《Derby Match》 is an exhibition commemorating the mutual agreement between Sacheon University of the Arts and Jeonbuk Provincial Art Museum. Through this exhibition, you can witness the most brilliant period of Jeonbuk's modern and contemporary art history from the 1980s to the 1990s. The title 《Derby Match》 signifies the extraordinary relationship between abstract art and people's art that was active during this period. Unlike other regions in Korea where the two factions were entirely antagonistic, with lingering tensions even after many artists have passed away, Jeonbuk maintained a relationship of coexistence, acknowledging each other's presence and continuously striving to create new art through competition. The first group includes Moon Bok-cheol, Lee Kun-yong, Jeong Hyun-do, and Hwang So-yeon, while the second group features Song Man-kyu, Jin Chang-yoon, Kim Bong-jun, Kim Jeong-heon, and Kim Kwang-jin.

In Korean art, these two movements were the most significant fruits of the 1980s and 1990s, but their conflicts ran deep. While nationwide they were intensely antagonistic, Jeonbuk uniquely fostered a relationship of coexistence and respect. The abstract faction, focusing on the specificity of the medium since the 1960s, extended their exploration beyond using traditional Korean paper (hanji) merely as a material or support, connecting it with spirituality and expanding their research into its material properties. Meanwhile, people's art centered on significant historical events such as the Donghak Peasant Revolution (1894-95) in Gochang and Jeongeup, emphasizing labor rights, ecology, and various themes from an early stage. Both factions continuously experimented with the history, ecology, and culture of Jeonbuk's people, fostering mutual acceptance.

This exhibition imagines both factions speaking their claims while listening to the other's, structured to gradually approach each other from opposite ends, eventually meeting in the central hall. It spatially embodies the spirit of mutual acceptance, solidarity, and coexistence that characterized Jeonbuk's art movements.

Until the liberation, Korean artists aligned with progressive artists from China and Japan. The call of "Let us rise! With whirlwind-like passion and steel-like reason, let's create a new world at the intersection of our colors, lines, and forms!" by Gyeolran-sa in 1932 resonated meaningfully with artists under Japanese colonial rule, those in Jeonbuk during the 1980s and 1990s, and contemporary artists today. The Jeonbuk Provincial Art Museum hopes that this prestigious agreement with Sacheon University of the Arts will serve as a banner of solidarity among Asian artists. This first step will be filled with the spirit of hospitality, recognizing each other's existence as it is, and focusing on commonalities rather than differences.