근대에 들어와 인간의 이성적 사유에 대한 존중은 미술에 있어 재현에 대한 반성과 의문을 제기시켰다. 20세기 추상미술에 대한 과도한 평가는 구상미술의 멸시로 이어졌다. 그러나 1960년대 후반 경에 등장한 하이퍼리얼리즘은 당대의 인간 삶의 장면이 단순한 재현이 아니라 현대산업사회의 부르주아 문명과 대중소비문화를 대변하는 시뮬라크르임을 보여주었다. 따라서 하이퍼리얼리즘이 단순한 구상적 재현의 부활을 넘어 욕망, 권력, 지식 등의 문제를 다시 거론시키는 주체가 될 수 있다고 판단하고, 장 보드리야르의 시뮬라크르 개념을 분석기저로 삼으며 그 개념과 본질을 파악해 보고자 하였다.

This article discusses the art movement of Hyperrealism, which the author specifically denominates as the ``Trompe-l`oeil of the twentieth century``. The term ``Hyperrealism`` originated from the French word ``Hyperrealisme`` that was the title of a major catalog and exhibition at the gallery of Isy Brachot, held in Brussels, Belgium, 1973. Hyperrealism has arisen in relationship with the Pop Art and has been founded upon the aesthetic principles of Photorealism. Hyperrealists did not directly approach reality to create paintings, but attempted to reproduce what a camera would see. They used photographic images as a reference source to render a more definitive and detailed images. Hyperrealists created the illusion of a new reality not visible in the original photo. Their main objective was to translate photographic information into paint information. Hyperrealism has its root in the philosophy of Jean Baudrillard. He argued that the world we live in has been replaced by the Simulacra (Hyperreality). Baudrillard strenuously insisted that today, there is no such thing as reality; therefore everything is Hyperreality. For example, a map fades into a territory, and it is neither representation nor a real remaining. The map is just Hyperreality. Hyperrealism aims to remove a blurred line between what is ``real`` and what is ``virtual``. Hyperrealism leads us to forget the fact that a particular thing is a painting or a sculpture. Instead, it leads us to believe it is reality. If our eyes are seduced by Hyperrealist paintings, it is not by the ``illusion``, but by what appears to be reality. Hyperrealism becomes Hyperreality. Hyperrealist painters, in particular, suggested that painting is a kind of Simulacra that explains current state of human life. Hyperrealism celebrates prosperity and an indulgent, albeit transient, materialism, and pays respect to the essential yet humble quotidian existence. In this paper, the author attempts to illuminate the Hyperrealism as Hyperreality by focusing on the theories of Baudrillard, and trace its ramifications of Hyperreality in Hyperrealist paintings.