Traffic Policewoman (Summer)

North Korean Linocut:
Traffic Policewoman (Summer)

North Koreans often use a surprising colour palette and this buff and grey is no exception.

What looks simple is in fact rather a wonderful composition. The face and background are the same colour and tone,  however, the face is lifted into the foreground by the combination of the white summer jacket and white cap.

THE LINOCUT

Whilst in the mid-ground, the linocut is horizontally cut to create the blur of movement, she remains stock still. This is the embodiment of law and order.

Koryo Studio keeps the first print and we have just a few of these popular pieces left. These are rare and amongst the artist’s last work before he died.

SUBJECT MATTER

North Korean women traffic officers are one of the major images associated with a visit to Pyongyang.

Notoriously famed for their beauty, but certainly not to be crossed.

Their job requires immense concentration and a high amount of training, and thus they hold a high social status in Pyongyang and throughout North Korea. However, in 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stated that for the benefit of women, the North Korean women traffic officers would be taken off such hard duties and instead replaced by men.

Koryo Tours travels to North Korea every month and will be able to update you as to the situation.

Pyongyang Traffic Ladies

Traffic Policewoman (Winter)
Size: 71 x 65 cm
Edition of 10
Artist: Hwang In Jae
Price: 1600 EUR
ID: L035