2012.12.5 MUSEUMS&GALLERIES
313 Art Project, Gangnam District
To Saturday: This is the first-ever solo show of the well-known multimedia artist Tony Oursler in Korea.
The American artist is best known for sculptures on which distorted and expressive human faces or parts of such facial features are animated through video projection. Also involving human voices, such sculptures make an ominous ambience.
The exhibition features one large-scale installation work that includes sculptures combined with video projection and sounds in Oursler’s signature style. The show also has small-scale sculptures with video projections and a series of paintings with moving images in them.
Admission is free. The gallery is open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. It is closed Sunday.
Go to Apgujeong Station, line No. 3, Exit 3 and walk 15 minutes.
(02)3446-3137, www.313artproject.com
U-RAM CHOE
Gallery Hyundai, Jongno District
To Sunday: This is the solo show of 42-year-old kinetic artist U-Ram Choe. The Seoul-based artist has gained fame with his sculptures called “mechanical organisms” that encompass both fine art and science fiction with elaborate movement and grotesque beauty.
This exhibition includes kinetic sculptures in Choe’s signature style such as “Custos Cavum” a metal monster resembling a skeletal seal. The metal coils covering it move up and down so smoothly by computer-controlled motors that it looks as if it is breathing.
The show also includes Choe’s latest kinetic sculptures “Merry-Go-Round” and “Scarecrow.”
Unlike his former works, they have their intricate machine parts hidden from view.
Admission is free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays.
Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 1, and walk 10 minutes.
(02) 2287-3500,
www.galleryhyundai.com
Seoul Museum of Art’s main building near Deoksu Palace, its branch building near Gyeonghui Palace, Seoul City Hall and other venues in the capital
To Dec. 30: The third edition of the annual photo exhibition is being held by the Seoul Metropolitan Government under the theme of “Village Community and Photo Archives” at a total of 23 venues across the capital.
The main exhibition, divided into two parts, will be held at the Seoul Museum of Art’s main building.
Part one will feature 250 photos by 21 photojournalists and fine-art photographers that show both the past and present of Seoul.
Part two of the main exhibition will feature 500 submissions of historic shots of Seoul.
Admission is free. Exhibits will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.
The closing time will be shortened to 6 p.m. on weekends. All the venues will be closed on Mondays.
070-8240-9902,
www.seoulphotofestival.com
Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Yongsan District
To Jan. 27: This is the first solo show in East Asia of Anish Kapoor, one of the world’s hottest contemporary sculptors. The 58-year-old India-born British artist’s show consists of 18 works, including his early “Pigment” series and latest stainless-steel sculptures as well as his “Void” series of the 1990s, which Leeum says show the “essence” of the artist’s philosophy.
One of the “Void” series on display, “Untitled” (1990), consists of three hemispheres covered with dark blue pigments.
The concave sections of the hemispheres are dark, surprisingly without any tinge of light, so viewers experience the wonder and fear of unfathomable depth. Like this, the voids in Kapoor’s artwork are spaces of “nonexistence” but, simultaneously, spaces of “existence” as there exist nonphysical, nonmaterial things like darkness, infinity and human feelings, the artist said.
Admission is 8,000 won.
A day pass including admission to the permanent exhibitions is 14,000 won. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. A docent leads tours in English at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Go to Hangangjin Station, line No. 6, exit 1
(02) 2014-6900, www.leeum.org
VAN GOGH IN PARIS
Hangaram Design Museum
Seoul Arts Center, Seocho District
To March 24: The show focuses on the Paris period of Vincent van Gogh, one of the world’s most beloved painters.
The Dutch artist stayed in the French capital from March 1886 to February 1888.
Most of the 60 oil paintings on display, including “Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat,” were done during this period. This exhibition shows how his style changed dramatically in Paris with the use of bright colors and bold strokes, and flat color without shadows.
The change came from van Gogh’s encounter with Japanese woodblock prints called Ukiyo-e, as well as the French Impressionist paintings. “Pere Tanguy” shows the artist’s fascination with Ukiyo-e, as the portrait of the Parisian art dealer has several Japanese prints in the background.
Admission is 15,000 won. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The closing time will be extended to 8 p.m. in March. The museum is closed on the last Monday of each month. Go to Nambu Bus Terminal Station, line No. 3, exit 5.
1588-2618, www.vangogh2.com
By Moon So-young
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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