NYC art auction season to kick off, break taboo

NEW YORK (AFP) - The spring art auction season kicks off Sunday in New York with paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Cy Twombly and a taboo-smashing statue of Hitler.　Some 1,500 artworks are to go under the gavel over the course of five days of auctions expected to fetch more than $1 billion. 　The most important ones will be held in the evening, with three hosted by Christie’s and two by Sotheby’s. 　First comes Christie’s thematic evening “Bound to Fail,” with a selection of 39 works of modern

PerformanceMay 4, 2016

More visitors allowed for night palace tour

The number of visitors allowed for the nighttime stroll at Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul will increase from the original 100 to 150 per session, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced Wednesday. Additional 700 tickets for the increased spots in May and June will go on sale from Friday at 1 p.m. at Interpark, the online shopping mall for event tickets. (http://ticket.interpark.com/Ticket/Goods/GoodsInfo.asp?GoodsCode=16001708)Each ticket is priced 30,000 won ($26).  (Cultural Heritage Adm

Expat LivingMay 4, 2016

KNO chief sorry for appointing wife, introduces new Korean premiere

Following its Korean premiere of Antonin Dvorak’s dramatic fairy tale opera, “Rusalka,” the Korea National Opera is preparing for yet another premiere production – Antonio Vivaldi’s “Orlando Finto Pazzo.”　However, soon after the finale performance of “Rusalka” on Sunday, KNO artistic director Kim Hak-min drew flak when it was revealed that he had appointed his wife -- who has no musical background -- to act as the production’s dramaturg. She had also been put in charge of translating the opera.

PerformanceMay 4, 2016

Beer galore for the long weekend

A five-day outdoor beer festival took off Wednesday at Coex Mall, Gangnam, heralding the beginning of a rare long-weekend holiday in Korea. At the Great Korean Beer Festival 2016, homegrown craft beer brands introduced their own specialty brews enriched with hints of coconut, chocolate and raspberries. Beer of all types -- IPAs, lager, ale and stout -- are available at individual brewery booths for purchase. (Great Korean Beer Festival)Food that goes well with the beers -- like sausages and frie

Expat LivingMay 4, 2016

[Herald Review] Evil in its purest form in ‘The Wailing’

Why do bad things happen to good -- or at least normal -- people? What singles them out for catastrophe? These are the questions director Na Hong-jin pondered on when he began writing the script for “The Wailing,” he said after the movie’s press screening Tuesday in Seoul.　“The Wailing” (“Goksung”) takes viewers on a journey to answer those questions -- an overwhelming, thrilling and terrifying journey that ends in coming face-to-face with what can only be described as the origin of evil. It is

FilmMay 4, 2016

Fox to make more movies in Korea

Fox International Productions, the global arm of U.S. film production company 21st Century Fox, plans to produce more films in Korea, according to its president Tomas Jegues.　“We’re currently making one film a year here, but we’re stepping up production to three or four films a year,” said Jegues after the press screening of Fox International’s most recent project, director Na Hong-jin’s “The Wailing,” which is also known as “Goksung.” The film has been invited to screen at Cannes Film Festival’

FilmMay 4, 2016

Beast to make comeback as five-member group

K-pop boy band Beast is working on a new album to be released this summer.　The group recorded the lead song of its upcoming album on Tuesday, according to a local report quoting an industry insider. The lead song is written by Yong Jun-hyung of the group, who produces the band’s albums. K-pop boy band Beast (Cube Entertainment)　The upcoming album is their first as a five-member group after Jang Hyun-seung left to pursue a solo career. It is also the first album since their eighth mini album “Ord

PerformanceMay 4, 2016

Lee Kwang-soo emoticons on Chinese messenger

Emoticons featuring Korean actor and entertainer Lee Kwang-soo were launched Tuesday on Chinese messenger app WeChat, said the actor’s agency King Kong Entertainment.　Lee, best known for his appearance on SBS’s variety show “Running Man,” is often referred to as an “Asia Prince” due to his popularity across the region.   Lee Kwang-soo emoticons on Chinese messenger app We Chat (King Kong Entertainment)　The set consists of 24 animated emoticons of Lee with different expressions, representing his

TelevisionMay 4, 2016

Seoul Open Art Fair to highlight young talents

The Seoul Open Art Fair returns to Coex in Samseong-dong for its 11th edition, running from May 10-14.　A total of 90 Korean and overseas galleries will be participating in the country’s second-largest art fair, presenting some 5,000 pieces of art by 4,000 artists. 　In keeping with its reputation as an event to discover emerging artists, the art fair each year selects talented young artists through a contest. This year, 21 young artists working with diverse mediums will be introduced at the fair.

