Seoul Fashion Week runways to expand to Korea's landmarks, museums

The next edition of Seoul Fashion Week will expand its runway stages to Seoul landmarks and museums, taking advantage of the online platform to move beyond its usual main venue, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where the country’s largest fashion week has been hosted for the last seven years. The Seoul Metropolitan Government, the organizer of the show, unveiled details of the upcoming 2021 fall-winter Seoul Fashion Week that kicks off March 22, including the venues and participating designers.

March 9, 2021

Artist Kim Sung-ho presents contemporary ‘chaekgeori’ depicting desires

Artist Kim Sung-ho uses books as the main objects for his art, believing that they have helped build up his own world. The 40-year-old painter came up with the concept of a stack of books called “volume tower” that he pursues using hyperrealism. The artist is presenting a new volume tower series inspired by “chaekgeori” - Korea’s traditional paintings that depict books, a variety of scholars’ ornaments and fruits displayed on bookshelves -- at Park Ryu Sook

March 8, 2021

Lee Bul’s early ‘soft sculptures,’ performances presented in Seoul

Lee Bul is one of the most influential contemporary artists both at home and abroad, known for challenging the conventional and pushing the boundaries of art. “Lee Bul – Beginning” at Seoul Museum of Art focuses on Lee’s early works from the late 1980s and 1990s that reflect the artist’s conscious rejection of conventional art when she was only in her 20s and early 30s. Born in 1964, she lived in an era of oppressive dictatorial regime in South Korea, observing p

March 6, 2021

Exhibition of Jamunbak artists kicks off in central Seoul

Gana Foundation for Arts and Culture opened an exhibition Friday to introduce the artists of Jamunbak. Jamunbak refers to a region outside the Jahamun Gate – one of eight gates of the Seoul Fortress Wall in Pyeongchang-dong Jongno-gu – where many artists, including painters, sculptors, novelists and musicians, live or work in their studios. Nearly 200 artists reside in the region, as well as 100 art institutes, according to Gana Art Center. The exhibition is part of the Jamunba

March 5, 2021

Ryu Sung-sil wins 19th Hermes Foundation Missulsang

Artist Ryu Sung-sil has been selected as the winner of the 19th Hermes Foundation Missulsang, the foundation announced Tuesday. The young artist has explored a variety of art medium that reflect her critique of social issues in Korea as an artist. Once every two years, the foundation selects a talented new Korean artist to promote in Korea and abroad. The awardee is given 20 million won ($17,800) in prize money and is given financial support to create new works for a solo exhibition at the

March 3, 2021

MMCA to host Korean avant-garde artist Lee Seung-taek’s academic seminar online

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea will host an online academic seminar to explore the work of avant-garde artist Lee Seung-taek, as part of a special session associated with the artist’s ongoing retrospective exhibition. The artist’s first retrospective at the national museum, which opened in November, encompasses the artist’s 60-year career through around 250 installations, sculptures and paintings. The exhibition runs through March 28. “The ac

March 2, 2021

First Mapplethorpe show in Korea highlights iconic status of US photographer

American Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was an icon of American society, challenging the world with his bold and proactive works that featured the bodies of women, Black men and the LGBT community in the 1970s and 1980s. The exhibition “Robert Mapplethorpe: More Life,” held at Kukje Gallery’s Seoul and Busan venues, is the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work in Korea. The show runs through March 28. Born in 1946, Mapplethorpe created print editions from ove

March 1, 2021

Korea’s oldest art fair to kick off in March with 3,000 works

The Galleries Art Fair 2021 -- Korea’s first art fair of the year -- will kick off on Wednesday with a showcase of more than 3,000 artworks. The oldest art fair in Korea will be held for five days at Coex in southern Seoul under strict preventative measures, according to the Galleries of Association Korea. The VIP opening is scheduled for March 3 and the general opening will take place from March 4 to 7. Despite the pandemic situation, 500 artists from 107 galleries in Korea, which are

Feb. 28, 2021

Upcoming Gwangju Biennale gains relevance in pandemic times

The 13th Gwangju Biennale -- South Korea’s largest art biennale, which has become a major art event in Asia -- was previewed Wednesday at the Biennale Hall with the unveiling of a few of its commissioned works. Artistic directors Natasha Ginwala and Defne Ayas, based respectively in Sri Lanka and Germany, summarized the progress of the biennale ahead of its opening April 1. As suggested by the theme of the 13th edition of the biennale -- “Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning” -- the

