[Herald Interview] We are 'extremely committed' to continuing Art Basel Hong Kong: Art Basel CEO

HONG KONG -- All eyes were on Art Basel Hong Kong last week, which made its first full return since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, Asia's largest art fair went online and the following two years saw the event running at a much reduced scale. “One of the beautiful things about fairs is the spillover that the fair has into the cultural fabric of the city itself. The gallery scene in Hong Kong has accelerated tremendously in the years since A

March 29, 2023

[Feature] Commercial, academic collaboration revives Hong Kong art scene

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's art scene got back into full gear last week, drawing international visitors back to Asia’s premier art fair -- Art Basel Hong Kong -- as well as to the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District, anchored by the recently opened contemporary art museum, the M+. The Hong Kong Palace Museum, also part of the district, completed its renovation and opened to the public in 2022 to show more than 900 pieces of treasure from mainland China. The West Kowloon Cultura

March 29, 2023

Artist Oh Sea-young under spotlight at posthumous show

Artist Oh Sea-young was a painter who strived to embody Korean aesthetics, which he interpreted in his own unique way. His paintings show how much he pushed himself as an artist during his life, based both in South Korea and the US. He constantly evolved his art throughout his career, creating large-scale paintings. Oh got much of his inspiration from Korean artifacts such as traditional earthenware and elements found in the national flag of Korea. His paintings -- for which he used acrylic,

March 26, 2023

Danish arts center director, curator picked as artistic directors of Korean Pavilion at 2024 Venice Biennale

Arts Council Korea has appointed both the director and curator of a Danish art center as the artistic directors of the Korean Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition in 2024, the first-ever joint artistic directorship since the establishment of the Korean Pavilion in 1995. Jacob Fabricius, the artistic director of Art Hub Copenhagen, and curator Lee Seol-hui at Kunsthal Aarhus in Denmark will plan the Korean Pavilion around the theme, “Korean Scent Journey."

March 25, 2023

Joseon moon jar fetches record price at Christie's

A white porcelain moon jar from the 18th century fetched $4.5 million at Christie’s “Japanese and Korean Art” sale, the highest price fetch at auction by a moon jar. The sale was held Tuesday in New York. The British auction house explained that Joseon era porcelain was the highest quality moon jar put up for auction in at least 10 years. Owned by a Japanese private collector, the moon jar's estimated sale price was between $1 million and $2 million, according to preview

March 23, 2023

Designer Lie Sang-bong collaborates with Vienna museum for Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’

The 2023 fall-winter collection by Lie Sang-bong for his eponymous brand, which was presented at last week’s Seoul Fashion Week, will travel to Vienna later this year for a special fashion show and exhibition. Veteran fashion designer Lie and the Belvedere Museum in Vienna collaborated to feature Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” in Lie's latest collection. It was the Austrian museum’s first-ever project involving its art piece being presented through

March 23, 2023

[From the Scene] Art Basel Hong Kong heralds city's comeback after pandemic

HONG KONG -- Returning after four years, Art Basel Hong Kong has pumped energy back into the city, attracting art lovers from around the world who swarmed the booths at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday, “The city never stood still during the pandemic. It continued to push the boundaries and innovate. In fact, the cultural landscape in Hong Kong has continued to grow from strength to strength,” said Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, at a press reception Tuesday

March 21, 2023

Museum dedicated to Park Seo-bo to open on Jeju in 2024

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- The first museum dedicated to Korea’s leading contemporary artist, Park Seo-bo, will be built on Jeju Island. The museum is set to open in summer 2024 on a site next to JW Marriot Jeju Resort and Spa. “I was very delighted when I was presented with the offer of building a museum (by JW Marriot Jeju Resort and Spa). I had been wishing to found my own museum during my lifetime,” Park said at the press conference held on Tuesday at JW Marriot Jeju Resort

March 18, 2023

[Photo News] Stars dazzle Seoul Fashion Week

Stars took the spotlight on the third day of Seoul Fashion Week on Friday as the event continued its five-day run at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul. Seoul Fashion Week, one of the nation's biggest fashion events held biannually by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, on Wednesday kicked off its 22nd edition presenting 2023 fall-winter collections from established and aspiring designers. The event runs for five days until Sunday. Celebrities and fashionistas flocked to the show dail

March 18, 2023

Essential collection of Joseon-era white porcelains unfolds at Leeum Museum of Art

Leeum Museum of Art has staged white porcelains from the Joseon era (1392-1910) at its special exhibition, “Joseon White Procelain, Paragon of Virtue,” bringing together high-quality works of white porcelains, which are known as the symbolic craftwork of the era. White porcelain began to be made under the supervision of the royal court in the late 15th century, with the official kilns established in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. Diverse types of white porcelain had been produced for

