Happiness and sorrows of Dongpirang carved into paintings

TONGYEONG, South Gyeongsang Province ― Artist Kim Jae-sin mostly paints Dongpirang, a village in his hometown Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, located on the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula.While many local artists try to capture what’s unique in their hometowns, the landscape images the 53-year-old artist creates resonate with memories ― the happiness and sorrow Dongpirang holds from its early development as the poorest community in the area to the new face it gained as an artistic to

July 23, 2013

Hip-hop duo Supreme Team calls it quits

Rappers Simon D and E-sens of hip-hop duo Supreme Team announced on Monday that they would be going their separate ways. The two artists said they would pursue solo careers. Longtime hip-hop artist E-sens revealed that he decided to pursue a solo career after his contract with the duo’s former agency Amoeba Culture was terminated.  “The rappers have parted ways,” a representative from Amoeba Culture stated to the media. “But since Supreme Team actually started off as a project band, I don’t know

July 23, 2013

Ku Hye-sun releases self-composed song ‘It’s You’

Actress, movie director and singer-songwriter Ku Hye-sun released her fourth self-composed song and its music video on Monday. The love song describes a girl who has fallen in love with a boy at first sight. She borrowed the motif from veteran singer Lee Jang-hee’s hit song “It’s You,” according to the official announcement from her agency YG Entertainment. Her previous self-composed songs are “Brown Hair,” “Marry Me” and “Flying Galaxy.” The new song was arranged by an old friend, pianist Choi

July 23, 2013

Children’s theater festival opens with Holocaust play

It’s unusual to see a play about the Holocaust at a children’s event, but last week “Else’s Story,” a play about a child who survived Auschwitz, premiered at the opening of the 21st ASSITEJ Korea International Summer Festival, Korea’s largest theater festival for kids.Under the theme “Embrace the World, Butterfly,” the festival is showcasing 11 performances from six different countries, including three Korean works. This year, the festival also celebrates 130 years of diplomatic ties between Ko

July 22, 2013

Funk legend Earth, Wind & Fire talks ‘Now, Then & Forever’

Earth, Wind & Fire is widely considered one of the most iconic and influential bands in American music history. The group made its debut in 1969 and later became pioneers in fusing elements of R&B, funk and disco to create one of the most distinctive sounds of that era. Four decades later, the members of Earth, Wind & Fire are still creating music together and looking to prove that they know how to stay relevant in today’s music scene. Along with the release of their upcoming 20th studio album,

July 22, 2013

BEAST returns with Seoul concerts

BEAST gathered 24,000 fans from all around the world for the “2013 Beautiful Show” concerts, held at Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Stadium on Saturday and Sunday. It was the boy band’s first performance since the release of its second full album “Hard to Love, How to Love” on July 19. The six-member boy band performed “Shadow,” “Will You Be Alright?” and “Encore” from its new album as well as its previous hits “Fiction,” “On Rainy Days” and more. The concerts included solo performances as well as a Y

July 22, 2013

Sculpture set free

Alexander Calder had always liked toys and games, according to an unpublished autobiographical manuscript from 1955-56. In fact, he was briefly involved in designing children’s toys for commercial production. And he enjoyed playing billiards ― a game that involves vectors and velocities, engineering concepts that Calder kept in mind in developing his art. The American artist is hailed for liberating sculptures from the pedestal and constantly proposing new visions of art beyond conventional form

July 21, 2013

Rain to make quiet return, eyes set on overseas comeback

Korean entertainer Rain will be attending his first fan meeting since his military discharge on July 10, Rain’s agency Cube Entertainment announced Friday.According to the agency, the fan meeting was organized by the star’s fan club, which invited him to attend the event in his honor to be held on Aug. 3 at Kyung Hee University.  Rain is also scheduled to join the all-star line-up of the upcoming “Sonic Bang” music festival in Bangkok, Thailand. The festival is Thailand’s biggest concert event a

July 21, 2013

Winterplay returns as ‘Two Fabulous Fools’

