2015.12.2 MUSEUMS & GALLERIES

PAIK NAM JUNE GROOVE

Sejong Museum of Art, Jongno District

To Jan. 29: This exhibition marks the upcoming 10th anniversary of the death of Korean-born artist Nam June Paik, regarded as the founder of video art. It focuses on helping viewers understand the context in which Paik created his diverse video art, so it includes more texts of quotations from the artist and from critical writings about him on the walls of the exhibition rooms than previous shows of the artist.

The show concentrates on archiving Paik’s oeuvre - which is useful for students and researchers interested in the artist - rather than displaying many of his spectacular video sculptures.

Admission is 9,000 won ($7.80) for adults. Those who buy a ticket for the exhibition are allowed to visit two times. Go to Gwanghwamun Station, line No. 5, exit 8.

(02) 399-1152, www.sejongpac.or.kr

INVISIBLE LAND OF LOVE

MMCA Seoul, Jongno District

To Feb.14: The solo exhibition of Ahn Kyuchul consists of the 60-year-old Korean artist’s eight recent pieces. It is the second edition of the MMCA Hyundai Motor Series sponsored by the auto giant.

Among the works, “Nine Goldfish” is a pond of concentric circles in which nine goldfish swim. The goldfish seem to be together but they can never meet one another, as each is nine separate concentric tracks.

Most of the other works on display also deal with isolation and lack of communication. “64 Rooms,” a structure divided into 64 small cells by dark blue velvet curtains, is “a labyrinth of voluntary desolation and absence,” as the artist said. But in some of the other works such as the audience-participation performance project “1,000 Scribes,” such isolation leads to a higher level of communication.

Admission is 4,000 won, which covers entrance to the other shows going on at the Seoul museum. The museum is closed on Mondays. Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 1, and walk for 10 minutes.

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

THE POETRY OF DESIGN

Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Jung District

To Feb. 28: For his Korean fans, world-renowned Italian architect and designer Alessandro Mendini has organized a large-size exhibition, the biggest in Asia according to the organizer. The exhibit features about 600 works in a “labyrinthine interweaving of the poetic and the theoretic,” showing Mendini’s works, his inspirations, design thinking and so on. In the Childhood section, visitors can witness Mendini’s innocence and desire to realize his childhood dream of becoming a cartoonist.

The characters he designed for Baskin Robbins in collaboration with SPC will capture the attention of families and young visitors.

The other highlights include the various versions of the Poltrona di Proust - the chair Mendini created in 1978 and which has become an icon of postmodern design - including an enlarged version. And other giant monuments he created for the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain are among the exhibits.

Admission for adults is 14,000 won. The exhibition is closed on Mondays. Go to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station, lines No. 2 and 4, exit 1, and walk for five minutes.

(02) 3143-4360, www.ddp.or.kr or www.mendini.co.kr

PRINT REBORN

Museum San

Wonju, Gangwon

To Feb. 28: The exhibition features modern and contemporary artwork created using old printing process methods - etchings, silk screens and lithographs, for instance.

The show consists of three sections. In the first section are presented works by 20 Korean contemporary artists. They include minimalist silk screen pieces by Koo Ja-hyun and elaborate etchings by Lee Young-ae. The third section features prints by famous Western artists like English sculptor Henry Moore and American pop artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

The most interesting is undoubtedly the second, “Reflecting the Times,” which features Japanese-style woodblock prints depicting old Korean people by Scottish artist Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956) and French artist Paul Jacoulet (1896-1960).

Admission is 15,000 won ($12.60) and covers the museum’s other exhibits except for the James Turrell gallery. Admission covering the James Turrell gallery is 28,000 won.

The museum is closed on Mondays and located inside the Hansol Oak Valley resort in Wonju, Gangwon.

(033)730-9000, www.museumsan.org

THE BEAUTIFUL: WOMEN IN PAINTINGS

Seoul Museum, Jongno District

To March 20: The exhibition features 40 portrait paintings of women by 26 well-known modern and contemporary artists. They include Kwon Ok-yeon, Kim Ki-chang and Jeong Myoung-Jo of Korea, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Marie Laurencin of France, and Feng Zhengjie of China.

Among the highlights are the seven paintings by Chun Kyung-ja (1924-2015), a rare Korean female modern artist of her generation who passed away at the age of 91 in late October.

Admission is 9,000 won for adults and includes admission to the other shows going on at the museum and to Seokpajeong, the summer residence of King Gojong’s father, behind the museum. 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