KYOPO by Cindy Hwang (CYJO)

The Kyopo project by artist Cindy Hwang is a five-year photography and textual endeavor that explores and exposes the breadth and individual depth of people “of Korean ethnic descent and living outside of Korea,” from which the acronym derives. Several of CYJO’s KYOPO photographs are on exhibition as part of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s “Asian American Portraits of Encounter,” October 12–October 14, 2011. The photographs line the main hallway of the exhibition, while about eight side galleries feature other Asian American portraiture works, all of them equally stirring and evocative.

This massive book delves deeper than the exhibition can, presenting more than 200 individual photographic portraits, all in a similar pose, in the exact same setting with same lighting, and, most strikingly, of a similar scale. While these elements serve to give a surface uniformity to the book, what rises is the distinct individualism of the members of this grouping, both visually and with textual information. Photographs are displayed on the left while on the right are text blocks of their name, occupation, where they were born and where they live, and a few paragraphs of their response apparently to a question about KYOPO identity.

This is a stunning photographic and textual work, capturing five years in the cultural phenomenon of “Korean America.” An insightful foreword by Marie Myung-Ok Lee (author of Somebody’s Daughter), and an introduction by Julian Stallabrass further explore the impressions and content of this work.

Through Our Eyes: Peace Corps in Korea 1966-1981, by William Harwood

This photograph book, while not a comprehensive collection of the early Peace Corps years in South Korea, includes numerous contributors, most notably Ambassador Kathleen Stephens’ (under President Obama) photographs from the late 1960s. Because it includes color images from the years of rebuilding when Peace Corps volunteers were both welcomed and regarded with superstition in the rural countryside, the book is an interesting testament to a slice of time in South Korea.

An Ethnography of the Hermit Kingdom: The J.B. Bernadou Korean Collection 1884-1885, by Chang-su Cho Houchins

John Bernadou (1858-1908) was dispatched by the Smithsonian as a cultural attaché or special envoy to the American mission in Korea, and assembled this collection from March 1884 to April 1885. An amateur ethnologist, Bernadou systematically acquired a wide range of Korean cultural artifiacts during a birth of a period of unprecedented open exchange in the Joseon Dynasty. Included in the collection, and illustrated in this book, are not only the paintings and ceramics that typically adorn pages of museum catalogues, but also handicrafts, textiles, utensils, clothing and accessories, books, maps, musical instruments, and furniture, providing a unique glimpse of Korean life and culture at the end of the 19th century, when it was straddling the cloistered traditions of centuries and on the brink of Japanese occupation, which would force it into the industrial world. The numerous photographs and extensive captions include notations and drawings by Bernadou. A terrific book. [Asian Cultural History Program/Smithsonian Institution]

The Art of Korea: Highlights from the Collection of San Francisco's Art Museum, by Kumja Paik Kim

The San Francisco Asian Art Museum has an exceptional collection of Korean art, extraordinary in breadth of periods, styles, mediums and scholarship. This gorgeous, large-format book halves each spread to display works of art prominently, surrounded by lots of restful white space, with concise paragraphs of description and lists of pertinent data, all annotated and referenced should one wish to learn more. Authored by the curator of that section of the museum, a comprehensive introduction gives essential and contextual background and provides thorough endnotes as well as a bibliography. Organized by materials—an extensive “Ceramics” chapter; “Paintings” from ancient to modern works—I appreciated the rarer showcase of pieces in the “Works in Metal and Lacquer” and “Textiles” chapters. A wonderful book that makes me itch to see the collection.

Missionary Photography in Korea: Encountering the West through Christianity, by Donald N. Clark

A 2009 exhibition by the Korea Society in New York of missionary photography from the late 19th century reveals a period of change in the previously isolated nation. Along with a solid historical narrative, rare photographic images of the early days of Western Christian influence show a unique slice of Korean life in that era, and of missionary life in Korea.

Korean Landscape Painting: Continuity and Innovation through the Ages, by Song-mi Yi

A dense narrative gives a solid overview of Korean painting. [Publisher's blurb] Korean Culture Series #4. Part of the Korea Foundation's Korean Culture Series, a series aimed at disseminating ideas and knowledge of Korean art and culture throughout the world, Korean Landscape Painting discusses the art form beginning at its earliest roots two millennia ago, in the Three Kingdoms period, right up until the 20th century. Accompanied by many maps, pictures and a glossary of names and terms, this book provides a complete overview of Korean landscape painting.

Earth, Spirit, Fire: Korean Masterpieces of the Choson Dynasty, by Powerhouse Museum

A comprehensive exhibition of Korean pottery and ceramics from the 500 years of the Joseon Dynasty. Beautifully photographed with substantive historical information and detailed descriptions.

Traditional Korean Designs, Madeleine Orban-Szontagh

A Dover pictorial series book of copyright-free black-and-white line art.

Art of the Korean Renaissance: 1400-1600, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The lauded exhibition is concise with quality pieces that truly reflect the era. The pieces are integrated in this catalog with concise and brief, yet comprehensive histories of the kingships and mores of this period in approachable and at times compelling narratives by historians and art historians. An exceptional collection that is enhanced by this exceptional book.

Treasures from Korea: Art through 5000 Years, by Roderick Whitfield

Organized chronologically and preceded by a timeline of history, this British Museum exhibition catalog presents a broad collection of ceramics, gold work, and from the later dynasty, paintings. The narrative is archeological discovery and cultural anthropology, and is detailed and enlightening. An extensive compilation that enriches the breadth of understanding about Korean artifacts and art.