Art company launches project to discover young creative talent


Artday has launched a project to discover young, promising artists and help them debut in the art market.

The online auction company, a subsidiary of the Herald Corp., is holding an exhibition of 15 young artists in their 20s and 30s from Aug. 15-31 both on its website and at a gallery in Seoul.

The Rising Artist Project serves as a platform to facilitate the sales of the young artists’ works, a feature that distinguishes it from other young talent contests or exhibitions.

Those selected consist of young artists who have been active in producing significant works of art and have frequently held solo exhibitions or participated in group exhibitions.

The 15 artists are Kwon Jae-hyun, Kim Min-ho, Do Myeong-jin, Park Sang-ah, Park Ju-young, Shin Ryang-seob, Lee So-yeon, Lee Seung-hyun, Lee Ji-hoo, Lee Jin-ah, Jeong Ji-hye, Jeong Hye-min, Chu Young-ae, Choi Ju-hee and Ha Ji-won.

The selection represents a great diversity in terms of materials they use, according to an exhibition curator.

The materials, considered a key tool to delivering artists’ messages, range from Lego blocks and fabric to plywood and ceramics.

Lee Seung-hyun, 32, recreated Piet Mondrian’s famous “Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow” with Lego blocks, which the artist says portrays Utopian imagination. Lee’s reinterpretation of Mondrian’s work challenges the authority of the artwork established since the 1930s and offers a fresh perspective to abstract art.

 

Kwon Jae-hyun’s backpack-shaped sculpture with zebra figures inside sarcastically expresses the sacrifices that nature has to make because of humanity’s desire for material possessions.

Jeong Hye-min creates a baseball park scene with wool fabric, cleverly creating shades by altering grains in the wool.

Ha Ji-won presents sculptures made with plywood. Ha first drew on the plywood, then broke it into pieces and reconstructed it into a complex figure. He compared the process of making it as establishing his identity.

Kang Min-ho depicts branches of a tree in detail, giving different features to each bough and twig by etching in copperplate and printing them for the final work.

Artday has set a price range for each artwork that is favorable for both artists and collectors. The price for each artwork ranges from 200,000 won to 1 million won ($175 to $885).

It also accepts credit card payments at the website (www.artday.co.kr) or at the exhibition, which will be held at the multi-culture space Ivy Star in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul.

Artday holds regular auctions frequently throughout the year, featuring top artists as well as up-and-coming young artists.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)