Art Scene
Rebuilt gallery allows Korean art to shine

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

Left: Ceremonial dress, Korea, Choson dynasty, 19th century Upper-right: Official courtier's robe, Choson dynasty, 19th century Lower-right: Celadon cup and stand, Koryo dynasty, early 12th century Honolulu Academy

"You won't be taking any pictures, will you?" White politely asks. No, just an advance peek, is the reply.

The words "somewhat reluctantly" become moot once I arrive at the academy and find White about as ready to show off the Korea Gallery's new acquisitions and expanded exhibition space as a child showing off new Christmas toys.

We walk into the gallery, and its multi-era displays of Korean ceramics, paintings, furniture and lacquerware. Mirroring the spare ethos of the adjoining (and also newly renovated) China Gallery, the Korea Gallery is all about showcasing the academy's collection in the best possible light.

"In the past, we weren't able to show the full range of our collection," White says. "The gallery now has more accessible cases where visitors can get up close to the art, and twice the space. It's just a much more beautiful home, a much more harmonious setting." The gallery also features gleaming hardwood floors, elegant glass casing, and motion-detection lighting that reduces the harsh effects of light on the artwork when the room is empty.

Hearing White compare past and present, one begins to get the feeling that the Korea Gallery's old space was, in a word, bad.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad," White says, laughing and drawing imaginary lines in the current gallery to describe previously cramped quarters. "It was in a very small and dark space. The cabinets had been built many years ago and ... were very awkward and difficult to deal with (when rotating exhibits)."

Under reconstruction since January, the Korea Gallery contains popular works from the academy's longtime collection (in storage for more than three years while recently completed academy renovations were taking place) and new acquisitions collected by White over the last few years. The academy shelled out more than $450,000 on gallery renovations, most of which came from the Korea Foundation and South Korea's consul general in Hawai'i.

White believes the sparse, eerily modern design by Washington, D.C.-based museum design firm George Sexton Associates immediately puts the collection at center stage, providing optimum access for curators and visitors.

"These are the real stars of the collection," says White, proudly hovering over a glass-encased collection of 12th- and 13th-century Korean ceramic ware. "This is the most highly prized kind of Korean ceramic there is, and we have great breadth and great depth in our collection. All of these are pieces that any museum in the United States would envy."

White singles out a plum-blossom vase called a mapeyong, circa 12th century. She points to a crane on the vase surface.

"It looks like it's been painted on, but it's actually an inlay technique that's unique to Korea," White says of the collection of cups, vases and bowls once found in temples and well-to-do Korean homes. "The precision is pretty incredible."

We move on to a set of folding-screen paintings near the rear of the gallery.

"One of the areas of our collection where we were very weak was paintings," White says. "It's been my goal over the last two or three years to acquire paintings that are representative of Korean-style paintings." It hasn't been easy.

White said that in the last several years, South Korea has stepped up efforts to reacquire paintings that hadn't been destroyed during years of peninsula turbulence, and works that were taken out of the country altogether.

One stunning new acquisition is a 19th-century 10-panel folding screen depicting a pond landscape strewn with lotus blossoms, birds and paired fishes. Once found in the female quarters of a traditional Korean home, the many seeds of the painting's lotus pods represent fertility, while the coupled animals heralded marital fidelity, conjugal bliss and a happy home. A nearby eight-paneled folding screen called a ch'aekkori depicts the scholarly pursuits (books, brushes and scrolls) of the Korean gentleman who once owned it.

"The colors in both of these screens are also extremely typical of Korean art ... very strong malachites, very strong blues and greens," White says.

White hopes viewing the lavish care and honor the academy has bestowed on its collection of Korean treasures will inspire others to share their own valued heirlooms with visitors.

"We have a large Korean community here, so we're hoping that this gallery will (also be able to serve) as a home for what they've collected, too," White says.