Two Korean interdisciplinary artists -- Lee Mi-re and Jeong Geum-hyung -- will participate in the main exhibition of the upcoming Venice Biennale in April, which will take place at the Central Pavilion and Arsenale.

Lee and Jeon are among 213 artists from 58 countries who were invited to join the international exhibition, the main exhibition of the biennale where 80 countries will also showcase works through their national pavilions. Among the artists participating in the international exhibition, 180 are first-timers at the Venice Biennale, according to organizers.

Seoul- and Amsterdam-based Lee, born in 1988, studied sculpture at the Seoul National University College of Fine Arts and earned a graduate degree in media art there. Her recent exhibitions include “Carriers” at Art Sonje Center in Seoul, where she unveiled her new kinetic installation work using hose pumps, inspired by digestive systems in animals. 

Jeong, an installation artist, has explored and questioned the relationship between the human body and robotics or artificial intelligence. Having studied drama and music, she is also a choreographer and combines body movements with performative machines in her exhibitions. Born in 1980, she is the recipient of the 16th Hermes Foundation Missulsang in 2016.

The world’s biggest art exhibition will kick off on April 23 in Venice, with the pre-opening on April 20. The seven-month exhibition is curated by Cecilia Alemani under the theme of “The Milk of Dreams.” The Korean Pavilion is curated by Lee Young-chul and will show works by installation artist Kim Yun-chul who is also an electroacoustic music composer.

The title “The Milk of Dreams” was taken from a book by Leonora Carrington, in which, as Alemani explains on the biennale’s website, “the Surrealist artist describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity.”

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)