Architect Kim Won donates artworks to help NGO

Architect Kim Won has put up for sale some significant pieces from his collection of art to help raise funds for an NGO for which he serves as a chief director. Among the 50 works donated by Kim that are on sale at Gallery Now in Seoul are ink paintings by architect Kim Swoo-guen (1931-1986), a prominent contemporary architect. The architect gave the paintings to Kim Won as a gift a year before his death. Kim Won was Kim Swoo-guen’s protege.  “Kim Swoo-guen began contempor

Feb. 8, 2022

Moon Sung-sic scratches simplicity into oil canvases

Painter Moon Sung-sic sticks with using pencils in creating his art. Inspired by daily life, he represents the mundaneness of everyday by scratching the thick oil paint surface with pencils as if striving to show his perseverance as an artist. “Pencils are the most basic materials in painting, spontaneous and simple. I think this resembles my unexaggerated and unpretentious personality,“ Moon told reporters at Kukje Gallery’s Busan venue on Jan. 21. He said he felt that his

Feb. 8, 2022

Gwangju Biennale Park Seo-bo Art Prize established

The Gwangju Biennale Foundation and GIZI Foundation will launch the “Gwangju Biennale Park Seo-bo Art Prize” at the 14th Gwangju Biennale scheduled to open in April next year to recognize a promising artist participating at the biennale. GIZI Foundation, established by Korean contemporary artist Park Seo-bo, has committed $1 million to the prize, with $100,000 in prize money to winning artists or collectives through 2042. The winner will be selected among those who participate in t

Feb. 8, 2022

All eyes on fate of Kansong Art Museum’s two national treasures

After the much-anticipated auction of Kansong Art Museum’s two state-designated national treasures last week ended up failing to find bidders, eyes are now on what Korea’s oldest private museum will do with the national treasures. During the auction held by K Auction on Jan. 27, no one bid for the two national treasures -- National Treasure No. 73, Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad, and National Treasure No. 72, Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of Gyemi

Feb. 7, 2022

Dance troupes get creative with audience collaboration, online game

Two of Korea’s leading dance troupes are adopting creative ways to become a more familiar face to the public. Ambiguous Dance Company, a contemporary dance group known for its collaborative works with bands Coldplay and Leenalchi, has joined forces with the audience for its latest performance while Ahn Eun-Me Company, led by iconic contemporary dancer and choreographer Ahn Eun-me, unveiled an online dance game. Ambiguous Dance Company’s “Whole Like Dankeschon,” which

Feb. 5, 2022

Discover gems of Korean abstract art after Korean War at Hakgojae Gallery

Korea’s “dansaekhwa” abstract movement grabbed global attention in the early 2000s, but many more of Korea‘s abstract artists who developed their own styles and struggled to stand on their own feet have not received similar attention. To help give them their due, one of Korea’s biggest art galleries is holding the exhibition “Seeking ‘Eidos’: Korean Abstract Painters 7,” to shed light on seven pioneers of Korea’s abstract art. Hakgoj

Feb. 3, 2022

[Photo News] Fashion show interprets era of uncertainty

Italian haute couture house Maison Schiaparelli’s Spring/Summer 2022 show held on Jan. 24 in Paris displayed an artistic interpretation of this era of uncertainty.  Titled “An Age of Discipline”, Creative Director Daniel Roseberry created a collection consisting of only three colors: black, white, and the signature Maison Schiaparelli gold.  Roseberry explained that the simple use of colors connects to the current era of uncertainty and exhaustion. On the of

Jan. 30, 2022

[From the Scene] South Korea’s counterfeit market is very much alive

Dongdaemun Market is the center of the Korean apparel and fashion industry. Near the market is another “secret” spot for shoppers who want luxury fashion items but cannot afford them. This place is called Dongdaemun Saebit Market, the nation’s largest fake designer goods market. Near Dongdaemun Design Plaza Station Exits 2 and 3, about 80 small yellow tents are clustered together, selling counterfeit luxury fashion goods that look pretty much like high-priced brands such

Jan. 29, 2022

Two national treasures left unsold in auction

Two state-designated national treasures failed to sell at an auction held Thursday in Seoul, after South Korea’s oldest private museum sparked controversy for putting the national treasures up for auction. The two artifacts were the first national treasures to be put on the block in the country. National Treasure No. 73, Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad, and National Treasure No. 72, Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of Gyemi Year, were put up for auction at

Jan. 27, 2022

[Herald Interview] Artist commemorates independent corner stores

Old ramshackle mom-and-pop stores have provided a lasting subject for Lee Me-kyeoung, a 53-year-old painter, from the human life cycle to childhood nostalgia, when no one even showed the slightest interest in them. “When I started to draw small stores back in late 90s, people hated to see outdated and obsolete things,” Lee said during an interview with The Korea Herald. Lee has produced more than 450 pen drawings on mom-and-pop stores in small villages across the nation in the

