MMCA's 2025 lineup features sculptor Ron Mueck, Korean liberation exhibition and more
Published: 07 Jan. 2025, 16:07
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- SHIN MIN-HEE
- [email protected]
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
![″In Bed″ (2005) by Ron Mueck [MMCA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/07/d0a4107d-d561-43ec-805a-8a129ef9ea91.jpg)
″In Bed″ (2005) by Ron Mueck [MMCA]
Dozens of art exhibitions are planned to fill the halls of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) this year, from those on hyperrealistic human sculptures by Australia's Ron Mueck to commemorating the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule (1910-45).
But the biggest exhibitions for the MMCA this year, in fact, won't be the Australian sculptor’s first Asian solo show or one marking an important milestone in Korean history, but the upcoming permanent exhibitions showcasing artworks from the MMCA’s collection.
![″News from Nowhere″ (2011-12) by Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho [MMCA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/07/db0a36f9-2b16-4b59-80fe-1bb8815b6a0e.jpg)
″News from Nowhere″ (2011-12) by Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho [MMCA]
They will be held at the Seoul main branch and Gwacheon branch in Gyeonggi starting May, highlighting 20th-century Korean art. Some 280 pieces from the modern age, or 1900 to 1990, will be on view at the Gwacheon branch, and some 80 works that are relatively more contemporary, from 1960 to present day, will be shown at the Seoul branch.
These works were selected from the 11,800 artworks in the MMCA’s collection, which have been accumulating since 1969. Each exhibition sheds light on notable themes, movements and artists that developed in that era in separate sections.
For example, there will be parts on Kim Whanki (1913-1974) and Yoon Hyong-keun (1928-2007) at the Gwacheon branch, as these were artists who were prominent in the abstract art scene throughout the 20th century. The Seoul branch will have sections on the avant-garde movement and conceptualism.
“These permanent exhibitions on Korean modern and contemporary art are significant in that they emphasize educational aspects,” the MMCA’s director Kim Sung-hee said in a press conference on Tuesday. “With participatory programs held on the sidelines, the exhibitions will be a great overview of Korean art and its history.”
![″Drama 1882″ (2024) by Wael Shawky [MMCA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/07/f8cb376b-2ceb-4a22-8e29-6d61e7085d88.jpg)
″Drama 1882″ (2024) by Wael Shawky [MMCA]
![″Recurrence SNM93001″ (1991) by Kim Tschang-yeul [MMCA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/07/c7bb522c-473e-4559-9125-b19a40b2e69f.jpg)
″Recurrence SNM93001″ (1991) by Kim Tschang-yeul [MMCA]
The MMCA’s collection will continue to be featured in a number of temporary exhibitions, such as one introducing new media works by Middle Eastern artists Wael Shawky and Akram Zaatari at the Gwacheon branch from May to August. In October to February next year, 20th-century international contemporary artworks from 40 artists, like Georg Baselitz, Barbara Kruger and Ai Weiwei, will be held at the same branch.
Watercolor paintings by famed artists like Lee Jung-seop, Chang Ucchin and Park Seo-bo will take center stage at the Cheongju branch from March to September. Afterward, the exhibition will travel nationwide.
Apart from the MMCA’s collection, other thematic exhibitions such as the commemoration of Korea’s 80th anniversary of liberation will take place from August to November at the MMCA’s Deoksu Palace branch in central Seoul. It presents landscape paintings eliciting nostalgia, which, in this context, means a sense of longing for one’s homeland before the dark time of Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War (1950-53).
![″Persimmon Tree″ (1963) by Lee Dai-won [MMCA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/07/05ca337e-2366-4b31-9411-90da60c259b8.jpg)
″Persimmon Tree″ (1963) by Lee Dai-won [MMCA]
![A 1991 ceramic by Shin Sang-ho [MMCA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/07/ee966c33-6bf8-4272-95b7-22ce1dfe7f90.jpg)
A 1991 ceramic by Shin Sang-ho [MMCA]
Some renowned figures to be highlighted at the MMCA include Mueck, best known for his hyperrealistic sculptures depicting human bodies, as he will bring his iconic pieces from various stages of his career to the MMCA’s Seoul branch from April to July.
Lee Dai-won (1921-2005), a prolific artist who was widely known for his landscape paintings of orchards, will have his first MMCA solo exhibition from December to April next year.
The “waterdrop painter” Kim Tschang-yeul (1929-2021) and ceramist Shin Sang-ho are set to hold solo exhibitions as well.
BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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