More than 60 percent of Korean artists earn less than 1 million won ($878) per month, according to government figures. A 2009 Korea Culture and Tourism Institute report shows the average income of artists at 820,000 won and more than 30 percent reporting no income.

All in all, pursuing art is a hard task without financial support from others ― more often than not, parents. This doesn’t change unless an artist hits the jackpot or sells works for record prices at auction. In the lifelong journey of pursuing art, the relationship artists should treasure may be the one with their parents.

But in the course of pursuing an art career, artists admit that they grow apart from their parents and explore new relationships with their audience.

A unique exhibition presents a chance for artists to look back on their relationships with their parents and invite them to their practice of art. 

For Artsonje’s new exhibition “Our Hesitant Dialogues,” the art center requested three artists and a curator and their parents to come up with collaborative projects. The rule was that the parents should be part of the project from beginning to end.

After the artists and the parents consulted each other, each took a role in the project and presented their works together at a press conference on Tuesday.

“I was always curious what my daughter was working on. I tried to go to her studio, but she never invited me. So when my daughter suggested that we do this project together, I was really curious. But it was really hard for me because there were many days I had to stay up until 1 or 2 a.m. and now I think I can understand the difficulties my daughter must have been going through,” said Yoo Chang-hee, artist Park Hyung-ji’s mother, during the press conference on Tuesday at Artsonje Center in Seoul.

Park and her mother Yoo each drew separate paintings of urban scenes and rural scenes. Yoo, who has been painting as a hobby, drew mills that she remembers from her childhood that are the opposite of the urban scenes her daughter usually paints. 

The mother and daughter try to share the mutual act of painting, but show different views on contemporary art. The mother finds the contemporary art her daughter is practicing “incomprehensible and exclusive,” while her daughter thinks her mother’s painting hobby cannot be a professional practice.

Artist Gu Min-ja and her parents explore their economic relationship. They established the “Gu & Yang Art Foundation,” an idea derived from the old joke the artist used to have with her friends in college that they all receive scholarships from their parents.

“Parents are art foundations ― whether it’s financial support or psychological support. After looking back at myself receiving support from my parents even after college, I thought of my parents taking on the role of an art foundation. So we made it real in the project,” said Gu.

Having her parents as representatives of the foundation, Gu held a meeting to discuss details such as policies and activities. Videos of the discussion, the logo of the foundation and the amount of scholarships are on exhibit.

“But it has only two recipients ― me and my sister,” Gu said laughing while explaining the concept.

Artist Lee So-yung asks questions about the life of her parents ― questions that she never brought up just because they are her parents.

The artist writes down questions such as “the loneliest moment in your life,” “what are your dreams” and leaves them on a table so that her parents could take their time answering them one by one.

The conversations are visualized into three families’ conversations in a 22-minute video.

“Revealing my personal stories wasn’t comfortable. But the project with my parents became a turning point for me in my late 30s. It was an opportunity to look back on what I have done and what I will do in the future,” said Lee.

The exhibition “Our Hesitant Dialogues” runs from July 11 to Aug. 18. The Artsonje Center is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is 5,000 won for adults and 3,000 won for teenagers and children. For more information, call (02) 733-8945.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)