2015. 1.07 Museums & Galleries

GREEN GREEN GRASS

Perigee Hall & Gallery, Seocho District

To Jan. 31: Hong Kyoung Tack, one of the most internationally famous Korean painters, is best known for his works that depict pens, books and other common objects in vivid colors.

In this exhibit, he shows new landscape paintings of tranquil fields seen through gray grids that look like concrete structures. In some of the pieces, the grid is so thick that the landscape painted over it is barely visible.

The artist explained that humans see nature through certain frames of their society. And ironically, the green fields that he painted over the gray grid are not pure nature, either - they are golf courses.

Admission is free. The gallery is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. It is closed on Sunday.

Go to Nambu Bus Terminal station, line No. 3, exit No.5 and walk for 10 minutes.

070·4676·7034, www.perigee.co.kr

MASTERS OF KOREAN ART

Seoul Museum, Jongno District

To Feb. 15: This exhibition features 66 paintings by 36 modern Korean artists who are popular among local art collectors. The works on display, which belong to the museum’s collection, include the famous “Bull” by Lee Jung-seop (1916-56). “Apple Trees” by Lee Dai-won (1921-2005), and “Persimmons” by Oh Chi-gyun.

Admission is 9,000 won for adults and also includes admission to Seokpajeong, a hanok (traditional Korean house) behind the museum that was once the summer residence of King Gojong’s father.

Hours are from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday. (Seokpajeong is open until 4 p.m.)

Take bus No. 1020, 1711, 7016, 7018, 7022 or 7212 to the Jahamun Tunnel stop.

(02) 395-0100, www.seoulmuseum.org

LEE JUNG-SEOP’S LOVE, FAMILY

Gallery Hyundai, Jongno District

To Feb. 22: The retrospective of Lee Jung-seop (1916-56), one of the most beloved modern painters among Koreans, focuses on his love and longing for his family.

The show consists of 70 of his oil paintings, drawings, the postcards and letters to his wife and sons, which he added his own drawings or he filled utterly with paintings.

During the Korean War (1950-53), Lee sent his wife, who was Japanese, and his two sons to Japan to escape their impoverished life in Korea. Lee died in 1956 and was never reunited with his family.

The exhibit includes 20 letters with drawing that have never been displayed before and three paintings Lee created on the metal foil found inside a pack of cigarettes, which are from the Museum of Modern Art collection in New York.

Admission is 5,000 won for adults. Opening hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Go to exit No. 1 of Anguk Station, line No. 3, and walk for 10 minutes.

(02) 2287-3500, www.galleryhyundai.com.

PICTURING LANDSCAPE

Kukje Gallery, Jongno District

To Jan. 25: In his latest solo show, Lee Kwang-ho displays his latest landscape paintings that depict bushes in the most desolate areas on Jeju Island during the winter.

The 47-year-old’s unique brush strokes and his technique of scratching the canvas with a needle make the bushes appear raised, as if the viewer could touch them.

Admission is free. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and until 5 p.m. Sunday.

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

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

LEE LEE-NAM: REBORN LIGHT

Gana Art Center, Jongno District

Feb. 8: This solo show displays the art work of Lee Lee-nam, 45, one of the most popular local artists.

He has been in the public eye for the past decade because of his videos in which he creates animations of paintings by old masters of the West and East, occasionally adding in his own sense of humor.

In the new show, the artist is presenting installations that differ from his previous style, as well as upgraded versions of his older animated digital paintings.

Among the newer pieces is “Reborn Light,” which the exhibition is named after. In the work, a TV monitor shows a man’s head repeatedly sinking into and emerging from water while he opens and closes his eyes.

Admission is 3,000 won (about $3). The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Go to Gyeongbokgung Station, line No. 3, exit 3, take bus No. 1711 and get off at the Lotte Apartment stop. Walk for five minutes.

(02) 720-1020, www.ganaart.com

INGRES TO KANDINSKY:

FROM THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION

Hangaram Art Museum at the Seoul Arts Center

To March 12: This show details Western art from the early 19th to mid-20th century, represented by works from the Phillips Collection based in Washington, D.C. The exhibition’s 85 works by 68 artists are from the American museum.

The works on display include Neoclassicist artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ “Small Bather,” Realist painter Honore Daumier’s “Uprising,” Impressionist artist Edgar Degas’ “Dancers at the Barre” and abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky’s “Autumn II.”

A similar show called “Picasso and Great Artists” attracted 140,000 viewers in three months when it was held at Daejeon Museum of Art last summer.

Admission is 15,000 won for adults.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The museum is open every day except Jan. 26 and Feb. 23. Go to Nambu Bus Terminal station, line No. 3, exit No. 5 and walk for 10 minutes.

1688-1325, www.greatartists.co.kr

HUMAN SPACE MACHINE - STAGE EXPERIMENTS AT THE BAUHAUS

MMCA Seoul Theater, Jongno District

To Feb. 22: The exhibition organized by the MMCA in collaboration with the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation sheds new light on the German art education institution’s experiments with performance and staging, which is less renowned than its legacy in architecture and commercial design.

The works on display include costumes for “Triadisches Ballett (Triadic Ballet),” developed by German Bauhaus painter and choreographer Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943).

Admission is 4,000 won. The museum is a 10-minute walk from Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit No. 1.

(02) 3701-9500, www.mmca.go.kr

By Moon So-young [symoon@joongang.co.kr]