Feb. 27, 2021

Seoul Fashion Week to run virtually in March

The Seoul Fashion Week is embarking on a digital fashion event for the 2021 fall-winter season with 45 fashion brands participating, after a similar online event for the spring-summer season in October. The 2021 fall-winter Seoul Fashion Week will run March 22-27 on the digital platform. A total of 45 fashion designers were selected to join the show -- 28 established designers for the Seoul Collection show and 17 rookie designers for Generation Next. While the number of rookie designers has

Feb. 22, 2021

Painter Yun Suk-nam calls out to souls of forgotten female activists

Painter Yun Suk-nam, who has dedicated her career to creating art advocating women’s rights, is showcasing new portraits of female independence activists during the Japanese colonial era who have long been neglected by historians because of their gender. The portraits of the female activists are on display at the exhibition titled “Women of Resistance, Becoming Historic -- Portraits of 14 Female Independence Activists Who Quaked History” at Hakgojae Gallery in Seoul.  Eac

Feb. 20, 2021

Joseon-era folding screen with hunting scenes goes on display

An eight-panel folding screen from the Joseon era depicting hunting scenes have been put on display from Thursday at the National Palace Museum of Korea, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. The folding screen was purchased at an auction in the US last September, according to the CHA. The paintings on the folding screen mainly feature a Qing Dynasty emperor enjoying hunting. The item is from the late 18th century when produc

Feb. 20, 2021

Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuna hosts first solo exhibition in Asia

Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuna based in New York is showcasing her first solo exhibition in Asia at Lehman Maupin in Seoul. The 73-year-old artist is also an activist who advocates human rights issues and stands against the cultural homogenization phenomenon associated with globalization reflect this through her artwork. The exhibition title “Quipu Girok” is a combination of the ancient Andean word quipu, which means a knot, and the Korean word girok, which means record. 

Feb. 19, 2021

[Feature] How artists, writers inspire one another

The 1930s and the 1940s were the golden age of Korean literature and art. The two genres flourished together, even as writers and artists faced the challenges of harsh Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), which sought to suppress Korean culture. The bleak years saw lively interaction among painters, novelists and poets who inspired each other. Some would gather at Jebi, a coffee shop in what was then Gyeongseong, now called Seoul, run by Yi Sang, the country’s representative modern writer

Feb. 15, 2021

MMCA takes experimental approach to art with cutting-edge technology

Korea’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is embarking on an experimental journey with a new project to show how two seemingly different fields can collaborate by intertwining contemporary art with cutting-edge technology. Taking the theme of “Multiverse,” the national museum’s new project will introduce six rising and established artists and their artworks that adopt various technologies including immersive technology, robots that substitute the kinetic cap

Feb. 14, 2021

Yang Hae-gue's sonic sculptures awakened

The kinetic and sonic sculptures by globally acclaimed installation artist Yang Hae-gue are being performed throughout February at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, where her fifth solo exhibition in Korea “MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2020: Haegue Yang - O2 & H2O” is underway.  A total of 9 pieces of the artist’s kinetic sculptures including “Sonic Domesticus,” “Sonic Clotheshorse” and “Sonic Ropes” will be ac

Feb. 6, 2021

Nam June Paik Art Center offers augmented-reality experience

The Nam June Paik Art Center is using augmented-reality technology to introduce the masterpieces of Paik Nam-june, a South Korean-born artist who is known globally as the founder of video art. “We tested AR service operation last year and have decided to implement the system,” an official from the art center said. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the application of the technology, he said. Starting Thursday, the world’s sole art center dedicated to Paik -- home to s

Feb. 5, 2021

Emerging artists get their own online platform with launch of 'Manifold'

While the coronavirus has closed borders and restricted travel, virtual space remains wide open, offering new possibilities. Taking advantage of such possibilities is the online exhibition platform “Manifold,” which introduces emerging Korean artists to the international arts scene at a time when the pandemic hinders in-person exhibitions. Manifold is part of the Korea Arts Management Service’s Grant for Artists Management’s project, begun in 2019, that aims to suppo

Feb. 3, 2021

It’s settled. Modern art master’s name in English is Lee Jung-seop

The sole public museum dedicated to Korea’s modern artist Lee Jung-seop has decided to adopt “Lee Jung-seop” as the artist’s official name in English. This means the museum, located on Jeju Island, will change its current name -- Lee Jung-seob Gallery -- to one using the current romanization. For decades, various organizations and exhibitions have used many different romanizations of Lee’s name. “We have long recognized the need to decide on the English

Feb. 3, 2021