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Category Archives: Other exhibitions

Francesca Cho in “Free Words”

04-Jul-08

Francesca Cho: Little dream garden (installation)

Francesca Cho will be participating in the group exhibition at the Mayfair Public Library, 15 - 31 July. The event is part of London Biennale.

This is the first exhibition to be held in the library space and complements nicely the National Year of Reading. ‘Free words’ explores the censored word, printed matter and use of language as means of expression, through the interpretations of five artists, with site specific installations, painting, photography and sound pieces:

  • Marisol Cavia
  • Francesca Cho
  • Sumer Erek
  • Marko Stepanov
  • Katie Sollohub

Mayfair Public Library is at 25 South Audley Street, Mayfair, London W1K 2PB [Map]. Opening hours 11am-7pm weekdays, 10:30am-2:00pm Saturdays.

Links:

Free Words flyer

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Union Gallery launches Sea Hyun Lee catalogue

18-Jun-08

The Union Gallery behind Tate Modern has been showing Sea Hyun Lee’s vivid red landscapes since last month. Katie Kitamura has been beavering away on a catalogue for the exhibition. That’s now ready, giving an opportunity for a mid-show celebration: the catalogue will be launched at an evening event on 26 June, 6:00-9:00pm.

The Union’s press release follows:

Sea Hyun Lee: Between Red 10

UNION is pleased to launch a new catalogue by Korean artist Sea Hyun Lee.

Sea Hyun Lee’s paintings are a constant and obsessive shuffling of recurring fragments. His unmistakable series of landscapes are rendered in delicate but pervasive washes of red - large swaths of unmarked white meandering between islands of crimson land. The blank spaces are harshly set against the carefully detailed fragments in red yet cohering into the flawless totality that is created by each painting.

This body of work endlessly revisits and reconstitutes the landscape of the DMZ - The Demilitarized Zone cutting across the Korean Peninsula that acts as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. Reworking fragments of terrain, blocks of land and water, Lee creates a world functioning according to the logic of its own terms. In this sense, it is a world that is entirely hermetic - appropriately so, considering that the territory Lee depicts is defined by the very impregnability of its borders:

When I was serving my mandatory military service, I would be in a tactical area at night, close to the border. I would wear night vision goggles, which coated everything in red. The forests and trees felt so fantastic and beautiful. It was unrealistic scenery filled with horror and fear, and with no possibility of entering.

Lee’s painting functions both on a political and on an aesthetic level. The symbols employed in his work - whether it is the filter of red or the way in which each of his imagined landscapes combine elements of both the North and South Korean mountain ranges into a seamless single landscape - set the visual terms of his paintings, while also delivering a concise political message.

These are also deeply personal works that reference Lee’s own sense of the past and its losses. Here, Lee tarries with two familiar ideas: nostalgia and utopia. But he avoids approaching either with mere simplicity or mere skepticism. Instead, his paintings are infused with a sophisticated sense of nostalgia, and a wry idea of utopia.

Sea Hyun Lee was born in Geoje Island, South Korea in 1967. Graduating from M.F.A Chelsea College, London in 2006, he currently lives and works in London. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Neuberger Museum of Art, New York; Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; Susak Expo, Island of Susak, Croatia; Museum of Hunabaci, Japan.

For more information please contact: +44 (0)20 7928 3388 or: info [at] union-gallery [dot] com

The Union is at 57 Ewer Street, London SE1 0NR, underneath the railway arches.

Links:

Sea Hyun Lee: Between Red 33, 2007

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Maps political and pictorial

16-Jun-08

I’m sorry I never had any time to write up the Map exhibition at the KCC properly. Alas, it’s over now. I managed to miss most of Beth McKillop’s informative talk, and never had the chance to persuade Shin Eunjeong to show me around. If I get a moment I’ll do a quick Reader’s Digest version of the catalogue, but in the meantime here’s the map I found most fun - because it’s a little bit controversial.

North West Korea, whole map

It looks innocuous enough to start with. Here’s the little label that goes with it.

Map description

Sorry it’s a bit blurred, but you can read it.

A nice pretty pictorial map. The coastline has nice pretty crinkly edges. It’s not a terribly good photo, but I think you can just make it out. In the centre of the map is Mount Baekdu, with Lake Cheonji clearly visible in the middle:

Mount Baekdu

Enough to stir any Korean’s heart with pride and yearning, and maybe not a little han.

