2016.11.24 Museums & Galleries
Kukje Gallery, Jongno District
To Dec. 30: The exhibition highlights Kim Yong-ik, 69, as an artist that links dansaekhwa, the mainstream of Korean modern art from the late 1960s and to the early 80s, and the country’s post-modern art that started in earnest in the 1990s.
The exhibition features about 30 pieces of Kim’s latest paintings, for which he said he “appropriated” his past experiments and ideas. They are abstract paintings with colorful circles regularly arranged on the surface, which Kim started in the 1990s to mock and challenge modernist paintings. Now with the “Apocalypse of Modernism,” which is also the title for a group of his paintings, he said these paintings have a new context.
Admission is free. Opening hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday and to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 1, and walk for 10 minutes.
(02) 735-8449, www.kukje.org
NICK KNIGHT: IMAGE
Daelim Museum, Jongno District
To March 26: British photographer Nick Knight’s first-ever solo exhibition in Korea consists of 110 pieces by the 58-year-old artist, famous for collaborations with major fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.
The works encompass Knight’s very early black-and-white photos of skinheads and their subculture in the late 1970s; his digitally-modified fashion photography in the 1990s; and his latest moving images and films about fashion. These serve to highlight his diverse oeuvre.
Admission is 5,000 won for adults. Go to Gyeongbokgung station, line No., exit No.3 and walk for five minutes.
(02)720-0667, www.daelimmuseum.org
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).
The museum announced last month that mixrice is this year’s winner. The team deals with the issue of migration, in particular the reality of migrant workers in Korean society.
Among the others, Ham presents an installation work that looks like a gigantic Abstract Expressionist painting. In fact, it has been 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.
Admission is 4,000 won ($3.40), 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
Leeum, the Samsung Museum of Art,
Yongsan District
To Feb. 26: The solo exhibition of Olafur Eliasson, one of the world’s major artists, features his 22 works of diverse media including large-scale installations and photographic works, in which poetry and science coexist.
The highlight is the installation “Rainbow Assembly” in the museum’s Black Box. It has water falling from sprinklers installed in a circle on the ceiling. With light, the mist created shines white against the dark. If viewers go through the veil of mist and stand inside the circle, they will see rainbows shimmering and undulating around the water curtain.
Admission is 8,000 won for adults. The museum is closed on Mondays. Go to Hangangjin Station, line No. 6, exit 1, and walk for five minutes.
(02) 2014-6901, www.leeum.org
INNOCENCE
Yeongang Gallery, Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi
To an indefinite period: 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,
info.yeonganggallery@gmail.com
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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