Sun Mu is a Korean painter. He worked as a propaganda artist in North Korea before fleeing to South Korea in the 1990s.
Background
Sun Mu was born in 1972, in North Korea. Sun Mu is not the artist’s actual name. It’s a nom de plume that uses a combination of two Korean words that translate to ‘The Absence of Borders.’ In addition to adopting a pseudonym, he refuses to allow his face to be photographed, afraid that the family he left behind might face reprisals for his art.
His concern for their safety comes as a reaction to the three-generation rule applied in North Korea which punishes the entire family of a defector if their crime is seen as an affront to the state. Defection alone is punishable by death and Sun Mu’s role as a critic of the regime would be considered as a major offense. South Korean news outlets often refer to him as the “faceless” or “nameless” artist from North Korea.
Education
Sun Mu was trained by the North Korean Army as a propaganda artist. Later he studied art in college.
Career
During a severe famine in the 1990s Sun Mu fled to South Korea where he works as a painter. He began producing satirical works that have since been described as “Disney characters with a military aesthetic.” Out of concern for the family he left behind in North Korea he uses the pseudonym "Sun Mu" instead of his real name and does not allow photos of his face. One of his portraits of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung was removed from a Pusan biennale because organizers wanted to avoid problems for exhibiting "pro-communist" art.
Sun Mu, who was trained to create posters and murals for the Communist government, is the first defector from the North to have won fame as a painter in the South by applying that same style of propaganda to biting parodies of the North Korean regime. His exhibition in 2007 brought the artist international recognition and he has since been invited to show his work at galleries around the world. Sun Mu often depicts images of Kim Jong-Il and Kim Il-Sung, a subject considered sacred which only a few artists are authorized to paint.
Sun himself and art critics have noted that his images are replete with political satire; depicting, for instance, the North Korean leaders in Western clothing. His signature work is the "Happy Children" series of paintings, which show North Korean children displaying the uniform forced smile that Sun says was taught to him at school in North Korea.
An exhibition of his works, scheduled to open at the Yuan Dian Gallery in Beijing at the end of July 2014, was cancelled at the request of the Chinese authorities. Over the years, Sun Mu has been taking his art across the globe, from South Korea to China to the United States and Germany. But his satire is largely misunderstood in cities like Seoul, where painting pictures of the ruling dynasty is considered a crime under national security laws.
In Sun Mu’s "Some Take Medicine", a rosy-cheeked young girl offers a Coca-Cola, a symbol of capitalist America, to the sickly former leader of the North, Kim Jong Il – who died in 2011. For the artist, the message of this piece is that the isolated country needs “to open its doors before it can begin to live."
Perhaps one of Sun Mu’s most recognized paintings is a close-up of Kim Jong Il wearing his trademark Ray Ban sunglasses. He calls it "Control." At first glance, this could be any other portrait of the country’s leader that adorns thousands of walls in the North – in homes, in offices, at schools. But on closer inspection, the image reflected in his sunglasses carries Sun Mu’s own message, an expression of fear: hungry workers in the field fleeing, as a soldier points his gun at them. This - whilst men and women from various religious faiths stand by and watch.
In another piece, entitled “A Song of Joy”, a young uniformed schoolgirl at the center of the canvas is smiling widely, unaware that those outside are living different lives that “they are experiencing another kind of happiness,” Sun Mu explains. Despite becoming a public figure, Sun Mu’s true identity remains a mystery. He never shows his face to the camera, often appearing in silhouette or from the back.
Politics
He grew up singing songs of praise for the Communist regime and, while serving in the army, was trained to create propaganda posters for the government. Much of the work he produced relied on familiar tropes — images touting North Korea's military might, coupled with impassioned slogans calling for citizens to defend their leaders at all costs.
Views
His imaginary name not only represents what he feels is the transcendence of art but also the literal military demarcation line that keeps the Korean people separated.
Quotations:
"If the situation had improved, North Korea would have opened up. And people like me would be able to go back and forth."
“I thought North Korea was a good country. I was one of those who were willing to die for their leader. But in the end, when you're hungry... you need to eat.”
“When I arrived in China, I realized how difficult life was going to be without a legal identity. I said to myself, the south is my land too. I'd also heard that people like me were automatically granted citizenship. So, I bought a map, and ended up taking a bus to Laos, before traveling to Thailand. From there, I took a flight to South Korea. That was in 2002. I didn't have a real plan, but I thought to myself, I'd rather die trying than live without an identity.”
“My work, what I call ‘my propaganda’, does contain criticism of the regime. But it also contains a lot of my thoughts, my hopes for the future in images."
“South Koreans are skeptical of my work. Many of them still have Cold War mentalities."
"I've always been cautious because the danger is very real. I'm living here with my new family, but I do have to think of my parents and siblings in the North. I can't be completely sure of my own safety here. I am however, definitely better off in South Korea than I would be in China."
“Donald Trump and Kim Jung Un are not so different. I think if they came face to face, they would actually get along. The big question is, will there ever be an opportunity for the two of them to meet?"
Personality
Sun Mu is enthusiastic about helping to “contribute to cultural integration” but said he doesn’t have a “great sense of duty” to do so.
