Daegu Art magazine (b)racket opened its annual group exhibition on Saturday, with the participation of 30 artists from six countries.

The (b)racket International Exhibition includes work by artists from Korea as well as South Africa, Canada, the U.S., U.K. and Honduras, in a variety of genres from sculpture and painting to photography.

“This exhibition, like the magazine, was started for the purpose of giving artists a platform to display their work. With each issue and event, we are building a community of artists and bringing people together through common interests and passion for art,” the magazine said.

The group exhibition has become an annual tradition for (b)racket, which was started in 2012 by local expats Jess Hinshaw and Chris Cote.

“Jess and Chris did this group show every year and this is the third. We can make the magazine and every year we want a group show,” said Chung.

“They made it a kind of tradition and I want it to grow.”

The exhibition usually shows artists that the magazine has featured, but this time about half the artists are newcomers, though Chung said that he planned to include some of them in the magazine’s December issue.

Chung said that he wanted to host a large show, but a large gallery or museum was unavailable. So he chose to use two galleries he runs and hire a third for a multi-venue show.

The result is a short walking tour of galleries, which he said made for a relaxed and informal atmosphere and brought people into the galleries.

“You can walk between them quite easily, but none of the galleries are very big,” he said.

“They enjoy it like a tour. Because this is the Bangchan Market area, and there are many tourists and other people walking around with them. They like the atmosphere.”

A seminar was also held to introduce the magazine, led by Cote, Chung and exhibition curator Sybille Cavasin.

“We started in 2012, so I wanted to show people about (b)racket’s history and how it can grow,” said Chung.

The show runs at Bcommunication, Space Bar and Project 9-21 in the Bangchan Market area until Sunday. For more information, visit bracketmagazinekorea.com.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)