poems, "Arirang" and "you are with me," the latter of which represents three perspectives: the victims, the survivors, and the artist's great-grandmother. A wrenching work, unintimidated by the reverberations of a violent past. Bound in modified drum leaf binding, backed in leather and with black cloth over boards. Housed in slipcase. Fine. Item #32530
Price: $2,750.00