North Korean Pop Art
You can bet that a picture of Kim Jong Il dressed as Marilyn Monroe did not get created in North Korea. But artist Song Byeok did indeed spend his days as a North Korean propaganda artist. He still does propaganda art, but he directs it back at the repressive regime.
“My message to Kim Jong Il is stop this constant thinking and talking about war, and get some kindness in his heart and give freedom to the people,” Song said in a recent interview.
Just a guess, but I’m betting Kim Jong Il would not take kindly to the art work, the message or the man.
The Global Post has a great article on how Song Byeok grew up believing in the regime and creating artwork for it only to nearly starve during the difficult period of famine in the 1990s.
But now that he’s safely ensconced in the South, he has blossomed as a pop artist and is making waves with his latest offering entitled “Take Off Your Clothes!”.
I’m neither an artist nor an art critic, but the quality of the work is such that he had done it and been found out in North Korea a death sentence would have been a certainty.
If you’re into adventure stories, the Global Post includes Song Byeok’s harrowing tale of escape from the repressive regime.