South Korean musician G-Dragon and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo are among the celebrities and artists from diverse genres featured on the second season of Chanel’s arts and culture podcast “Chanel Connects.” Moderated by model Park Soo-joo, one of the ambassadors for the fashion house, the episode titled “The Power of Sound and Vision” was the first-ever Korean language podcast for ”Chanel Connects.“ In the episode, G-Dragon and Hong talked about wh

Arts & Design June 14, 2022

The government is going through the works of art stored and displayed at Cheong Wa Dae, aiming to publish an art catalog and introduce works that have been collected since the Republic of Korea was established in 1948. “We are sorting through the artwork collected at Cheong Wa Dae. The results will be published as an art catalog, which is expected to come out this year,” an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism told The Korea Herald. Whether an exhibition of th

Arts & Design June 13, 2022

Artists are inspired in many ways. Media artist Alex Verhaest, whose first solo exhibition in South Korea is running at Barakat Seoul, was struck by her best friend Sofie Verraest’s doctoral dissertation on utopian ideas. The dissertation, “Eutopia Unbound: Imagining Good Places in Narratives from 1945 to the Present,” claims that four types of utopias -- communitarianism, futurism, isolationism and hedonism -- appear in the modernist imaginations of postwar-Western literatur

Arts & Design June 12, 2022

Yoo In-taek, head of the Seoul Arts Center, sees the potential of “gagok” -- a genre of Korean vocal music with poetry -- as many feel nostalgic for the nearly forgotten genre of music in South Korea. “We have a 100-year history of gagok, which may be remembered by the older generations. Some 15 million people from the older generations have nostalgia about gagok they used to learn in class and hear in their childhood. We are planning for performances of gagok targeting tho

Culture June 9, 2022

Actor Gang Dong-won was skeptical at first as to whether the sentiment that flows in the heartwarming film “Broker” would come across well to Western audiences, although the film touches on the universal subject of abandoned children. “I was surprised to see audiences at Cannes Film Festival crying while watching the movie. I was relieved that the film received recognition,” the veteran actor said Wednesday during the interview held in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul. G

Film June 8, 2022

When singer-actress Lee Ji-eun played single mother So-young in “Broker,” she constantly thought about a special viewer she has known since filming at an orphanage when she was a teenager. “I met many children there, but there is a friend who is especially close to me. I had to think if any line or acting in the film could hurt that friend’s feelings,“ Lee said during a press interview Tuesday at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul. Some trepidation remain

Film June 8, 2022

When painter Kim Whan-ki (1913-1974) headed to New York City in 1963, the city was emerging as a new global art mecca attracting artists from around the world. Kim spent the rest of his life there, delving into abstract art and further developing the poetic approach to painting that he had begun exploring in Paris in the late 1950s. New York City was unfamiliar to the Korean-born artist. There were few artists from his home country who settled in the city and witnessed the latest developments

Arts & Design June 6, 2022

Craftworks made in collaboration between Korean artisans and Italian designers will be on display at Korean Craft 2022, which will be held during Milan Design Week 2022, a major design art fair due to take place June 6 to 12. The 10th edition of Korean Craft will showcase works that feature different beauty ideals realized by Korean artisans and Italian designers. Among the works on display will be the “Altar for offering to the gods” series created by Korean brassware artisans L

Arts & Design May 30, 2022

Artists are constantly expanding their own artistic world. Some defy conventional art to differentiate themselves, like South Korea’s avant-garde pioneer Lee Seung-taek and British pop artist Philip Colbert, who are both currently showcasing new works in Seoul. 　While Lee is known as a progenitor of Korea’s conceptual art from the 1950s, Colbert is an emerging British pop artist who has been expanding the realm of pop art to virtual reality. 　Born in 1932, Lee began working in i

Arts & Design May 30, 2022

Leeum Museum of Art has announced artist Cha Jea-min as the winner of “Artspectrum 2022,” the museum’s biennial exhibition that aims to introduce emerging young artists. The exhibition has been a gateway for many Korean artists who enjoy international renown today. The museum’s first exhibition of the year presented eight emerging Korean artists from different fields of art -- video artist Cha Jea-min, installation artist Kim Dong-hee, participatory artist Kim Mo, insta

Arts & Design May 28, 2022

If you are a big fan of director Tim Burton or an even bigger fan of his “Edward Scissorhands,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” or “Alice in Wonderland,” you won’t want to miss a special exhibition now in Seoul. “The World of Tim Burton” traces the footsteps of the iconic American director, presenting around 520 of Burton’s unique artworks across mediums such as paintings, drawings and photos. As part of the retrospective’s

Arts & Design May 27, 2022

Lee Hwa-rang, a 26-year-old Seoul resident, considered herself “completely illiterate” when it came to art. That is, before she became a fan of rapper Kim Nam-joon, or RM from BTS, a well-known art collector. She then started to take what the fandom calls the “RM Tour” -- visiting the museums and galleries he frequents. “I started to go to exhibitions last year. At first, I was curious what he would have felt seeing those art works,” Lee said. “I tho

Arts & Design May 25, 2022

Jeju Biennale 2022 will take place across Jeju Island in November, addressing the message of living in harmony with all creatures and respecting nature, discourses that rose to the surface in the aftermath of the pandemic. The third edition of the biennale, helmed by artistic director Park Nam-hee, will evolve around the theme “Flowing Moon, Embracing Land,” taking place at the two main venues, Jeju Museum of Art and Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, from Nov. 16 to Feb. 12. The

Arts & Design May 19, 2022

When Kwon Jin-kyu (1922-1973) returned to his homeland of Korea in 1959, he was already an acclaimed sculptor in Japan. At age 37, he left behind many opportunities and headed home to take care of his elderly mother in Korea. He also harbored a strong desire to explore his own art in his homeland. Kwon pursed the archaic medium of terracotta and lacquer, which were not commonly used for sculptures at the time in Korea. Terracotta is a durable material naturally resistant to mold and bacter

Arts & Design May 17, 2022

GRAY, a US gallery based in Chicago and New York, was one of the most popular galleries at Art Busan 2022, with visitors stopping by its booth to take a selfie in front of David Hockney’s 8.7-meter-long photographic drawing and view Pablo Picasso‘s “Tete d‘homme et nu assis.” “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to exhibit at Art Busan in person. The last art fair we did in person in Asia was Art Basel Hong Kong in 2019, and it is great to be back

Arts & Design May 15, 2022