White Moons Rise on Chosun Porcelains

The white porcelain belonged to the kind of traditional Korean ceramics that are called ``moon jar (tal-hangari), '' made by earthenware makers during the late 17^th through 18^th century, the late period of the Chosun Kingdom (1392-1910).

The lady in the photo was Lucie Rie (1902-1995), Austria-born British pottery artist. ``The traces of time inlaid on the vessel'' matched the face of Rie, creating a ``magical harmony and balance.''

Rie was given the jar by Bernard Leach (1887-1979), also a British ceramist who shared the fascination for the Chosun potteries with Japanese folks art scholar Muneyoshi Yanagi (1889-1961), and purchased the white porcelain in the photo when he visited Korea in 1933.

Koo could not but think about the fate of the plain white porcelain, which traveled so far across time and space. This was when his new project started.

``Looking at the Korean white porcelain, far from home, in a foreign place, made me feel sad and the sadness touched my heart,'' Koo writes in his book ``Vessels for the Heart,'' published by Hangilart Publishing on the occasion of his solo exhibition featuring photos of white porcelains at Kukje Gallery.

``I didn't have any means to find out any personal details about the lady in the photo at that time, but the vessel next to her made a lasting impression that it is sad to see a Korean object to be in the hands of a foreign collector. At that time I even felt that the vessel was sending a quiet message, that it is waiting to be saved by someone from the birthplace where it was created.''

The project Koo bore in mind for more than a decade came to be realized through the efforts of the last three years, during which he visited museums around the world to take photos of ``paekja,'' Korean white porcelains, overcoming the complicated administrative procedures of the museums.

The result is a fascinating collection of some 40 photos chosen for the exhibition, revealing simple yet graceful inner beauty of paekja to the fullest. Through the lenses of the 53-year-old artist are their aesthetics of vacancy and traces of time re-created, sometimes in minute detail with yellow or pink color, sometimes with the outlines blurred with the surroundings so that they really look like rising or eclipsing moons.

▲ A Bohnchang Koo photograph featuring two moon jars preserved at the Japan Folk Crafts Museum,Tokyo

``I felt the rough yet soft textures of the paekjas were like human skin,'' Koo said in a meeting with reporters ahead of the exhibition opening. ``I took their photos as if they were portraits of a human being.''

Officials at Kukje Gallery estimate the price per piece at the exhibition to be around 10 million won ($10,600). Some of the samples that were taken to Basel Art Fair, Switzerland last month were quickly sold to a ``very good collector'' on the first day of the exhibition, they said.

The exhibition will last till July 30. From 2 to 4 p.m. on July 16 and 30, you can also meet with the photographer in person at the gallery. Koo also speaks English and German. For more details, visit <www.bckoo.com> or <www.kukje.org>