Korean artists Lee Bul, Suki Seokyeong Kang and Anicka Yi -- are joining the main exhibition of 2019 Venice Biennale, titled “May You Live in Interesting Times” and curated by Ralph Rugoff.The three female Korean artists are among 83 artists -- with some working in pairs and groups -- who will have their works at the Ralph Rugoff-curated exhibition at two venues, the Giardini and the Arsenale.  “Untitled (Willing To Be Vulnerable - Velvet #6 DDRG24OC)” by Lee Bul (PKM Gallery)One of Korea’s most

Arts & Design March 11, 2019

A line of Vietnamese students walks toward a camera. The students in blue shirts are taking turns to recite something -- in Japanese, not Vietnamese as might be expected. What the Vietnamese students are reciting is the Feb. 8 Independence Declaration, a document originally read by some 300 Koreans in Japan in February 1919, a month before the March 1 Independence Movement saw Koreans taking to the streets shouting for independence from Japan’s colonial rule.  A scene from Hikaru Fujii’s “2.8 De

Arts & Design March 10, 2019

Big Bang’s Seungri will enlist in the Army as an active duty soldier at the end of this month, according to YG Entertainment on Friday.He will start his basic training at the Nonsan Army Training Center on March 25. The K-pop star had reportedly applied for a conscripted policeman service in January.  (Yonhap)“After checking with Seungri, (we found that) Seungri on Jan. 7 applied for a conscripted policeman position. However, he has decided to enlist as an active duty soldier, regardless of the

Arts & Design March 8, 2019

“History Has Failed Us, but No Matter.”This bold sentence from the 2017 novel “Pachinko” by Lee Min-jin, a National Book Award finalist, is the title of the Korean Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, director Kim Hyun-jin announced Tuesday at a press conference at the Arko Art Center in Seoul. 　 Kim Hyun-jin, director of the 58th Venice Biennale's Korean Pavilion, speaks during a press conference held on Tuesday at Arko Art Center in Seoul. Joining her, from left, are Siren Eun Young Jung, Nam

Arts & Design March 8, 2019

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea Director Youn Bum-mo unveiled plans for the state museum during a press conference held Tuesday at its main branch in Seoul. Cooperation with other state-led museums to nurture research and exhibition; cooperation with North Korea’s art institutions; globalization of Korean art; increasing research into Korean art and specializing the four separate museum venues topped the agenda for his three-year term.Details for execution we

Arts & Design March 6, 2019

Barakat Contemporary, Seoul-based Barakat Gallery’s modern and contemporary art venue, is introducing works by artist Robert Motherwell.The exhibition kicking off Wednesday will feature 23 artworks that Motherwell produced between 1958 and 1985, including those from his iconic painting series “Elegy to the Spanish Republic,” largely characterized by ovoids and vertical beams. “Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110C” (1968) by Robert Motherwell (Barakat Seoul) “Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 1

Arts & Design March 3, 2019

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo will perform “Cinderella” from June 12-14 at the Seoul Arts Center, the first time the company is performing in Korea in 14 years.“Cinderella” is one of the iconic choreographic works produced by the ballet company’s longtime director Jean-Christophe Maillot, who has produced more than 30 ballets for the company, including “Vers un Pays Sage (1995), “Romeo and Juliette” (1996), “The Sleeping Beauty” (2001), “Le Songe” (2005), “Altro Canto” (2006), “Faust” (2007) and “L

Performance Feb. 27, 2019

A train of cartoonish drawings by Lee Woo-sung encircles the gallery space of Ilmin Museum of Art. The small, square drawings, which look like cuts from a webtoon, or Instagram pictures, are fragments of the artist’s memory of photographs stored in his cellphone, the artist said.“Years ago, I started asking questions about the ways in which people store photographs on online social media and in their cellphones. Then, I thought I could just draw the photographs stored in my own one. I thought I

Arts & Design Feb. 26, 2019

Photographer Chris Jordan urges to people to face environmental crisis Environmental issues are an urgent matter that only this generation can address, according to photographer Chris Jordan.“We don’t have enough time to wait for the next generation to make the changes. There is a tremendous urgency. It has to be this generation who makes the changes to our behavior in a lot of different ways to protect life as we know it,” Jordan said during a press conference held Wednesday at the Sungkok Art

Arts & Design Feb. 24, 2019

The National Theater of Korea will hold screenings of Benedict Andrews’ production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and James Macdonald’s reinterpretation of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Edward Albee, from March 14 -24 at Daloreum Theater. The National Theater of Korea’s upcoming screenings of the two theater masterpieces are imports from National Theatre Live, the Royal National Theater’s program launched in 2009 to broadcast live performances of British theater works and

Performance Feb. 22, 2019

The Museum am Rothenbaum in Hamburg, Germany, will return a pair of Joseon era stone statues to South Korea, the Overseas Cultural Heritage Foundation announced Thursday.The two statues will be returned on March 19. Estimated to have been produced in the late 16th or early 17th century, the statues were initially believed to have been shipped to Germany after a German national acquired them from a local antique shop in Seoul in 1983. The museum purchased the pair in 1987. A pair of stone statues

Culture Feb. 21, 2019

In the contemporary art scene where everything -- installations and gallery spaces for instance -- tends to become bigger and bigger to achieve “spectacle” status, artist Don Sun-pil has brought miniature figurines of characters from cartoons, animations, games and other subculture productions into the gallery space. Don is holding a solo exhibition at Arario Museum’s underground gallery at Space, an iconic architectural gem from Kim Soo-geun in central Seoul.  Artist Don Sun-pil‘s “Next Back Do

Arts & Design Feb. 20, 2019

Knowing and witnessing are two different things. The former deals with thoughts, whereas the latter involves confronting reality up close. “Kill Ahn Young-ho” is a drama that forces the audience to confront the realities facing teenage runaways. By showing us this story of three marginalized young people who have run away from home and the violence and difficulties that pushed them onto the streets, the work invites the audience to empathize. Once you meet these alienated teenagers -- though the

Performance Feb. 18, 2019

Painter Bek Hyun-jin is holding a solo exhibition at PKM Gallery, titled “Work Song: Soil, Mattress and Waves.” The exhibition, which kicked off Friday at the gallery in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, comprises 65 recent paintings by Bek.Born in 1972, Bek is a multitalented artist who held his first solo exhibition in 1996. As the Uhuboo Project’s vocalist, he is also one of the first generation of local indie musicians, having worked on film soundtracks for internationally acclaimed directors Park Chan

Arts & Design Feb. 17, 2019

The latest exhibition at D Museum’s Hannam-dong branch, “I Draw” comes with 13 sections that have incorporated various design elements in line with the works of art displayed in each space.The 13 sections are designed by architect Kwon Kyung-min. Two local companies, COM and Craft Bros, have designed the interior details to match the mood that each section has. An installation view of “Mysterious Window” shows works by Pierre Le-Tan. (D Museum)An installation view of “The Drawing Room” shows wor

Arts & Design Feb. 14, 2019