We were told some of the background to this map. It’s the early Qing Dynasty. Choson Korea didn’t particularly like those uncivilised Qing. They’d just unceremoniously booted out the nice civilised Ming emperors. Mapping the borderlands between Choson Korea and Qing China was a matter of some importance; a matter of national security.

Hang on a moment.

Mount Baekdu’s in the middle of the map. You can just make out the Yalu River flowing south west from the mountain.

And what is that line running parallel with the Yalu and Tumen Rivers, maybe a hundred miles to the north and west of the current border with China? (Click to expand)

Line of forts

It’s a line of fortifications.

Does that mean Choson Korea claimed the carefully drawn territory within that line of fortifications? Even if not, the map suggests that there was some sort of buffer zone between the Yalu and the “border” delineated by the forts. Don’t tell the Chinese.

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KCC previews Seoul: World Design Capital 2010

16-Jun-08

Notice of an upcoming exhibition in the Korean Cultural Centre, coinciding with the London Festival of Architecture 2008.

LFA logoThe London Festival of Architecture 2008 (20 June - 20 July 2008) will be the biggest event of its kind in the world with over 400 events happening throughout London. As part of the brilliant festival, Korean Cultural Centre UK and the Seoul Metropolitan Government present an exhibition entitled “U-Design City: Seoul” (20 June- 2 August) at the Korean Cultural Centre UK.

The Korean Cultural Centre is to be transformed, becoming the exhibition as visitors are given a glimpse into the future as Korea prepares for Seoul to become the World Design Capital of 2010. Media tables, Image poles, a scale model of World Design Capital and the annals of history of architecture in Seoul will form the physical aspect of the exhibition, with pictures, projections, videos and more.

World Design Plaza, designed by Zaha Hadid

The U-Design City of tomorrow is Seoul’s dream of is a sustainable city that is comfortable to live in and has a design industry and activities that are advanced in aesthetic, functional, environmental, and social aspects (Universal); a city of the future that allows for a seamless flow of communication to reach anybody, anywhere and anytime (Ubiquitous); an attractive city that has a distinctive identity based on design assets (Unique); and a city that is created based on the participation of each citizen and their creativity (by U).

The WDC™: Cultivating a Culture of Design

The IDA (International Design Alliance)and Icsid (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) established the World Design Capital (WDC) competition to promote and encourage the use of design to further the social, economic and cultural development of the world’s cities. In this spirit, the WDC honours one such city, recognising the achievements that promote innovative design, and use design to revitalise and reinvent its urban environment.

While many other awards recognise individual accomplishments in design, the WDC designation is unique as it aims to focus on the broader essence of design’s impact on urban spaces, economies and citizens. On October 20th, 2007, the Icsid held in San Francisco announced that Seoul was selected as The World Design Capital in 2010.

Becoming World Design Capital is both an honour and an extremely precious opportunity for us to challenge ourselves to meet high expectations. In the year 2010, Seoul will be ready to be showcased as a global design city for the entire world to see.

World Design Plaza

Seoul detailed the steps for implementation of the “World Design Capital Seoul in 2010” project, establishing a foundation in 2008; making substantial preparations in 2009; and realising the Dream of the WDC in 2010.

World Design Plaza, designed by Zaha Hadid

As a main project, Seoul is currently building the World Design Plaza, which is a central design support facility, in the heart of the city, while revitalising the city’s design through extensive urban projects, promoting the interaction of its citizens in its design, and actively promoting design education both in Korea and around the world. World Design Plaza which is designed by Zaha Hadid will be completed in 2010.

SeoulSeoul intends to bring to life each of its design visions. It aims to become a global design hub by continuing to make tangible results as the World Design Capital after 2011, through the operation of the World Design Plaza.

Exhibition Contents

  • Explanation & Image Panels of World Design City Seoul 2010
  • Introduction of architectural model DDP designed by London-based architect Zaha Hadid
  • Architectural history of Seoul for 100 years
  • Four visions of the exhibition and the WDC 2010 Seoul

Links:

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Ten contemporary Korean artists you should know

09-May-08

Contemporary Korean Art from the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea
Korean Cultural Centre, 1 Northumberland Avenue, through 16 May 2008. Free Admission
Review by Grace Kim

Korean Contemporary Art has become something of a recent phenomenon in the western art world, despite developing in Korea with influences from abroad for over 40-50 years. The Korean War, its aftermath, national reconstruction and economic development caused both a disruption and then a subsequent burgeoning of creativity, which has redefined the Korean peninsula as traditional, ancient and eastern, yet international, innovative and modern.