March 17, 2023

Sung Neung-kyung becomes fourth Korean artist to join Lehmann Maupin

Lehmann Maupin has added Korean artist Sung Neung-kyung, a pioneer of avant-garde art in South Korea in the 1970s, to the list of artists it represents and will support Sung’s artistic career. Sung has become the fourth Korean artist to be represented by the American gallery. “His canonical works have not only sparked urgent conversations about politics, identity and the body, but also continue to expand our understanding of contemporary art making. I look forward to placing him in

March 17, 2023

Warmth, empathy, lightheartedness at 2023 fall-winter Seoul Fashion Week

Seoul Fashion Week, one of Korea's most established fashion shows, is being held in-person for the second year in a row this week at an even bigger scale than last year. While many industry insiders believe that the industry is still recovering from the pandemic, designers are seeking new ideas and identities in the post-pandemic period. After spending the last few years away from in-person shows – with busy backstages and catwalk audiences -- designers are seeking to express warmth a

March 16, 2023

[From the Scene] Seoul Fashion Week returns full scale with 31 designers

Seoul Fashion Week, South Korea’s biggest fashion event organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and held every March and October, kicked off its five-day run at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on Wednesday, showcasing the fall-winter 2023 collections of 23 designers, seven rookie designers and one corporate brand. Following last year’s format, the 22nd Seoul Fashion Week will include 100 percent in-person shows with real-time streaming available on its YouTube channel. Celebrities sho

March 15, 2023

Art Basel Hong Kong makes full return to cement its presence in Asia’s art market

Art Basel Hong Kong, Asia’s largest art fair, will fully return to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre next week after a three-year pandemic hiatus with a stronger line-up of galleries from Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, including 12 homegrown galleries from South Korea. The five-day art fair will kick off on Tuesday and run through Saturday, opening to the public from Thursday through Saturday. It will bring together 177 galleries from 32 countries, including 22 first-time

March 15, 2023

[Herald Interview] Ceramicist Suh Dong-hee's sculptures embody Christian spirituality

The sunlight coming through the window provides natural lighting at ceramicist Suh Dong-hee's home gallery. “I used to change the works on display every year, but since the pandemic has limited people's visits (to the gallery), I have left these works out for a while. This is 'The Lily of the Valleys' series that I began in 2020,” Suh, 76, told The Korea Herald during a recent interview at her home gallery in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Suh is professor emeritus of cerami

March 13, 2023

80-year-old rebel artist Sung Neung-kyung covers art with aluminum foils

Sung Neung-kyung pioneered South Korea’s avant-garde art in the 1970s as a conceptual artist, when many other artists in the scene at the time were involved in speaking out against the dictator-led government through their art. Sung created rebellious art using newspapers that were censored at the time. The 1970s was a time when the Korean art scene was a mixture of different art genres – Dansaekhwa, or Korea’s monochrome-style paintings; Minjung art, or paintings that criticiz

March 13, 2023

Ahn Jong-yuen explores 'art of light' at show held by Herald Auction, ArtToken

The solo exhibition of installation artist Ahn Jong-yuen, who has explored -- and played with -- light throughout her artistic career opens Wednesday at Summit Gallery in southern Seoul. The exhibition titled, “Skywalk, Lightwalker: Time for Walking the Sky and Light,” is jointly organized by Herald Auction and ArtToken, and will run through March 15. Ahn has been dubbed an “artist of light” for her works that use LED lighting and media art inspired by light. Born in 1952

March 9, 2023

Artist Jung Yeon-doo chosen for MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2023

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has selected Jung Yeon-doo as the artist featured in its MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2023, in recognition of his art that hovers between reality and illusion and casts a critical look on various social issues. Jung has explored various artistic media, including photographs, performances and installations, creating art that provokes curiosity about the relationship between reality and illusion. His “DMZ Theater” shown at MMCA

March 8, 2023

MMCA to pay tribute to the late Peter Weibel in Seoul

Conceptual artist Peter Weibel, who had pioneered media art as a theorist and curator since the 1960s, died on Wednesday. He was 78. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, which is hosting an ongoing exhibition by Weibel, announced Friday it will set up a space dedicated to the artist, allowing visitors to pay tribute to him until May 14. Weibel’s exhibition, “respectively, Peter Weibel. Art as an Act of Cognition,” that opened on Feb. 3 became the artist&

March 3, 2023

12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale with theme of 'This Too, is a Map' aims to redefine diaspora

Seoul Museum of Art announced Friday that this September's Seoul Mediacity Biennale would aim to redefine the concepts of migration, diaspora and languages. Titled “This Too, is a Map,” this year's edition of the contemporary art event will be helmed by artistic director Rachael Rakes. The artistic director of the 12th biennale was selected through an open call process for the first time in an effort to embrace diversity, organizers said. The artistic director had previous

March 3, 2023