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In July 2014, the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art(Gyeonggi MoMA) opens an exhibition which introduces Korean Graffiti Art in order to understand its different styles and meanings. It is amazing that Graffiti Art outside the systems is displayed inside the systems of an art museum and evaluated as an art index by the audiences. At some point, an art museum has been established as a symbol of the art system, and thereby artworks inside the museum are under implicit protection. Art has existed long before a museum was born. It is a relatively recent phenomenon to define what art is, at least what an important art is within the systems of the art world in history. Besides, such authority makes a division between highbrow and lowbrow art, that is, a division to indicate what is against public art to hold merit in the history of contemporary art. For this reason, the forms of cultural expressions outside the approved space of an art museum become devaluated and insignificant. As a matter of fact, it was only a few years ago when graffiti made an inroad into the museum. Rather than the white wall of the museum provided, just partitions were set up for graffiti artists to draw and discarded after an exhibition was finished.

This graffiti exhibition of Gyeonggi MoMA would also be eliminated when it ends. Instead of being a temporary event exhibition, however, it would occupy the whole exhibition space, capturing the process of completing the works as the museum provides the white walls which is a symbol of the museum power. Perhaps it implies that the exhibition itself can be a challenge to the art power in the museum where is perceived as White Cube by graffiti artists themselves. Yet the artists laugh and have fun familiarly with this challenge. They have no concern in the systems or power since the exhibition is a mere extension of graffiti scenes which they have already carried out. Here lies the reason why the spirit of graffiti is understood as ‘liberal recreation’ different from other arts which try to keep their certain territories.