The quirky duo Winterplay has returned with its upbeat fusion sound of groovy bossa nova beats and retro jazz pop. After nearly 2 1/2 years, Lee Ju-han on trumpet and Haewon on vocals have finally released the duo’s newest studio album, “Two Fabulous Fools.” “We are two fabulous fools,” said Lee at the Winterplay showcase held at Olleh Square on the day of the album’s release on Wednesday. “We want to show both the exciting and humorous sides of jazz while also conveying the message that ‘You an

July 21, 2013

[Photo News] Stars at 20’s Choice award

Top South Korean celebrities attended “20’s Choice,” an annual award show organized by music cable network Mnet, on Thursday in Kintex, Ilsan.The event awarded South Korean celebrities who were active in the past year, based on the votes of people in their 20s. Singer and actor Bae Suzy won the award for best drama star for her role in “Gugaui Seo.” Boy band Infinite received the award for best global tour, and girl group Sistar was selected as the winner in the best online music category. Other

July 21, 2013

Calendar

Theater“The Moon Embracing the Sun”: Many fell in love with Hwon, the cynical but attractive fictional Joseon king in MBC’s enormously successful TV drama series “The Moon Embracing the Sun” last year. Its fans now have the opportunity to revisit the series, this time onstage. The TV series’ theater adaptation is currently being staged at Seoul Arts Center, featuring local musical star Kim Da-hyeon in the lead. Based on the novel of the same title by author Jung Eun-gwol, the TV series and the m

July 19, 2013

Eyelike:Dynamic Duo ‘lucky’ on new album

Dynamic Duo ‘lucky’ on new albumDynamic Duo “Luckynumbers”(Loen Entertainment)“Lucky Numbers” is indeed a “lucky” comeback album for the “hip-hop legend” Dynamic Duo. After a year-and-a-half hiatus, Dynamic Duo does not disappoint fans with their 13-track album, which has earned them top spots in numerous music charts. The album includes collaborations with Zion T, Crushn, DJ Friz, UV’s Muzie, Supreme Team, Sistar’s Hyorin and more. It begins with the fittingly titled “Return of the Kings,” an o

July 19, 2013

Museum presents 2013 Artist of the Year exhibition

The annual artist-of-the-year exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea presents artwork that explores key social issues in Korean society, such as the generation gap, anxiety and crisis. The 2013 Korea Artist Prize has nominated four artists ― Jo Hae-jun, Ham Yang-ah, Kong Sung-hun and Shin Mee-kyoung ― whose artworks are on display at the 2013 Korea Artist Prize exhibition from Friday to Oct. 20 at the MMCA Gwacheon. For 15 years, the prestigious prize has recogni

July 18, 2013

Lee Seung-hwan and Yoon Jong-shin to hold joint concert in August

Two of the country’s influential singer-songwriters, Lee Seung-hwan and Yoon Jong-shin, are holding a joint concert for the first time in 10 years, concert organizer Mystic89 announced on Wednesday. A number of other singers including Jung In, Lim Kim and Cho Moon-geun will also perform at the concert on Aug. 3 at UNIQLO AX in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.“This unexpected line-up will present a totally new experience,” said Mystic89. Lee shot to stardom with his debut album “...B.C 603” in 1989. Since the

July 18, 2013

Popular TV drama revisited onstage

Many fell in love with Hwon, the cynical but attractive fictional Joseon king in MBC’s enormously successful TV drama series “The Moon Embracing the Sun” last year. Its fans now have the opportunity to revisit the series, this time onstage. The TV series’ theater adaptation is currently being staged at Seoul Arts Center, featuring local musical star Kim Da-hyeon in the lead.Based on the novel of the same title by author Jung Eun-gwol, the TV series and the musical tell the moving love story betw

July 18, 2013

Ensemble Ditto to hold encore performances

Ensemble Ditto has announced that it will hold two additional performances on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 in response to the popularity of last month’s seventh “Ditto Festival.” Tickets for the “Ditto Festival,” which was held at numerous locations nationwide, sold out in a matter of days. The group wanted to thank its fans for their support and give them another chance to enjoy their performance this summer. “BACH for SOLO” will take place on Aug. 31 and “Code Name: BACH” the following day. Both concer

July 17, 2013