Plain Beauty

Plain Beauty brings together exquisite porcelains made in Korea during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), Joseon-inspired ceramics by contemporary artists, and large-scale photographs by Bohnchang Koo (Korean, born 1953). Actively produced in Korea beginning in the fifteenth century, simple but elegant white porcelains reflected the neo-Confucianist ideology of the dynasty's ruling elites, which promoted a frugal and restrained lifestyle. Production of these wares continued through the early twentieth century, yielding vessels of diverse functions, sizes, and shapes.

While the evolution of ceramics in East Asia was closely related among neighboring countries, Korea's preference for plain white porcelain distinguished it from China and Japan. In China, which was a source of inspiration and reference in the development of Korean ceramics, potters replaced the earlier fashion for plain white wares with lavishly decorated Wucai porcelains that featured flamboyant, multicolored patterns. In Japan, vivid polychrome Imari wares gained enormous popularity. As a result, pure white wares remained a uniquely Korean phenomenon.

Photographer Bohnchang Koo explored the classical beauty of Korean white porcelain in his Vessel series, produced between 2004 and 2008. Since the 1980s, Koo has examined the overarching themes of life and death through various subjects, including insects, animals, plants, and self-portraits. To create the Vessel series, Koo photographed plain white porcelains in the collections of museums in Korea and abroad. For him, these wares echo the essence of the Joseon aesthetic, and—because they are often stained, cracked, and worn by everyday use—they are a perfect subject through which to convey warm traces of human life.

Drawn from the Museum's holdings and loans from other collections in the United States, the exceptional works on view in this exhibition create a visual dialogue that transcends both differences in medium and the time in which they were created.