2016.2.3 Museums & Galleries

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.

To celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday, admission to the exhibition and the other shows going on at the museum is free from Feb. 7 to 10. Admission to the museum’s main branch in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, and Deoksu Palace branch in central Seoul is also free during this period.

The MMCA Seoul is a 10-minute walk from Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 1.

(02) 3701-9500, www.mmca.go.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. The third section features prints by famous Western artists like 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 including the James Turrell gallery is 28,000 won.

The museum is open during the Feb.6-10 Lunar New Year holidays. It is 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 in 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 will be closed from Feb. 5 to 7 and then open from Feb. 8 to 10 during the Lunar New year holidays.

Take bus Nos. 1020, 1711, 7016, 7018, 7022 or 7212 to the Jahamun Tunnel stop.

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

WORLD OF MYSTERY

Hangaram Art Museum of Seoul Arts

Center, Seocho District

To Mar. 20: After a successful exhibition in 2012, the National Geographic is returning to Seoul with a large photo exhibit. This exhibition provides an overview of the history of civilization, but focuses on the journeys and adventures that have led to space and ocean discoveries. The collection, devoted to photographic records of such discoveries, consists of 200 items, including an exclusive display of the submersible craft used by National Geographic’s explorer-in-residence Sylvia Earle.

Admission is 13,000 for adults.

The museum is open during the Feb. 6-10 Lunar New Year holidays. On Monday, early-bird visitors will receive various gifts. For example, the first family group consisting of three generations to visit the show that day will get a bottle of wine.

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

(02) 6263-2621, www.sac.or.kr

HUMAN IMAGE ? THE BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Hangaram Art Museum of Seoul Arts

Center, Seocho District

To March 20: The exhibition explores the many ways that humans have been depicted in the arts, from different centuries, regions and cultures, from the collection loaned by the British Museum. It features 176 pieces of art and artifacts.

As the exhibition’s scope is vast in terms of time and location, it features a wide range of objects, such as a skull coated with plaster that is about 8,000 years old - the oldest relic from the museum’s collection - and artifacts from ancient Egypt including a mummy case and a statue of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and items from ancient Greece and Rome. It also includes an array of paintings and initial sketches by Rembrandt, Durer, Matisse and Picasso.

Admission is 15,000 won for adults. The museum is open during the Feb. 6-10 Lunar New Year holidays.

(02) 724-6321, www.humanimage.co.kr

FLOWERS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS IN KOREAN PAINTING: EMBRACING NATURE

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Jung District

To March 27: The exhibition, Kansong Art Museum’s fifth show at the DDP, includes about 80 paintings of flowers, birds and animals from the museum’s collection. The paintings are by some of the biggest names in the Korean art world from the late Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) to the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). They include Shin Saimdang (1504-51); Yun Du-seo (1668-1715); Jeong Seon (1676-1759); Kim Hong-do(1745-1806); and Sin Yun-bok (1758-unknown).

One of the highlights is “Yellow Cat Romps Butterfly” by Kim. In the painting, a chubby, furry kitten, looking curious and mischievous, turning its head to gaze at a black butterfly.

Admission is 8,000 won.

The exhibition is closed on Monday, Feb. 8, and is open on the other days of the Feb. 6-10 Lunar New year holidays.

The venue is near exits 1 and 2 of Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (line Nos. 2, 4, and 5).

02-2153-0000, www.ddp.or.kr or www.kansong.org

9 LIGHTS IN 9 ROOMS

D Museum, Yongsan District

To May 8: D Museum, a new branch of Daelim Museum west of Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, opened in early December.

The inaugural exhibition features lighting installation works by nine foreign artists and designers. In the second room is London-based Australian designer Flynn Talbot’s “Primary.” In the dark, light of changing primary colors is projected on a triangular sculpture covered with many smaller triangular pyramids. It creates numerous different abstract painting-like images, depending on the time and angle. And a piece by Russian visual-auditory art group Tundra, “My Whale,” is on display in the sixth room. It is a synaesthetic installation work in which the viewers see and hear regular image patterns and regular sounds, which surround them and resonate together.

Admission is 8,000 won for adults. The museum is closed from Feb. 7 to 9 during the Lunar New Year holidays but opens on Feb. 10. It is located at Dokseodang-ro 29-gil in Yongsan District, central Seoul. There is no nearby subway station.

070-5097-0020, www.daelimmuseum.org/dmuseum