Jan. 27, 2022

MMCA to remain open over Lunar New Year holiday, with free exhibitions

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea will operate all four of its locations over the Lunar New Year holiday from Monday through Wednesday, offering exhibitions free of charge. The Seoul branch will be closed on Tuesday, or Lunar New Year’s day. The exhibitions on view are “Ai Weiwei: Defend the Future” at its Seoul branch; “To the World Through Art, Highlights of MMCA Global Art Collection from the 1980s-1990s” at the Cheongju branch; “

Jan. 25, 2022

SeMA to open Art Archives Seoul Museum of Art, host sculptor Chung Seo-young show during Frieze Seoul period

Seoul Museum of Art –- an art museum operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government –- will focus on integration in operating its eight art entities scattered across Seoul, as it looks forward to expand to 10 by 2024 with the opening of three additional art entities. They are: Art Archives Seoul Museum of Art, Seo-Seoul Museum of Art and Seoul Museum of Photography. Art Archives Seoul Museum of Art will open in August in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. It will hold and manage the museum

Jan. 25, 2022

Paik Nam-june’s ‘The More, The Better’ operates for six-month test run

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has started a test run for “The More, The Better,” the largest installation work by video art pioneer Paik Nam-june after it initiated a restoration project in 2019. The national museum has finished the overall restoration work and began the test run on Jan. 17, which will continue for six months. Comprising 1,003 picture tube monitors, the video tower was installed in 1988 at MMCA Gwacheon, becoming the world’s larg

Jan. 24, 2022

[Visual History of Korea] Korea is the Dolmen capital of the world

Korea hosts an abundant number of dolmens, which stand as proof that the Korea Peninsula was a happening place during the prehistoric period. The dolmens are megalithic burial monuments and places of worship, estimated to have been erected from the early Neolithic period into the Bronze Age. The dolmens, similar to standing stones in other cultures, is as common as, and as Korean as kimchi in Korea. More dolmens are located in Korea than anywhere else. Some Korean dolmens have a st

Jan. 22, 2022

Port city Tongyeong to commence inaugural triennale in March

Tongyeong, a port city located in the southern coast of South Korea, will kick off its inaugural triennale -- an Italian word meaning “once every three years” -- in March, as an art festival that encompasses visual, media and craft art. The overarching theme will be “The Sea, The Seeds.” The port city in South Gyeongsang has been widely known as a home to many Korea’s established artists such as composer Yun I-sang, novelist Park Kyong-ni, poet Kim Choon-su and pa

Jan. 22, 2022

‘Irworobongdo’ art behind king’s throne completes restoration

After six years of restoration beginning in 2016, “Irworobongdo,” a Korean folding screen with a landscape of a sun and a moon painted in the mid 19th century has been completed to return it to its original form, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced Wednesday. “Irworobongdo,” meaning “Painting of the Sun, Moon and Five Peaks,” is a spectacular panel that was placed behind Eojwa, the king’s royal throne, to display the majesty of the Joseon roy

Jan. 19, 2022

Masterpieces by pioneers of Russian avant-garde art shown in Seoul

Russian avant-garde modern art started to flourish in the early 20th century with artists beginning to explore new abstract styles, rejecting conventional academic tradition in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917 that overthrew the Russian Empire. While the avant-garde artists -- most famously Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich -- are widely known today, many of them were oppressed in the 1930s after Stalin, who stigmatized their works, took power. Many artists fled to Europe a

Jan. 18, 2022

Incheon International Airport Corp. to come up with details this year to set up global museum

Incheon International Airport Corp. is getting one step closer to host a branch of a world renowned museum at the airport as it is set to launch a feasibility reseach about the project in February. The airport has pushed for the plan to accomodate a global museum at the largest airport in the country, such as Louvre Museum and Musee d’Orsay as early as 2024. After failing a bidding in September to commission the research, the airport put up the second tender in December, which was made t

Jan. 17, 2022

[Herald Interview] ‘We should have launched an association like this much earlier’

As digital art expands at a furious pace with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and metaverse gaining huge popularity, Korean artists and artist groups have started to make efforts to secure visual artists’ rights. In November, some 20 artist associations and 100 artists formed a group to advocate for their rights, the Korea Visual Arts Copyright Association. It is Korea’s first association addressing concerns about the copyrights of visual artists. “Many artists in Korea have negl

Jan. 15, 2022

Kansong Art Museum to auction national treasures

Two state-designated national treasures owned by the Kansong Art Museum will be auctioned Jan. 27, South Korea’s second-largest auction house K Auction announced Friday. It is the first time national treasures will be put up for auction. The sale is expected to set a new record in the auction of cultural artifacts in the country. The two masterpieces that are to be put on the block are the Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad and Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription

Jan. 14, 2022