The news that actor Ha Jung-woo recently held a solo exhibition at Hakgojae Gallery made waves in the art world and pop culture circles. Hakgojae is one of Korea's major galleries, and it usually hosts exhibitions by important and up-and-coming artists. However, this time, the art world reacts sensitively to a celebrity artist holding a solo exhibition.

The Korean art scene has long maintained a system of artist discovery and exhibition practices centered on schools, majors, and connections. While this structure has contributed to the professionalization and stability of the art world, it has also acted as a high barrier to entry.

As a representative gallery that has built a reputation in Korea through high-quality exhibitions over a long time, Hakgojae is very careful about the selection of artists, as the quality of the artist reflects the quality of the gallery.  Therefore, Ha Jung woo's exhibition at Hakgojae is very unusual. 

Artertainer Questions the 'Qualifications' of Contemporary Artists
 
In Korea, celebrities who work as artists are referred to as 'Artertainer'. In addition to Ha Jung-woo, actress Park Shin yang has been working as a fine artist for over a decade, while Kim Hye soo and Ha Jiwon have also held solo exhibitions. SOLBI has garnered attention for her original work that combines performance and painting, and actress Kim Heeseon recently made headlines with an exhibition curated by a gallery in Chelsea, New York.

There are many examples abroad. Johnny Depp presented his 〈Friends and Heroes〉 series at the Castle Fine Art Gallery in the UK in July 2022 to a sold-out audience, and Jim Carrey has been making a name for himself as a painter, revealing his artwork and creative process in the short documentary “I Needed Color” in 2017. Lucy Liu, known as Lu Ling, has been an active artist since 1993, with solo exhibitions in New York and Singapore in a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, and photography.

Calling them artertainers indicates that they are both entertainers and artists and shows the context. It is true that in the past, the art world in Korea operated like a clique with a certain school and seniority, which was an important background for artists' activities. However, in recent years, not only has academicism been largely abandoned, but the development of the Internet and AI has made information and technology widely shared, creating an environment where anyone can express themselves as creative.

Therefore, the contemporary art scene around the world has long since transformed into an era where you don't need a major, education, or art world connections to be a great artist. Graduating from Seoul National University or Hongdae Art University doesn't mean anything in the global art scene.
 
Of course, there is still a strong feeling that to be recognized as a professional in the fields of aesthetics, art history, and criticism, you need to have graduated from a related major and earned a certain number of degrees, but this is not a big problem because it is now accessible to people with various humanities backgrounds.  However, even if you are a non-major, you still need to show that you are self-taught and have a level of skill beyond that of a professional to legitimize your work.
 
It's important to note that being popular with the public or selling for a high price doesn't necessarily make your work more valuable or important. Rather, it is more likely to remain in art history and be sold at a high price later on when it is properly valued.
 
From this point of view, it is still too early to properly evaluate Ha Jung woo as an artist because he is still lacking in terms of his career and exhibition history, which we generally expect from an artist. Therefore, what is important is his future activities. It remains to be seen whether his works contain sufficient artistic depth and originality, rather than simply relying on fame.

Breaking New ground in Contemporary Art
 
In the end, the most important thing in art is not education, not popularity, but the authenticity and quality of your work. If you want to be a truly good artist, the work you do in your spare time will not catch up with someone who has been working on their art for their entire life.
 
Therefore, the point that the Korean art world needs to think about is not to reject the broadening of the art world or the new transformation of the art world, but to face it properly, understand the huge flow of the zeitgeist, and calmly grasp the current state of contemporary art in this context.

In other words, we should take this as an opportunity to see how we can open up the position of Korean contemporary art to new horizons through a higher and wider perspective and an objective and sober critical attitude.

Jay Jongho Kim graduated from the Department of Art Theory at Hongik University and earned his master's degree in Art Planning from the same university. From 1996 to 2006, he worked as a curator at Gallery Seomi, planning director at CAIS Gallery, head of the curatorial research team at Art Center Nabi, director at Gallery Hyundai, and curator at Gana New York. From 2008 to 2017, he served as the executive director of Doosan Gallery Seoul & New York and Doosan Residency New York, introducing Korean contemporary artists to the local scene in New York. After returning to Korea in 2017, he worked as an art consultant, conducting art education, collection consulting, and various art projects. In 2021, he founded A Project Company and is currently running the platforms K-ARTNOW.COM and K-ARTIST.COM, which aim to promote Korean contemporary art on the global stage.