2015.9.30 MUSEUMS & GALLERIES
Savina Museum of Contemporary Art, Jongno District
To Oct. 23: The exhibition, as the title implies, studies colors with works not only by contemporary artists interested in the cognition of color but also design and communication laboratories.
Among the works is an interactive media art piece by artist duo Hybe, which coverts colors into sounds played by a digital piano. The exhibit also includes Surrealist works with strong colors created by American artist Sandy Skoglund and French artist Bernard Faucon, who create elaborate sets and take photos of them.
Admission is 5,000 won. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit No. 1. (02) 736-4371, www.savinamuseum.com
UPROARIOUS, HEATED, INUNDATED
MMCA Seoul, Jongno District
To Oct. 11: The exhibition showcases 270 pieces by 110 artists, selected by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) to examine Korea’s history since its 1945 liberation from Japanese colonialism. The works are divided into three sections.
Section 1, “Uproarious,” focuses on the 1950-53 Korean War and life in postwar Korea, portrayed by the painters and photographers of the time such as Limb Eung-sik and postwar generation artists including Jeon Jun-ho.
Section 2, “Heated,” explores the nation’s rapid industrialization, urbanization and democratization in the 1960s to the ’80s.
Section 3, “Inundated,” examines Korean society since the 1990s, with its diverse values and hybridized culture through works by Bahc Yiso, Debbie Han, Hong Kyoung-tack and others.
Admission is 4,000 won ($3.40), which covers the other shows going on in the Seoul museum. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The hours are extended to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Saturday. It is closed on Oct. 1 and on Mondays.
The museum is a 10-minute walk from Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit No. 1.
(02) 3701-9500, www.mmca.go.kr
DREAM SOCIETY 3: ORIGIN+ABILITY
Seoul Museum, Jongno District
To Oct. 11: As part of Hyundai Motor’s art patronage project, the annual multidisciplinary exhibition has featured hot contemporary artists, designers, architects and engineers. But this year’s edition starts with one of Kim Jeong-hui’s seoye (East Asian calligraphy) pieces to pay homage to the originality of the 17th-century scholar and seoye master. He was better known by his pen name Chusa. The other exhibits are by 10 contemporary artists and designers. They include paintings by contemporary seoye master and scholar Kim Jongweon and installation works by Lee Seung-taek, which are reminiscent of seoye strokes.
Admission is 5,000 won for adults. The museum is closed on Mondays. Take bus Nos. 1020, 1711, 7016, 7018, 7022 or 7212 to the Jahamun Tunnel stop.
(02) 395-0100, www.seoulmuseum.org
CHO DUCK HYUN: DREAM
Ilmin Museum of Art, Jongno District
To Oct. 25: Artist Cho Duck-hyun’s new solo exhibition, “Dream,” is an artistic version of a mockumentary or fake documentary about a fictional character also named Cho Duck-hyun.
The fictional Cho is an unsuccessful actor who died alone in 1995 at the age of 81. The exhibition consists of the articles he left behind, an installation piece that reproduces the small rented room where he spent his final days, a video piece that portrays his daily life, and elaborate pencil drawings depicting scenes from the famous films he insisted he had appeared in. To further confuse visitors, the fictional actor Cho is portrayed by the 48-year-old real-life actor Jo Deok-hyun in the video and drawings, as the artist Cho asked him for collaboration.
The artist says he intends the exhibit to address not only the imperfection of an individual’s memories and that of history - the collection of such memories - but also the vague borders between fiction and history.
Admission is 5,000 won for adults. The museum is closed on Mondays. Go to Gwanghwamun station, line No. 5, exit 5.
(02) 2020-2050, www.ilmin.org
LEE QUEDE - AN EPIC OF LIBERATION
MMCA Deoksu Palace, Jung District
To Nov. 1: To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is holding a special exhibition featuring the modern painter Lee Quede (1913-65) at its Deoksu Palace branch.
The retrospective features 400 pieces including his paintings and drawings and historical documents about him including photos and news articles.
Lee had been consigned to oblivion for decades in South Korea after he chose to live in the North after the 1950-53 Korean War.
The admission is included with Deoksu Palace admission, which is 1,000 won for adults.
The palace is closed on Mondays. Go to Seoul City Hall Station, line No. 2, exit 10 and walk for five minutes.
(02) 2022-0600, www.mmca.go.kr
DUSKY LANDSCAPE
Arario Gallery, Jongno District
To Nov. 8: This solo exhibition showcases the works of painter Sunghun Kong.
For this exhibition, Kong has taken a very delicate subject, twilight, and ambitiously defies its transitory nature and paradoxically immortalizes the short interlude between day and night and vice versa, according to the gallery.
Viewers can enter the realm of this “magic hour” through the different angles of approach manifested in his vast compositional and color exploration and experimentation, the gallery says.
Admission is free. The gallery is closed on Mondays. Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 1, and walk for 10 minutes.
(02) 541-5701, www.arariogallery.com
MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, AND PEOPLE: EIGHT VIEWS AND NINE-BEND STREAMS OF GYEONGGI
Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art,
Ansan
To Nov. 15: As a salute to the beginning of the second half of the year, the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art has prepared a set of three exhibitions: “Mountains, Rivers and People: Eight Views and Nine-Bend Streams of Gyeonggi,” “Rhythmscape” and “Color Pool,” all of which feature works of numerous Korean artists.
The first exhibition itself involved 59 artists in total, all of whom created artworks that celebrate the remarkable scenic places, people and arts that represent Gyeonggi. Gyeonggi has been a source of inspiration and its landscapes the subject of many artworks for centuries. As such, the exhibition includes works by traditional artists and those of contemporary artists that have continued to revisit and recreate the same scenes.
The exhibition is composed of five parts, each with a particular theme, such “The River Leads into the Ocean” and “People Create the Village and the City,” among others.
Complementary to “Mountains, Rivers and People,” “Rhythmscape” serves to illustrate the interplay of life and art, while “Color Pool” functions as a reinterpretation of the collection of the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art.
Admission is 4,000 won. The art space is closed on Mondays. Go to Choji Station, line No. 4, exit 1, and walk for 10-15 minutes.
(031) 481-7000, www.gmoma.or.kr
FAN HO: HONG KONG 1950S-1960S
Shinsegae Gallery, Jung District
To Nov. 22: Commemorating its 85th anniversary since its opening, the Shinsegae Gallery is exhibiting a collection of works by Chinese photographer Fan Ho.
Fan Ho found his love for photography at age of 13, when his father gave him a Rolleiflex camera as a birthday present. Primarily active in the United States, Ho has held over 300 exhibitions throughout his career so far.
He also dabbled in film directing in the past 35 years and directed 27 films in total.
This particular exhibition is dedicated to the time Ho lived in Hong Kong from the 1950s to 1960s. At this time, Ho, who had fostered an interest in journalism, had to halt his studies in college due to health reasons.
As an outlet, he began to use his Rolleiflex to photograph particular spots on the streets, capturing his love of people through geometric constructions and use of light.
When he found a spot he liked, he would remember it and revisit multiple times at various hours in order to determine the best moment to capture its atmosphere.
This solo exhibition marks the first time that Ho is displaying all 27 photos together in Korea, inviting the viewers to reminisce with him on his days in Hong Kong in his 20s.
Admission is free. Go to Euljiro 1-ga Station, line No. 2, exit 7.
(02) 310-1921, www.shinsegae.com
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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