2012.6.21 MUSEUM & GALLERIES

THE FORGETTING MACHINE

Hakgojae, Jongno District

To Sunday: The solo show of Noh Suntag is about the May 18 Gwangju democratization movement.

Exhibits include a collection of black-and-white portraits, whose faded, damaged and distorted faces are haunting images. Noh created them by photographing portraits placed in front of tombs of those killed during the movement.

The exhibition includes photos of landscapes and scenes related to the movement.

It ends with photos of stone Buddhas lying in Unju Temple in Hwasun County, South Jeolla, and a man sleeping on a grass field of the temple whose pose resembles that of the Buddha. The artist said he heard many bereaved family members of victims of the Gwangju massacre have visited the temple.

Admission is free.

The show is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays, and it closes at 6 p.m. on Sundays.

Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 2, and walk for 10 minutes.

(02) 720-1524~6, www.hakgojae.com

LOUISE BOURGEOIS:

PERSONAGES

Kukje Gallery, Jongno district

To June 29: The exhibition marks the first show of Bourgeois in Korea since she died in 2010 at age 90. It features 13 sculptures and one installation work.

Sculptures on display are from the 1940s to the early 1950s and called “Personages.”

“Freestanding and life-size, these uncanny anthropomorphic works are a haunting symbolic representation of the artist’s family and friends, whom she left behind in Paris when she moved to New York in 1938,” Kukje said in a press release.

To compare her early and late work, the show also includes an installation work from the “Cell” series.

Admission is free. The gallery is open Mondays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and until 5 p.m. Sundays.

Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 1, and walk for about 10 minutes.

(02) 735-8449, www.kukje.org

2012 EXPOSITION DU MUSEE

DU LOUVRE

Hangaram Art Museum, Seocho District

To Sept. 30: This exhibition has one point that distinguishes it from the 2006 Louvre collection show. It comes with a theme - Greek and Roman mythology.

It features about 110 pieces dealing with gods, goddesses, nymphs, heros and lovers that appear in the poems of Homer and Ovid.

Most of the exhibit’s works are paintings, such as “The Combat of Mars and Minerva” by French neoclassical artist Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). The allegorical painting depicts the combat between the war god Mars (Ares in Greek) and the goddess Minerva (Athena in Greek) who represents wisdom and defensive battle.

Other pieces include 18th-century sculptures, such as the marble “Psyche and Cupid” by the Italian Antonio Canova (1757-1822) depicting the famous lovers who have overcome hardship and wed.

Rather than being arranged chronologically or by genre, the exhibit groups pieces by theme, such as “The Love of Gods - Transformations and Abductions” and “The Trojan War.”

Admission is 12,000 won ($10.15) for adults. The museum is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from July 21 to Aug. 26.) It is closed on the last Monday of each month - June 25, July 30, Aug. 27 and Sept. 24.

Go to Nambu Bus Terminal Station, line No. 3, exit 5, and walk for five minutes.

(02) 325-1077 or 1078, www.louvre2012.co.kr