City of art shines at night

Highest art gallery in Seoul offers contemporary work by 14 N.Y.-based artistsThe dazzling night cityscape has always been an advantage for Sky Art Gallery, the highest art space in Seoul. Even more credit should be given to it this time, though, for providing a perfect background for the contemporary art show heralding the start of the holiday season. The jazzy artworks from New York showcased at the exhibition “The City of Art: New York 1945-2000” meld in marvelously with the glitzy atmosphere

Dec. 4, 2011

Swift, Minaj get Billboard honors, talk Grammy nods

NEW YORK (AP) ― Taylor Swift doesn’t think the Recording Academy is mean. Though she won the Grammy for album of the year in 2010, she’s not sad her latest multiplatinum effort isn’t up for the honor this time around.“I got three nominations. I was just so excited,’’ she said Friday, before she was honored as Billboard’s “Woman of the Year.’’Among the Swift achievements that led to her Billboard honor was the best-selling performance of her third album “Speak Now,’’ which has sold more than 3.7

Dec. 4, 2011

Calendar

Classical Music“Marc Grauwels & Friends”: Belgian flautist Marc Grauwels will perform with a group of acclaimed Korean musicians on Dec. 8 in Seoul. Noted for his eclecticism as a soloist, Grauwels has worked with international musician such as famed Guy Lukowski and Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos, who wrote a concerto for flute dedicated to Grauwels that was played at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. He will play with flautist Park Min-young, violinist Jung Yoo-jin and many more. The pro

Dec. 2, 2011

Kanye West, Adele lead Grammy nods

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ―U.S. rapper Kanye West has won the most nominations for next year’s Grammys, followed closely by British singer Adele, continuing her awards success despite recent health woes.West was nominated Wednesday in seven categories for the music industry’s top awards, to be given out February 12, while Adele got six nods ― including three of the key categories ― as did Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars.Lady Gaga was arguably the star of the nominations show at the Nokia Theatre in Los Ange

Dec. 1, 2011

Hotel art fairs not so fresh anymore

Novelty factor wears out, while organizers now openly announce event is reserved for the privilegedThe idea of room-hopping in the city’s most luxurious hotels to browse artwork adorning the walls was very fresh in 2009 when the first-ever hotel art fair in the city was opened at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in Hannam-dong, central Seoul. But with so many hotel art fairs popping up every season since then in different hotels throughout Seoul, viewing artwork in well appointed hotel rooms has become a s

Dec. 1, 2011

Herald artday holds second online auction

Herald artday, a subsidiary of the Herald Media group, will open its second online auction this month. It will roll out about 100 artworks by acclaimed South Korean artists, including Lee U-fan, Kim Tschang-yeul, Suh Seok and Lee Dai-won. The biggest advantage of the auction is the affordable price. Starting prices will be as much as 70 percent below the market price. Organizers said that it would be a safe opportunity for first-time buyers as well as art aficionados to take home genuine artwork

Nov. 30, 2011

Photos show architecture has tales to tell

Captured on camera by photographers’ deft techniques, historical sites, interior designs and impressive architecture have more stories to tell. Six photographers ― Brian McKee, Lina Kim, Michael Wesely, Laurie Simmons, Dionisio Gonzlez, and Hiroshi Sugimoto ― are showcasing their unique perspectives on architectural themes at the exhibition “Beyond Architecture: Progress in Time” which is currently running at The Columns Gallery in Itaewon-dong, central Seoul. U.S. photographer Brian McKee, for

Nov. 30, 2011

Joseon royal wedding comes alive in Paris

Exquisite pieces of Korean court hanbok and royal wedding rituals charmed Parisians on Tuesday night, during a special event held as a part of Korea-France Week 2011 in France.Organized by the Presidential Council on Nation Branding, the event, which consisted of a hanbok fashion show, a Korean gugak concert, and a re-enactment of the Joseon-era royal wedding ceremony, was presented in front of some 200 invited guests at the InterContinental Hotel Paris. French author Bernard Werber, whose books

Nov. 30, 2011

Doris Day sings out for first time in 17 years

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Doris Day, America’s pert, honey-voiced sweetheart of the 1950s and 1960s, beguiled audiences with her on-screen romances opposite top Hollywood leading men Cary Grant, Rock Hudson and Jack Lemmon.She adored and misses them all, says the 88-year-old Day. But her deepest yearning is reserved for her late son Terry Melcher, a record producer whose touch and voice are part of Day’s first album in nearly two decades.“Oh, I wish he could be here and be a part of it. I would just lo

Nov. 29, 2011

Faces from Africa

He may be from a country not everyone has heard of, but his paintings contain emotions everyone should be able to connect with.The faces in Eritrean artist Fitsum’s 20 oil paintings at “African Soul” in Gallery Tongkeun in Gwanhun-dong, central Seoul, portray universal feelings such as suffering and agony, depicted with bold strokes of vivid color.Eritrea is a small African country of less than 6 million people, situated next to Sudan to the west, Ethiopia to the south and Djibouti to the southe

Nov. 28, 2011

Exhibit showcases black photographer

PITTSBURGH (AP) ― Charles “Teenie’’ Harris had a photographic mission: going beyond the obvious or sensational to capture the essence of daily African-American life in the 20th centuryFor more than 40 years, Harris ― as lead photographer of the influential Pittsburgh Courier newspaper ― took almost 80,000 pictures of people from all walks of life: presidents, housewives, sports stars, babies, civil rights leaders and even cross-dressing drag queens.Now, a new exhibit and online catalog is showin

Nov. 28, 2011

Pictures of no place

Two German photographers showcase photos of life-size paper creations and renovated art museumGerman photographer Thomas Demand takes photos of places he has never been to, or things that no longer exist. The control room at Fukushima nuclear power plant and a parcel bomb sent to the U.S. from Yemen are clearly visible in his photos. But the photographer has never seen either with his own eyes. How is that possible? The secret reveals itself upon closer inspection: The photographer created life

Nov. 27, 2011

Calendar

Classical Music“Chung Kyung-wha: ‘She is Back’”: Violinist Chung will perform on Dec. 19, 21, 25 and 26 in Seoul and other Korean cities for her first solo recitals in the country in nine years. Suffering a finger injury five years ago, Chung has been unable to hold a solo performance for years, focusing on teaching at the Juilliard School in New York. Chung will be performing with American pianist Kevin Kenner, whom she calls “a great partner,” playing Mozart’s “Violin Sonata No. 21 in E Minor

Nov. 25, 2011

Not all pleased as Hallberg makes his Bolshoi debut

MOSCOW ― David Hallberg is off and running in Moscow. On Friday night he made history for the Bolshoi Ballet as the first American in a leading role on its historic stage in a new production of the fabled Russian ballet “The Sleeping Beauty.”And it’s not just any stage: Older than the United States and the jewel of Russian culture, the Bolshoi Theatre is newly restored for its 236th season.Hallberg, the American Ballet Theatre principal who is now also a premier dancer with the Bolshoi, and Russ

Nov. 24, 2011