'Future Present: Contemporary Korean Art' highlights Korea's key creative figures

[Book listing]

Future Present: Contemporary Korean Art

Editor: Andy St. Louis
Publisher: Skira Editore

Sponsored by Korea's Songeun Art and Cultural Foundation, "Future Present: Contemporary Korean Art" introduces 25 artists, comprising a representative cross-section of the key figures at the forefront of a generational shift in Korean art. By examining their distinctive practices in an anthology format, "Future Present: Contemporary Korean Art" highlights the social, political, economic and technological contexts that have shaped the trajectory of Korean culture throughout these artists’ lifetimes.

Encompassing the fields of painting, sculpture, installation, video and photography, this book spotlights the diversity of contemporary Korean art practices, focusing on artistic methodologies that range from abstract to figurative, speculative to allegorical a poignant to ironic. Inside, expansive full-color presentations of each artist’s oeuvre are accompanied by concise and approachable texts situating their artworks amid the global contemporary art conversation.

In doing so, "Future Present: Contemporary Korean Art" offers multiple points of access to this dynamic group of artists who embody the millennial spirit by engaging with critical topics of international artistic discourse, such as reinterpreting histories and traditions, subverting social and cultural norms, questioning political, economic and religious doctrines, contending with the effects of technology, examining dualities of reality and perception and asserting the autonomy of one’s body and sexual identity.

In addition to the book’s 25 individual artist presentations, an introduction by Andy St. Louis summarizes the recent surge of international interest in contemporary Korean visual culture and delineates the distinguishing characteristics of millennial artists from the country. Two newly commissioned essays by Korean curators Joowon Park and Hyo Gyoung Jeon offer critical insights into the cultural factors that have influenced the personal and creative development of this generation of artists.

Featured artists are Hejum Bä, Jungki Beak, Haneyl Choi, Yun Choi, Heemin Chung, Soyoung Chung, Jongwan Jang, Hyunsun Jeon, Sojung Jun, Suki Seokyeong Kang, Ayoung Kim, Dew Kim, Heecheon Kim, Kyoungtae Kim, Seeun Kim, Sylbee Kim, Eunsae Lee, Eunsil Lee, Heejoon Lee, Kang Seung Lee, Woosung Lee, GaHee Park, Gwangsoo Park, Min Jung Song and Hyangro Yoon.

SONGEUN Art and Cultural Foundation