The Contemporary Korean Art Exhibition at the Korean Cultural Centre, Northumberland Avenue near Trafalgar Square, includes works of 35 established and emerging artists in different media and styles, exploring the themes of globalisation, alienation, materialism, mechanisation, the change, loss or hybridisation of identity, the uses and implications of technology, and the meaning and symbolism inherent in the new iconography, media or artistic process itself.

The KCC exhibition provides a broad overview of what’s happening in Korean Comtemporary Art and makes for the general viewer or novice an accessible and interesting introduction to this hugely dynamic and diverse field. The Cultural Centre offered an excellent lecture by Dr. Sook-Kyung Lee, Curator in the Exhibition and Display department, Tate Britain, explaining the general history and background development, and the show was curated by Seungmin Kim, KCC Exhibitions Manager, who drew pieces from the National Art Bank, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Korea.

The exhibition would take an experienced but not expert viewer of modern art about 30 minutes to an hour to visit and digest. The catalogue also serves as an excellent, quick and thorough guide to the show. The show is divided into three main parts: Embedded in Eastern Philosophy, Western Symbolism Fused with Local Ideas, Inspired by Ideology and Politics of Korea Today. For a 30 minute tour at lunch hour, I would suggest the following:

Park Seo-bo, Myobop, 2006, texture printed

Seo-bo Park, b. 1931, Myobob (Ecriture) 2006 Texture Printed, Copyright 2008 National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.

Seo-bo Park, b. 1931, Myobob (Ecriture) 2006 Texture Printed
The small print, with its repetition of lines and striations which create an almost magnetic colour field– typifies the style and themes that preoccupied one of the great Korean Modernists. His work is usually on a larger scale and based on the traditional Korean philosophy and aesthetics of wholeness and unity. The richness of texture and color in the paper add an eastern expressionism to the abstract minimalist drawing.

Seung-ho Yoo, b. 1973, Love, soft breeze (2004) Pencil on Paper. The drawing looks from a distance to be light and airy ink strokes from a calligraphy pen, representing birds in flight or a swarm of flying insects. It is actually composed of tiny Hangul characters, similar to dots of pointilism or stipple, but gently combines words with image and shape, like his other drawings of a mountain or landscape.

Myeung-ro Youn, b. 1936, Tableau MVI-815 (2006) Lithograph. The artist uses powder ground from stone to create the visual effect of ink painting, evocative of traditional landscape or natural materials, such as stone, wood, water, marble.

Youn Young-myo, Tableau, 2006

Myeung-ro Youn, b. 1936, Tableau MVI-815 (2006) Lithograph. Copyright 2008, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.

Myung-duck Joo, b. 1940, Daegiri (2005) Colour R Print. A departure from the artist’s established medium of choice, black and white photography, this print is quite dense and dark, not immediately recognisable as a colour photograph. Daegiri conveys the first impression of a painting, treating trees and forest as almost a fabric or mood, and thus creates a mysterious, atmospheric, brooding work.

Hye-rim Lee, b. 1963, Lash (2005) DVD Projection and Sound. This feminist video operates on a subversive, slightly disturbing inversion of Asian sexual stereotyping and virtual reality fantasy. The TOKI cyborg represents the typical, freakishly cute, anime femme, an alien beauty, who seduces with the blink of her eye lashes and the harsh, cracking sound of a whip, contrasted with the hypnotic feminine pastels swirling in the background.

Jung-heun Kim, b.1946, A long horned beetle, A Fly, and Resistance (2003) Acrylic on Canvas. The painting, historical and political, refers to the Japanese Imperial occupation and the Donghak Peasant Uprising of 1894. However, unlike most war paintings or political art, death, bloodshed, resistance are not depicted with overt, gruesome violence and horror, or propagandist kitsch. The fly and the beetle, dots of red, brown, green are superimposed over the image of guns and army.

Duk-Jun Kwak, b. 1937. Special Issues (1974 -1998) Silk Screens. The artist places the lower portion of his face wearing sunglasses over Time magazine covers showing the heads of U.S. Presidents, Ford, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton — omitting Carter, who famously vowed to withdraw American troops from South Korea. The dark glasses and attire of the artist may imply the look of a third world military dictator, and in spite of his coincidental resemblance to Park Chung-hee, Kwak avers the work is not political.

