North Korea’s Warhol

Song Byeok (not his real name) was born in North Korea and at the age of 24 was chosen to be a propaganda artist for the DPRK regime.

During the famine of the 1990s, in which millions died, Song Byeok and his father would cross the Tumen River into China to seek food. On one of these trips, Song Byeok’s father drowned and he himself was captured by North Korean soldiers and sentenced to four months in a labour camp. In that time he suffered broken bones and teeth, and lost most of his right index finger to an infected splinter.

After his release, he escaped to South Korea via China in 2001. His first exhibition was in 2011; he claims the DPRK government has been trying to kill him since then. He uses a pseudonym to protect his family members who are still in North Korea.

Song Byeok uses the techniques and subjects he used as a propaganda artist to make fun of DPRK propaganda and its constant message of public happiness and perfection.

Many of Song Byeok’s most famous pieces involve painting late leader Kim Jong-Il in drag, although he stopped painting him after the Leader’s death.

He also repeats motifs of birds and other winged animals to underscore the lack of freedom experienced by North Koreans in contrast to animals. His work tends to be full of complex symbolism.

Like Warhol, Song Byeok often repeats images of people and objects to render them meaningless or to draw attention to their uniformity, lack of variety and their mass-produced nature.

Song Byeok also uses a mixture of modern and traditional techniques and materials, including jang-ji, a Korean paper used in older paintings.

Here, Song Byeok reproduces Marilyn Monroe’s famous pose to suggest that North Korea is also trying to hide something. The title encourages Kim to reveal the DPRK to the world.

The very act of painting Kim Jong-Il is shocking, as only special court painters were allowed to paint him, not ordinary propaganda artists. Song Byeok is taking the leader’s image out of the DPRK’s control and revealing him to be just a human being.

The red fish jumping out of the water represent North Korean citizens longing for freedom, of which Marilyn Monroe is a symbol.

The reference to Monroe is also a homage to Warhol, who frequently painted the actress. Song Byeok has also painted Warhol’s famous Campbell’s soup cans into several of his pieces.

The painting takes its inspiration from the famous mass games held in the DPRK.

The women performing are elegant and organised, but ultimately faceless and uniform in dress and figure.

The DPRK flag is made up of many tiny placards being held by the audience, who are obliterated in favour of a national symbol.

The tight organization of the performance is in contrast to the birds, who fly where they will and shed feathers, ruining the game’s perfection with their freedom.

‘Freedom’ is quite a clear image of a group of people breaking the chains that hold them back from the world – a reference to Marx’s famous command ‘Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.’

Fragments of broken chain spell out the word for ‘freedom’ in Korean ( 자유 )on either side of the group.

Red is a colour which is strongly associated with Communism but also with the dawn, so the figures might be marching into the dawn of a new metaphorical day.

This is a painting done in traditional style and shows the area on the Tumen River, which divides the DPRK and China, and where Song Byeok’s father drowned. The perspective is one of looking from China back to North Korea.

At this distance it looks peaceful and timeless, but up close, the tiny vignettes show North Koreans struggling through a time of want by fishing in the river and trying to farm. Broken equipment and women doing laundry in the river are also shown.

At the top of the mountains, propaganda posters extol Kim Il-sung as the sun. However, the greyness of the scene suggests that the leadership, although it claims to support them, has abandoned the people just like the actual sun has.

This is my favourite work of Song Byeok’s because of its use of stillness and calm to suggest the exact opposite – trouble and worry. More detail of the painting can be seen in this interview and this BBC profile.

The children in this painting smile and wave while holding standard propaganda reading primers.

Although the children look playful and happy, their eyes are closed, suggesting that they do not know the reality of life in North Korea.

One or two of the children seem to be hiding from the viewer, either out of playfulness or fear, and some of their shoes have holes in them, suggesting that they are not as well off as you might think at first glance.

The flower suggests youth and hope, but one of its petals has already dropped, implying decay and death.

“Most people are just living day-to-day, oblivious to the preciousness of human dignity and freedom. I’d

like to let them know how precious they are... I want to deliver a message that gives hope to those who’re living in despair, saying, ‘We can all live in

peace’.”

Interview with Song Byeok (in Korean)Review of Song Byeok’s life and work (in Frenc

h)Review of Song Byeok’s show in Atlanta, GAReview and biography of Song ByeokSong Byeok’s FB pageInterview with Song ByeokInterview with Song Byeok and review of his

show in Washington D.C.CNN report on Song ByeokBBC profile of Song ByeokInterview with Song Byeok on his training and

goals