2016.10.6 Museums & Galleries
MMCA Seoul, Jongno District
To Jan. 15: The annual exhibition features the four artists nominated for the “Korea Artist Prize” granted by the museum and the SBS Foundation. The finalists are Kim Eull, Back Seung Woo, Ham Kyungah, and the team of mixrice (Cho Ji Eun and Yang Chul Mo).
Among them, Ham presents an installation work that looks like a gigantic abstract expressionist painting. In fact, it was created from the artist’s collaboration with a boy who is a North Korean defector. The boy, now playing on a youth football team, kicked balls covered with colors that the artist prepared so that the traces of the balls are made like brush strokes of diverse colors.
As for Kim, he has constructed a life-size two-story building - a replica of the artist’s studio - that the visitors can enter and explore. The viewers will find drawings in the building and, also from the building’s window and small terrace, they will see thousands of drawings hanging on the black wall of the museum.
Back explores new aspects of photography which the artist thinks is no longer records of facts but just pictures or images. The team known as mixrice deal with the issue of migration, in particular the reality of migrant workers in Korean society.
Admission is 4,000 won, which covers entry 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
UNION ART FAIR
NEMO of Blue Square, Yongsan District
To Sunday: This is a rare art market operated by artists, with all the proceeds from sales going to the artists.
Seventy-eight artists will present about 400 pieces of work at affordable prices and many of them will present the works in reproductions of their studios. The participants include up-and-coming artists who won major art prizes over the recent years such as Lee Wan and Choi Sun. The director of the fair is installation artist Dusu Choi.
Admission is free. The fair is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Go to Hangangjin station, line No.6, exit No.2.
www.facebook.com/unionartfair2016
02-6399-7403
BUDDHIST ART OF KOREA
Ho-Am Art Museum, Yongin, Gyeonggi
To Nov. 6: This exhibition features 40 pieces of ancient Korean paintings, sculptures, documents and artifacts related to Buddhism. Among them are seven designated National Treasures.
Buddha, the Dharma (teachings of Buddha) and the Sangha (community of practicing Buddhists) are the “Three Jewels” of Buddhism, and the exhibit is divided into three sections, each of which focuses on one of these aspects.
The first section features statues and paintings depicting two important Buddhas: Shakyamuni and Amitabha.
The second section features illustrated or annotated Buddhist scriptures and other Buddhist texts. The third section features various objects for Buddhist ceremonies.
Admission is 4,000 won ($3.60) for adults. The museum is closed on Mondays.
(031) 310-1801, www.hoammuseum.org
INNOCENCE
Yeongang Gallery, Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi
To Nov. 20: Yeongang Gallery, the first-ever art gallery within the civilian control zone adjacent to the North Korean border, opened in May with a solo show by artist Han Sungpil. It features 11 of his photos, including “Observation,” and video works including “Uncanny Serenity.”
The gallery, located next to an air-raid shelter, was once a museum dedicated to showing North Korea’s attacks on the south. As part of the renovations, Han and designer Cho Sang-gi covered the walls of the building with prints of 680 doors from countries around the world.
The museum is located at Hoengsan-ni 243, Jung-myeon, Yeoncheon County. A valid photo ID is required to pass the security checkpoint.
(02) 2268-1973, e-mail info.yeonganggallery@gmail.com
GANA ART COLLECTION ANTHOLOGY
Seoul Museum of Art, Jung District
For an indefinite period: The exhibition celebrates the opening of a permanent exhibition room for a group of artworks donated by Gana Art, one of the nation’s leading galleries, to the municipal museum in 2001.
The donation, called the Gana Collection, consists of 200 paintings, sculptures and prints by 48 local artists related with the minjung art movement of the 1980s and early ’90s. The movement is represented by realist paintings with strong political or social messages against the Korean military regime of the ’80s.
The inaugural exhibition features 28 works by 24 famous minjung artists including Lim Ok-sang, Shin Hak-chul and Hwang Jae-hyung.
Admission is free. The museum is closed on Mondays. Go to Seoul City Hall Station, line No. 2, exit 10 and walk for five minutes.
(02) 2124-8800, www.sema.seoul.go.kr
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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