Oh Ha-young's controversy sparks art comparison with Roh Yoon-seo

As the controversy surrounding actress Oh Ha-young expands to include her past artworks, the works of fellow alumna actress Roh Yoon-seo are being brought into the conversation, leading to an unexpected online debate comparing their artistic skills. While attention is focused on the fact that both actresses graduated from the same Western Painting department at Ewha Womans University and demonstrate different formative languages and modes of expression, opinions are divided on whether it is appropriate to simply compare works with entirely different aesthetic directions.

On the 11th, various online communities and SNS platforms saw a resurgence of interest in the artworks Oh Ha-young previously revealed on the KBS2 variety show 'Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant.'

Oh is known to have studied fine arts at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York after attending arts-focused middle and high schools and graduating from the Western Painting department at Ewha Womans University. During a broadcast, she also introduced the works displayed in her studio and home, stating, "I majored in art for over 10 years."

The works revealed at that time were characterized by intense colors, free-spirited forms, and the flow of paint and rough brushstrokes left across the canvas. Rather than realistically reproducing the appearance of a subject, the works were closer to abstract expressions that emphasized the formative qualities of the canvas itself through the use of color, texture, and accidental traces.

However, as recent controversies surrounding Oh's family history have surfaced, her past broadcasts, statements, and career history have been repeatedly re-examined, and in this process, her artworks have also been resurfaced online.

Furthermore, as the works of actress Roh Yoon-seo, who also graduated from the Western Painting department at Ewha Womans University, were mentioned alongside hers, comparisons between the two women's working methods began.

Among the works Roh has revealed, her portraiture has garnered particular attention. Her works, which demonstrate a realistic representational ability close to photography by meticulously depicting the facial structure, expressions, skin texture, and hair of subjects, have become well-known online.

When placing the works of the two side-by-side, the difference in their formative directions becomes even more distinct. While Oh took an abstract approach that brings color, brushwork, and materiality to the forefront rather than the specificity of form, Roh shows an expressive method that is relatively closer to realistic painting, observing subjects and precisely reproducing their characteristics.

Regarding this, some online users reacted with comments such as, "It's surprising they went to the same school and the same major," and "Their art styles are completely different." While some offered critical evaluations of Oh's work, others gave high marks to Roh's realistic descriptive abilities.

However, such a comparison does not immediately imply a hierarchy of quality between the works.

In art, abstraction and figuration, realism and expressionism, possess different aesthetic goals and formative principles. One cannot conclude that a work is superior to abstract painting simply because its realistic depiction is excellent; conversely, the artistic value of a work is not automatically secured just because it deconstructs form and emphasizes color and materiality.

This is because the evaluation of a painting must comprehensively consider not only the ability to represent but also what the artist intended to express, what formative methodology they chose, and what kind of relationship color, line, texture, and space establish within the frame.

Particularly in contemporary art, the accuracy of representation—'how identically something was drawn'—does not function as the sole absolute standard for judging a work's achievement. Rather, important evaluative factors include how the artist interpreted and varied existing visual orders and how they translated their own experiences and thoughts onto the canvas.

Therefore, applying the same standard to the works of two people simply because they attended the same university and completed the same major risks oversimplifying the genre diversity of art.

However, in Oh's case, there is a background that justifies public interest. Since she stated on broadcast that she "majored in art for over 10 years," an image had been formed in the public eye of her as someone possessing significant artistic expertise beyond a mere hobby.

Recently, as controversies regarding the pro-Japanese activities of Oh's great-grandfather have emerged, her past broadcast appearances, family history, and statements are being sequentially re-examined. In this process, her long-revealed artworks have also reappeared online, leading to debates over the artistic value and professional competence of her work.

Ultimately, this controversy is less about determining who is the better artist between Oh and Roh and more a reflection of modern online public opinion, where a celebrity's past content and work are simultaneously re-evaluated when their history becomes embroiled in controversy.

Artworks reflect not only an artist's personality and taste but also their education, aesthetic interests, and the sensibilities of their era. Studying the same major at the same university does not necessitate using the same painterly language.

Oh and Roh have both built their respective painterly worlds through different methods on the same foundation of Western painting education. However, as the recent controversies surrounding Oh amplify interest in her past works, public evaluation of the two actresses' artistic activities is expected to continue for some time.