Ha Kwang-suk, Pond, 2003

Kwang-suk Ha, b. 1970, Pond (2003) Copyright 2008, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.

Kwang-suk Ha, b. 1970, Pond (2003) Video installation, powder sugar. This pleasant, artificial replication of a goldfish pond allows a moment of calm and reflection amid the hectic surroundings of Trafalgar Square, Embankment tube station, or Seoul, Korea. Set in a dark room of its own, Pond utilizes the sculptural surface of sand on the floor, illuminated by DVD projection of fish swimming in a bowl.

Jung-ju An, b. 1979, Their War - 3 (2005) Single Channel Video (5 mins.)
The short but unsettling video shows the Pakistani and Indian military meeting at the Joint Check Post at the Wagah border crossing, which recalls the stand-off at Panmunjom between North and South Korea. The jarring repetition of stomping, grunting and jerking movements express the universal tension and ritual of military, political conflict and division.

Myung-keun Koh, b. 1964, Stone body-33 (2006) Film and Plastic. Quite haunting and beautiful, the sculpture represents the delicate, transient nature of life and beauty as well as the complex relationship between mind, spirit and body, using translucent films of classical western sculptures wrapped around a hollow plastic box. The graceful, ghostlike figures seem almost trapped inside the misty ephemera of the plastic coffin.

Koh Myung-keun, Stone Body, 2006

Myung-keun Koh, b. 1964, Stone body-33 (2006) Copyright 2008, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.

The Korean Cultural Centre exhibition is on loan from the National Museum of Contemporary Art, (MOCA) Korea which was founded in 1969, opening at Gyeongbokgung in Seoul. Four years later, the Museum moved to Seokjojeon of Deoksugung, also in Seoul. By 1986, the Museum had expanded again and moved into its new buildings in Gwacheon and later, in 1998, the Deoksugung Museum Annex of MOCA was opened. The Museum presents the exhibitions of its permanent collection, special exhibitions to focus on specific themes and to exchange exhibitions with major museums throughout the world. The many Contemporary Korean Art works on view at this exhibition make a visit to the Korean Cultural Centre a pleasant and worthwhile lunch time break or unhurried morning or afternoon.

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Contemporary Korean Art gallery talk

21-Apr-08

If you’re free this Friday afternoon it’ll be well worth going along to the KCC to hear Dr Lee Sook-Kyung talk about the current exhibition of works from the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea. Dr Lee previously worked as an assistant curator at the museum and is now at Tate Liverpool. The talk is at the KCC on Friday 25 April at 2pm.

As usual, pre-registration is required by phoning 0207 004 2600 or emailing info at kccuk dot org dot uk

As it’s during office hours, I’m not going to be able to go to this one, so if any reader goes along and feels like writing a report, please let me know. Perhaps Dr Lee could explain how a Korean comes to make an aluminium sculpture of a muzzled pit-bull cocking its leg.

Park Chan-yong: Dogs facing (2003)

Park Chan-yong: Dogs facing (2003)

Links

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Lee Ufan at Lisson Gallery

26-Mar-08

A notice of an upcoming exhibition at the Lisson Gallery

Lee Ufan: Relatum - Discussion (2003). Four iron plates and four stones

Lee Ufan
2 April — 10 May 2008
52-54 & 29 Bell Street

Lisson Gallery is pleased to present new works by Lee Ufan in his latest solo exhibition in London. One of the most significant Asian artists of his generation, Lee’s exploration of “the art of emptiness” results in works of beautiful and thought provoking simplicity.

This exhibition will use the three gallery spaces in their entirety incorporating new paintings and works on paper and a selection of sculptures from the last twenty years. Following his critically acclaimed solo exhibition at the 52nd Venice Biennale last year, Lee’s new paintings continue his “Correspondance” and “Dialogue” series: minimal white canvases that are defined by one or sometimes two broad grey brushstrokes. Lee’s methodology is reductive and based on an utter concentration on essential elements.

Gesture and the body play a key role in the making of his paintings, during which Lee crouches on a wooden plank placed over the surface of the canvas. Each brushstroke is applied slowly and is composed of several layers of crushed stone mixed with pigment.

Where the brush first makes contact with the canvas, the paint is thick, forming a “ridge” that gradually becomes lighter. Rarely does his brush touch the surface more than three times. Lee has said “When I make a brush mark on the canvas, I hold my breath, I concentrate and I pray that my hand, the brush and the canvas will be in harmony.”

