Art in the DPRK

Socialist Realism is alive and well in the North Korean art scene.

Abstract painting does not exist as it is deemed bourgeois and anti-revolutionary, and if some representational art can be purely aesthetic without political overtones, many landscapes do portray places of the revolution or of political significance.

Anonymity is a hallmark of North Korean art because all artists must work out of state-run studio complexes. Artists are ranked A, B, or C, depending on skill level. About fifty top-ranked artists are further designated “Merited Artists” and a more elite group of 20 are designated “People’s Artists.”