This article is devoted to the analysis of the artwork «On the Way Back from Bear Mountain» by South Korean artist Yoon Hyup (b. 1982). The paper offers the first holistic art historical analysis of this work, including an analysis of its material nature (format, technique, color, light and rhythm) and key images presented in the art space. The analysis allows us to define the main idea of the polyptych, which consists in the representation of travel not only as a physical movement, but also as an internal process of self-discovery and transformation of personality, where through comprehension of the surrounding world a person discovers and learns the depths of his or her own self. In addition, the article offers an interpretation of this work in the context of the cultural paradigm of metamodernism, as well as an attempt to determine the possible influence of the polyptych «On the Way Back from Bear Mountain» on the future development of art in general.
Yoon Hyop, «On the Way Back from Bear Mountain», contemporary art, Korean art
1. Groys, B. (2003). Comments on Art. Moscow: Khudozhestvenny Zhurnal. ISBN: 5-901116-08-09.
2. Kandinsky, W. (2023). Point and Line to Plane. Saint Petersburg: Azbuka-Atticus. ISBN: 978-5-389-22565-7.
3. Akker van den, R., Gibbons, A., Vermeulen, T. (Eds.). (2020). Metamodernism: Historicity, Affect and Depth after Postmodernism. Moscow: Ripol Klassik. ISBN: 978-5-386-13620-8. [Electronic resource]. Available at: https://iknigi.net/avtor-robin-van-den-akker/188460-metamodernizm-istorichnost-affekt-i-glubina-posle-postmodernizma-robin-van-den-akker.html (accessed: 09.04.2025).
4. Yoon Hyup. On the Way Back from Bear Mountain [Electronic resource]. Available at: https://yoonhyup.com/#/onthewaybackfrombearmountain/ (accessed: 12.04.2025).
5. Epstein, M. (2022). Primordial Concepts: Keys to the Cultural Code. Moscow: KoLibri. ISBN: 978-5-389-15248-9.