Lee Ufan’s sculptural work explores emptiness and the void. Consisting of untreated materials like stone and iron, the sculptural compositions are silent yet suggestive. They manipulate the space that they inhabit and so condition the viewer’s perception of it. Like the paintings, Lee’s sculptures share a similar treatment of space and use of colour. These works express his preoccupation with the relationship between the painted and the unpainted, the made and the unmade, the interior and the exterior.

Born in Korea in 1936, Lee Ufan divides his time between Kamakura, Japan and Paris, France. Artist, theorist, poet and teacher, he is one of the founders of the avant garde Mono-ha (Object School) group. Lee Ufan received the UNESCO Prize at the Shanghai Biennale in 2000; the Ho-Am Prize of the Samsung Foundation in Korea in 2001; and the 13th Praemium Imperiale for painting in 2001. Major exhibitions of Lee Ufan’s recent painting and sculpture were held at the Yokohama Museum of Art in September 2005 and the Musée d’art Moderne Saint-Etienne in France in December 2005. The Kunst Situation, a museum associated with Bochum University in Germany, opened in November 2006 with a gallery devoted to a permanent installation of Lee Ufan’s paintings and a garden of his sculpture.

On the occasion of this exhibition, Lisson Gallery will publish the third edition of Lee Ufan’s collected writings The Art of Encounter (translated into English).

Visitor Information
Lisson Gallery 29 & 52-54 Bell Street, London, NW1 5DA
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm; Sat 11am-5pm
Admission: Free
Nearest Tube Station: Edgware Road

Links:

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Contemporary Art showcase at KCC

20-Mar-08

A press release from the Korean Cultural Centre:

27 March -16 May

Contemporary Korean Art: From the National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea

Contemporary Korean Art marks the Korean Cultural Centre UK’s second exhibition since its opening in January 2008. As a platform for the promotion and development of the Republic of Korea’s unique visual and popular culture, and in keeping with the escalating international interest in Korean art, the exhibition aims to highlight the key movements, thematic concerns and stylistic explorations of Korea’s dynamic contemporary art scene.

The exhibition not only serves as an introduction to some of Korea’s most innovative and challenging artists through this diverse selection of 35 works from Korea’s National Museum of Contemporary Art, but also seeks to create a dialogue of cultural exchange, encouraging the viewers to question and interact with the works just as the works evolve and develop through these new and diverse perspectives.

The selection of works plays on the seemingly oppositional dynamic of Korea’s rich cultural heritage and its contemporary vibrancy, emphasising the intersections as well as tensions that shape these discourses. The exhibition is divided into three sections and shed light on the complex narratives that inform the visual tendencies of Korean art today. The first section is a collection of works whose visual or conceptual nature stems from the traditional influence of Eastern philosophy; the second section introduces works that fuse Western symbolism or visual forms with that a Korean aesthetic sensibility; and the last section provides a unique perspective of contemporary political and social issues, coloured by global and local events in today’s increasingly globalised world.

The first section, ‘Embedded in Eastern Philosophy’, outlines the traditional artistic influences that underlie much of Korea’s contemporary art. Through an emphasis on philosophical reflection and a meditation on process, form and graphic execution, artists like Seo-bo PARK draw on the almost ritual procedures of art-making to allude to a sense of unity and wholeness, a fusion of idea and material. His intricate print ‘Myobop’ (Ecriture) dramatises these notions and invites the viewer to become engrossed in the rhythmic and dense patterning of artistic action. Traditional technologies and an attention to craftsmanship are also seen in Kyu-sun CHA’s work ‘Landscape’, derived from traditional Buncheong ceramic techniques.

The question of cultural hybridity is addressed in the section ‘Western Symbolism Fused with Local Ideas’. The use of new artistic media such as video, installation and performance together with images and stylistic tendencies of Western artistic visual forms, are integrated with Korean cultural concerns. Kwang-suk HA’s work ‘Pond’ references the Christian symbolism of fish, projected onto the floor of the exhibition space itself, while simultaneously alluding to Eastern painterly tradition and one of its most common motifs in artistic representation. The changing landscape of the modern Korean metropolis is the subject of Sun-hee LIM(b.1975)’s work ‘Wonder-I’, suggestive of the persuasiveness of mass media and advertising and the unstoppable processes of technology and modernisation. Hye-rim LEE’s femme-bot ‘Lash’ draws on stereotypical notions of Asian beauty and deals with the mechanical proliferation of these images in mass culture.