PerformanceMay 4, 2016

Don DeLillo’s new novel considers life after death

“Zero K” 　By Don DeLillo 　Scribner (288 pages, $26)　Don DeLillo’s latest novel toggles between a remote compound in central Asia and the workaday world of New York City. In the bunker an apocalyptic cult is engaged in the cryogenic preservation of humans, whose brains and bodies are being frozen until the time when diseases have been cured and human consciousness perfected. Meanwhile, in Manhattan, an introspective young man named Jeffrey Lockhart, whose father, billionaire Ross Lockhart, is an

BooksMay 4, 2016

Fiction by ex-prosecutor tackles campus rape head on

“The Last Good Girl” 　By Allison Leotta　Touchstone (288 pages, $25)　Former federal sex-crimes prosecutor Allison Leotta continues her series featuring her fictional counterpart Anna Curtis in a too frighteningly real scenario in “The Last Good Girl.” 　College student Emily Shapiro has gone missing. She was last seen leaving a bar with a young man named Dylan, but he was chasing her down the street. The investigation reveals a video diary that Emily kept that detailed how Dylan had raped her, and

BooksMay 4, 2016

New Spenser novel is a 5-alarm thriller

“Robert B. Parker’s Slow Burn” 　By Ace Atkins　G.P. Putnam’s Sons (320 pages, $270)　A troubling series of fires in mostly abandoned Boston buildings turns deadly in “Robert B. Parker’s Slow Burn,” the latest crime thriller in the long-running but still potent Spenser series.　Spenser, a private detective, is called upon when the arson unit of the fire department hits dead ends investigating a fire at an old, shut down Catholic church. Three firefighters entering the church died when flames erupted

BooksMay 4, 2016

Judy Blume talks Tumblr, possible new book

NEW YORK (AP) -- Judy Blume has many projects on her mind.　She recently helped open a bookstore in Key West, Florida, where she lives much of the year. She’s starting to promote the paperback edition of her novel “In the Unlikely Event,” set in her native New Jersey in the early 1950s. She has just launched a Tumblr account (judyblumeofficial.tumblr.com), on top of her popular Twitter feed and Facebook page. And, she hasn’t ruled out a new book, despite indicating last year that “In the Unlikely

BooksMay 4, 2016

Undeterred by rescues, novelist ready to set sail again

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A novelist who was twice rescued from storm-battered sailboats hopes his next adventure lacks in such drama.  　 South Carolina author Michael Hurley plans to sail around the world after using the experience of scuttling his sailboat on a failed trans-Atlantic crossing for his new book, “The Passage.” “The Passage” by Michael Hurley (Ragbagger Press)　“I love the freedom of sailing on the ocean. There’s no limit. The horizon extends. There’s nothing to stop you from going w

BooksMay 4, 2016

Fashion meets gastronomy: dine and shop with style

In the age of social media -- when how food looks matters just as much as how it tastes -- luxury fashion stores that house coffee shops and restaurants have emerged as hot spots for fashion-conscious foodies. 　Instagram is flooded with pictures of food, including many taken in the sophisticated settings of in-house dessert cafes and restaurants at luxury fashion flagship stores in Seoul such as Dior and Hermes and some hip multi-brand stores like Boon the Shop and 10 Corso Como. 　The Cafe Dior

Arts & DesignMay 3, 2016

Ballet Festival Korea to kick off sixth year highlighting contemporary trends

From a classical homage to Bolshoi to the modern-day high octane choreography of Nacho Duato in “Duende,” the upcoming sixth annual Ballet Festival Korea promises to be a feast for all tastes. 　Raising its curtain on May 13 at the Seoul Arts Center, this year’s festival will involve 13 performances throughout the month. They will be held in various SAC theaters including the Opera Theater, the CJ Towol Theater, the Jayu Theater and the Shinsegae Square Outdoor Stage. A scene from “The Edge of th

PerformanceMay 3, 2016

Song Kang-ho to star in ‘Taxi Driver’

Korean actor Song Kang-ho will play the lead role in an upcoming film about the Gwangju Uprising, tentatively titled “Taxi Driver,” production company The Lamp announced Tuesday.　The film is based on a real story by Jurgen Hinzpeter, a German journalist who filmed and reported the May 18 Democratic Uprising in Gwangju in 1980. It will depict the story of Hinzpeter and a taxi driver who helped him take the video recording of the massacre in Gwangju out of the city, evading the government troops.　

FilmMay 3, 2016

BTS breaks into iTunes Charts abroad

K-pop boy band BTS’ special album “Young Forever” swept domestic music charts and broke into the iTunes top 30 albums in 17 countries, the group’s agency Big Hit Entertainment announced Tuesday.　The album topped the iTunes top albums charts in Singapore and Taiwan, ranked second place in Indonesia, third place in Finland, fourth place in Thailand and Hong Kong, and 18th place in the U.S.　“Fire,” the lead song of the band’s special album released Monday, immediately topped seven domestic music ch

PerformanceMay 3, 2016