Ahead of his time, Yi defined modernism

October 05, 2010

By Lee Sun-min [summerlee@joongang.co.kr]

A siren sounds announcing noon. A man looks down from the top floor of the Mitsukoshi department store in central Seoul and people seem to be flapping their arms like a chicken. Glass windows and marble floors jiggle endlessly. The man finally summons his wings.

The last scene of Yi Sang’s novel “The Wings” represents the integration of Yi’s life as a modernist, and thousands of artists over the years have attempted to recreate it. With this year marking the 100th anniversary of the Korean writer’s birth, many Yi Sang experts have taken the chance to put on exhibitions to commemorate the legendary artist.

Kim Hae-gyeong - Yi Sang was his pen name - is among the few Korean writers of the early 20th century who still attract the interest of young readers.

“Yi Sang was a person who created his own language, his own world and played in it. That fascinated me,” said Cha Ji-ryang, a young artist in his 20s, who is participating in the ongoing exhibition that pays homage to Yi Sang at Seoul’s Arko Arts Center.

Yi is considered a forerunner in modern Korean literature, in spite of his short lifespan of just 27 years.


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