Meaning “The Twins” in Portuguese, Osgemeos is a Brazilian artist duo and brothers, Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo, whose graffiti works are internationally renowned. Having started out as graffiti artists, their art world of fantasies and dreams now encompasses paintings, video art and sculptures. At the pair’s first solo exhibition in Korea, “Osgemeos: You Are My Guest,” the artist duo invites visitors to their world dream. Upon entering the exhibition hall, &ld

Arts & Design Aug. 17, 2020

If you are an art lover, you might have been overwhelmed by the recent flood of online content that museums and galleries have posted on their websites or social media platforms. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, almost all museums were forced to close temporarily. Thus began their efforts to enhance online content, offering virtual exhibitions, online streaming services and online access to material from their archives about their collection and research. “Museums, museum profes

Arts & Design Aug. 16, 2020

Design company d’strict, which gained global attention in May with its immersive video art installation “Wave” at Coex K-pop Square, has launched a media artist unit “a-strict,” and is showcasing its first exhibition at Kukje Gallery, a commercial gallery in central Seoul. The commercial design company’s a’strict is a loose group of artistic creators from both inside and outside the company. The members are freely formed based on an art project, said

Arts & Design Aug. 14, 2020

Photographer Choi Kwang-ho’s solo exhibition brings you back to New York 30 years ago through more than 400 of his photographs. The ongoing exhibition at Gallery Ryugaheon in central Seoul -- a space dedicated solely to documentary photography -- showcases a variety of peoples’ lives in New York between 1988 and 1994, when the city was much rougher than it is now. Choi, 65, remembers those five years in New York as a passionate and precious time for him, living as a young and fea

Arts & Design Aug. 11, 2020

The Amorepacific Museum of Art -- a museum run by Korea’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific Group -- has unveiled its collection of antique art for the first time since its opening in 2018. The exhibition, “APMA, Chapter Two,” showcases a total of 1,500 artworks spanning from paintings, folding screens, ceramics, ornaments and clothing to wooden furniture from the prehistoric era to the modern times. The exhibition aims to shed light on the beauty of Korean traditional art throug

Arts & Design Aug. 10, 2020

The fragrance of Indian ink and old mulberry paper fills the studio of emographic artist Huh Hwe-tae in central Seoul. In the corner of his studio, sculptural works that he has been pursuing in recent years are laid aside. In the mid and late 2000s, Huh attracted global attention for his “emography” – a portmanteau of emotion and calligraphy. The term was coined by Ryu Byoung-hak -- an art critic and independent curator based in Seoul and Germany who also directed the Busa

Arts & Design Aug. 5, 2020

When South Korea was in political turmoil in the 1960s, after the Korean War and during the early days of the democracy movement, painter Lee Seung-jio (1941-1990) was at the center of the country’s avant-garde art scene. He introduced geometric abstraction painting with his “Nucleus” series, which he worked on for more than 20 years. The “Nucleus” paintings -- which looked like arrangements of pipes and were first showcased in 1967 -- came as a shock to Korea&rs

Arts & Design Aug. 3, 2020

The 2020 PLZ Festival kicked off Saturday near the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, in hopes of bringing peace in the Korean Peninsula. Standing for “Peace and Life Zone Festival,” it is the sole international music festival held at the DMZ. This year marks the second year for the festival, held under the theme “The Sound Within the Sound!” The festival is being held in five counties in Gangwon Province close to the DMZ, including Inje, Yanggu, Hwach

Performance July 30, 2020

Painter Shin Kum-rye is attracted by wild flowers -- blooms that persist despite a hostile environment. Of them, thistles are her favorite. “The leaves of thistles, they look quite defiant, which is really attractive to me. I feel like painting when I see this type of flowers,” Shin told The Korea Herald on Tuesday at Whanki Museum. The 94-year-old artist, who is based in Seoul, is holding a solo exhibition, “The Spirit of Painting” at the museum in central Seoul, s

Arts & Design July 30, 2020

In remembrance of the Korean War that resulted in the killing of several million civilians and the division of the Korean Peninsula, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea will screen films about the Korean War to mark the 70th anniversary this year at the Seoul venue in Jongno, central Seoul. The “Unflattening Screening Series” will begin on Wednesday and run through Sept. 20, with 20 films being screened from Wednesdays to Sundays at MMCA Film and Video, the t

Arts & Design July 28, 2020

Art Sonje Center -- a private art museum in Seoul recognized for experimental contemporary art exhibitions -- is showcasing three solo exhibitions by different artists. Bringing different displays to the museum, the three artists -- Camille Henrot, Lee Mi-re and Don Sun-pil -- guide visitors through diverse aspects of contemporary art. At the exhibition “Saturday, Tuesday,” French artist Henrot brings light to social issues in connection with the seven days of the week. “Tue

Arts & Design July 26, 2020

Korean modern art master Kim Whan-ki is widely known at home and abroad for his signature dot paintings. But it is little known that the artist was actually a poet as well, having penned a number of poems as “Suhwa,” and that he sought poetic features in his paintings. “What I have felt since arriving here is a poetic spirit. Art, I think, should contain songs,” Kim wrote in his journal in January 1957 while staying in Paris. “There are powerful songs in the wor

Arts & Design July 25, 2020

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea is showcasing the largest-ever exhibition for kids at its Gwacheon venue after reopening on Wednesday. The exhibition, “Driving into the Color,” is held at the circular gallery -- a 2,645 square-meter exhibition hall – and is dedicated exclusively to children. The exhibition consists of “The Exhibition Zone,” “Activity Zone,” and “Learning Zone.” At the exhibition zone, a total

Arts & Design July 22, 2020

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea will unveil its new exhibition “Project Hashtag 2020” at its Seoul venue, starting Friday. This is MMCA Seoul’s first exhibition after it reopens three venues -- Seoul, Deoksugung and Gwacheon -- in the Seoul metropolitan area on Wednesday as the COVID-19 pandemic shows signs of easing. The project, sponsored by Hyundai Motor, aims to promote young artist groups that collaborate across different fields of art. Amo

Arts & Design July 21, 2020

In the late 1970s, a group of young South Korean artists rebelled against the abstract art that was enjoying widespread popularity across the country. They believed the art world was overly focused on aesthetics at the expense of social issues. At the time, Korea was undergoing rapid industrialization and was ruled by an authoritarian military regime with no regard for human rights. In 1979, around 20 like-minded artists who believed that art should reflect the reality of people’s live

Arts & Design July 21, 2020