PKM Gallery exhibition artists craft narratives from hands to hearts in Jongno
Published: 03 Feb. 2026, 16:02
Updated: 04 Feb. 2026, 14:04
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- LEE JIAN
- [email protected]
![Counterclockwise, from front: Earthenware by Kim Sy-young, mulberry bark painting by Chung Chang-sup and architecture-inspired sculptures by Lee Myung-jin are on display at PKM Gallery's latest show, "From Hands" during a press preview on Feb. 3, in Jongno District, central Seoul. [LEE JIAN]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/04/d00f8a12-9fc0-41a5-a402-0f486466a5a9.jpg)
Counterclockwise, from front: Earthenware by Kim Sy-young, mulberry bark painting by Chung Chang-sup and architecture-inspired sculptures by Lee Myung-jin are on display at PKM Gallery's latest show, "From Hands" during a press preview on Feb. 3, in Jongno District, central Seoul. [LEE JIAN]
PKM Gallery in Jongno District, central Seoul, is set to open a new exhibition converging craft and fine art on Wednesday.
The show, titled “From Hands,” explores the practical and aesthetic values of art and the significance of handiwork in the digital age.
“In an era where machines and digital technologies dominate human intelligence, tactile and bodily experiences have become increasingly precious,” PKM President Park Kyung-mee told reporters at the gallery on Tuesday. “As the boundaries between fine art and craft continue to blur, we aim to explore the possibilities that emerge when the two genres intersect.”
Six artists are featured in the exhibition.
Lee In-chin, who gained international recognition as a finalist for the 2023 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, presents his iconic unglazed earthenware made using only clay and wood ash, fired for five to six days. The exhibition includes large hangari (traditional Korean earthenware jars), as well as teaware and vases produced after the 1990s.
Kim Sy-young, also a ceramic master, showcases his recreations of Korea’s traditional Goryeo black ceramics. Their dark hue — flecked with iridescent colors reminiscent of a clam shell or an insect’s wings — is the result of five years of research, according to the gallery. The exhibition introduces black-glazed moon jars, vessels and sculptural works from Kim’s “Planet” series.
!["Untitled" (ca. 1991) by Chung Chang-sup [PKM GALLERY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/04/82519c48-6305-4f7f-9e9a-7dfc9ef00969.jpg)
"Untitled" (ca. 1991) by Chung Chang-sup [PKM GALLERY]
Chung Chang-sup’s (1927–2011) tak (mulberry bark fiber) paintings from the 1990s to the 2000s are also on display. Kneading and spreading mulberry bark fibers by hand, Chung’s process reveals a state of oneness with the material — an embodied unity achieved through tactility.
Koo Hyun-mo, who studied ceramics and sculpture, presents recent explorations that bridge the two disciplines, combining natural materials such as clay and wood with artificial materials like brass through delicate handwork.
!["Signalling I" (2022) by Hong Young-in [PKM GALLERY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/04/a92cc589-6472-4ae6-8d09-ad14181bff44.jpg)
"Signalling I" (2022) by Hong Young-in [PKM GALLERY]
Hong Young-in presents recent works that translate micro-narratives — stories of female textile workers, animal voices and street graffiti — into embroidery. Her abstract textile series “Signalling,” for instance, draws inspiration from the sound waves produced by elephants when they sense danger.
Up-and-coming artist Lee Myung-jin showcases contemporary ceramic works that combine the coiling technique with fundamental architectural elements such as mass and columns.
On the same day, PKM also opened a solo exhibition by artist, actor and musician Bek Hyun-jin at its annex space.
Titled “Seoul Syntax,” the exhibition features recent jangji (traditional Korean mulberry paper) paintings, drawings and video works set against the backdrop of Seoul, the city where the artist was born and raised.
!["Wavering" ( 2025) by Bek Hyun-jin [PKM GALLERY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/04/44a8d8e4-a382-4035-9110-068b6385beb7.jpg)
"Wavering" ( 2025) by Bek Hyun-jin [PKM GALLERY]
Through his own visual syntax, Bek filters and reveals a mutable contemporary Seoul, where stability and instability, warmth and estrangement, success and failure coexist, the gallery explained. Screening alongside the two-dimensional works is Light23, a single-take video piece — and music video — filmed on the outskirts of Seoul. The work captures shifting weather and a range of human emotions, extending Bek’s urban narrative from static images into the passage of time.
Bek has held numerous solo exhibitions in Korea, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy and Taiwan. He has also participated in group exhibitions at major institutions worldwide, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea; Leeum Museum of Art; Ilmin Museum of Art; Art Sonje Center; Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum; Kunsthalle Wien; and Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium. In 2017, he was selected as a sponsored artist for the Korea Art Prize organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.
Bek is also active as a singer-songwriter — both as a member of the pioneering indie band Uhuhboo Project and the project band Bahngbek — and as an actor, with appearances in films "The Day He Arrives" (2011) and "Broker" (2022), as well as series "Moving" (2022) and "Taxi Driver" (2021).
Both “From Hands” and “Seoul Syntax” run through March 21.
BY LEE JIAN. [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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