Title of art	국토-고추모종/The Nation’s Land: Chili Pepper Seeding			Sector	Painting (회화)
Art specifications	164?66.2cm			Material technique	Acrylic on rice sack paper
Collection year	2001			Production year	1990
Gallery	Seoul Museum of Art			Artist	Lee, Jong-gu
Description of art	“The Nation’s Land: Chili Pepper Seeding” (1990) illustrates the realities of Korea’s rural farming society through Lee’s unique method of using governmentsubsidized rice sacks instead of canvas to bring life to the work. The year 1988 was a time when fluctuations in red pepper prices adversely affected Korean farmers. As the farmers grew increasingly discouraged, the government announced policies to support them by buying the entire red pepper crop through the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. But even with these policies, only a few farmers were able to reap the benefits, which sparked “red pepper protests.” As such, even though Korea in the 1980s was no longer living in absolute poverty, the lives of farmers cultivating the barren lands had not improved all that much. In this work, the farmers are portrayed crouching over the land, diligently plowing and planting red pepper seeds. Above the heads of the farmers busily turning the soil with their hoes, a huge forklift is loudly plowing the ground as if it is about to run over the fields at any minute. This represents the inflow of capital and the advent of materialistic lifestyles that have transformed rural farming societies, conveying the artist’s message about the reality of the farmers who have been swept out of their livelihoods. As such, Lee Jong-gu fulfills his self-designated responsibility as a “record keeper of dilapidated lives and reality” through his works
Address	61, Deoksugung-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul			Source	Seoul Metropolitan Government