2017.7.1 MUSEUMS & GALLERIES
Ilmin Museum of Art, Jongno District
To July 9: This is a kind of do-it-yourself art exhibition, conceived by the famous Swiss curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. He developed the idea of a flexible and open-ended exhibition format, based on written instructions by artists, like how music performances are based on scores by composers. For the 2017 Seoul version of the exhibition, which has traveled to more than 50 locations worldwide since 1993, established and emerging visual artists but also choreographers, a community of chefs, a sociologist and the general public have created works based on 44 of the 250 instructions accumulated through the exhibition’s travels.
In addition to the team of people selected through the public invitation process, the exhibition is open to the wider public online (ilmin.org/do-it-2017-Seoul).
Admission is 5,000 won ($4.37) for adults. The museum is closed on Mondays. Go to Gwanghwamun station, line No. 5, exit 5.
(02) 2020-2050, www.ilmin.org
Gallery Kong, Jongno District
To July 23: This is the solo exhibition of Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf, famous for his commercial photography.
Among the works on view in this show, titled “Human and Nature,” are two pieces from the “Moooi” series (2008), part of the Dutch furniture and interior design company Moooi’s ad campaign, which show the strong influence from Vanitas still lifes. Olaf’s portraits of beautiful but fragile-looking people and plants as part of the artist’s non-commercial photographic series “Fall,” (2008) also imply the same message as that of Vanitas paintings - that all beauty and luxury are vain in the face of inevitable death.
Admission is free. For more information, visit www.gallerykong.com or call (02) 738-7776
HIGHLIGHTS
Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), Jung District
To Aug. 15: As the first-ever tour exhibition of the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain outside France, it features about 100 works from Fondation Cartier‘s collection, which consists of 1,500 pieces by artists from more than 50 countries in total.
In this exhibit, French luxury brand Cartier highlights the characteristics of its art patronage - the focus on living artists sensitive to the world’s contemporary issues; encouragement of their activities through commission of new works rather than purchasing existing works; and interdisciplinary collaborations.
The exhibits in Seoul include works by hot artists in their signature styles such as Korean artist Lee Bul’s philosophical white sculptures; Australian artist Ron Mueck’s hyper-realistic sculptures of humans with uncanny feelings; French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel’s sculptures of blown glass with beautiful colors and light; and American artist Sarah Sze’s installations made up of everyday objects.
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, sema.seoul.go.kr
MMCA Gwacheon, Gyeonggi
To Apr. 29, 2018: The exhibition features 94 paintings, sculptures, photos, new media and installation works by leading Korean artists from the museum’s collection.
The theme is the modern and contemporary art’s quality of making “cracks in our stereotypes, common sense and fixed social orders,” according to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA).
The exhibition includes the controversial painting “Beautiful Woman” which is on display to the public for the first time in 26 years. The move came, after the prosecutors in December concluded it was an authentic painting by the late Korean modern artist Chun Kyung-ja (1924-2015), going against allegations made by the artist herself during her lifetime and her descendants that the painting is a forgery.
Admission is free. Go to Seoul Grand Park Station, line No. 4, exit No. 4 and take the shuttle bus.
(02) 2188-6114, www.mmca.go.kr
THIS IS CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM PART 2
K Museum of Contemporary Art, Gangnam District
To Sept.1: This show consists of the semi-retrospective shows of the two well-known artists - Dongi Lee and Osang Gwon. It will help visitors to the K Museum, a museum that opened only six months ago, understand its character. Lee is a painter and Gwon works with photography sculpture, and each has their own unique style. But they share some commonalities - close relations with contemporary pop culture and strong visual messages with a tinge of humor.
For this exhibition, Lee, dubbed a representative Korean pop artist, presents paintings that range from his early “Atomaus” series, which brought him early fame, to his recent paintings from the “Soap Opera” and “Eclecticism” series.
Gwon, dubbed the pioneer of photography sculpture, presents sculptures from what he calls the “Deodorant Type” series, along with his latest “New Structure” series and more.
Admission is 12,000 won ($10.50). It is closed on Monday. Go to Apgujeong Rodeo station, Bundang Line, exit No.5 and walk five minutes.
(02) 2138-0952, www.kmcaseoul.org
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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