The last section, ‘Inspired by the Ideology and Politics of Korea Today’, addresses the weighty subject matter of Korea’s history and its place in the world today. With works that deal with topics ranging from the Imperialistic Japanese occupation, the division of North and South Korea and the dictatorship of military governments, this section give voice to the commonality of people seeking historical truth. The artists use allegory and irony towards questioning globalisation, capitalism and geo-political realities. Duk-Jun KWAK super-imposes his own face onto images of American presidential candidates, whereas Jung-ju AN’s intriguing video of Pakistani paramilitary troopers with their Indian counterparts de-localises the North and South Korean divide, drawing attention the pervasiveness of these discords in many parts of the world.

The exhibition thus paints a portrait of contemporary Korean life, with its numerous complexities, subtleties and the processes of personal identity and cultural questioning that are necessary to change and progress. The dynamism and diversity of these works attests to the ways in which artists explore their position between tradition and modernity in a fast developing society and an ever changing world.

Works by the following artists will be on display:

An Jung-ju / An Se-kweon / Cha Kyu-sun / Ha Kwang-suk / Han Ki-joo / Joo Myung-duck / Jung Boc-su / Kang Ai-ran / Kim Chang-young / Kim Hae-min / Kim Jin-ah / Kim Jung-heun / Kim Sang-gil / Kim Sang-woo / Koh Myung-keun / Koh San-keum / Koo Sung-soo / Kwak Duck-Jun / Lee Hye-rim / Lee In-hee / Lee Jeong-lok / Lee Ji-hyun / Lee So-young / Lim Sun-hee / Park Chan-yong / Park Heung-soon / Park Hyung-jin / Park Seo-bo / Park So-young / Park Young-gyun / Shin Jin-sik / Shin Moon-yong / Sohn Jin-ah / Yoo Seung-ho / Youn Myeung-ro

Links:

  • Read Grace Kim’s review of the show here.
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Korean artists in South Bank group shows

18-Mar-08

Kwon Dae Hun: Lost in the Forest

First, those who missed Kwon Dae-hun’s intriguing paper-and-light sculptures (above: Lost in the Forest) at I-MYU last year have a second opportunity to view his work at a Coin Street gallery.

The exhibition Electric Blue at Bargehouse near the OXO tower runs from 13 - 30 March.

Electric Blue is a cleverly engineered sensory and interactive art exhibition from over 30 creative and inventive national and international artists. Artwork has been carefully selected from all over the UK and overseas. The exhibition features light, sound and interactive installations, photography and paintings, site specific artwork, live performances and sculpture.

The Bargehouse is at Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, London SE1 9PH.

Second, another 30 artists from around the world are exhibiting in the group show Laughing in a Foreign Language at the Hayward Gallery, which continues until 13 April. The Korean artist is Gimhongsok.

Links:

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Choi Young-rim at the Deoksu palace

12-Mar-08

In the grounds of the Deoksugung in downtown Seoul is an outpost of the National Museum of Contemporary Art. Maybe your average sightseer interested in palace architecture is not interested in popping in to see some paintings. But the exhibition currently showing is well worth a visit.

The exhibition showcases two artists — one Japanese, one Korean — and explores the similarities and differences between them. Inevitably there is a large number of parallels to be drawn as the Korean — Choi Young-rim (최영림) (1916-1985) — was a pupil of the Japanese — Munakata Shiko (1903-1975) — and the two seemed to maintain a friendship over the years: on display at the exhibition is some of the correspondence between the two.

From the story of Shimchong. Choi Young Rim (1967) 85 x 81 cm

Choi was born in Pyongyang. While he is generally known for his post-war output, he was also active in the 1930s and early 40s. He was a member of Group Jooho, which held and annual exhibition in Pyongyang from 1940 until liberation, and included the now highly collectible Park Soo-keun (1914-1965). These group shows commemorated the death of woodblock artist Choi Ji-won in 1940. It was through Choi Ji-won that Choi Young-rim met Munakata Shiko in 1935, and went to study with him in Tokyo in the late 1930s.

Season. Choi Young Rim (1961) 83 x 46 cmChoi Young-rim came south during the Korean war. While he continued to develop work in woodblock, for which his mentor Munakata Shiko was so famous, he also began to focus more on painting. None of the pre-liberation output of Choi survives, and the exhibition at the Deoksugung starts with his 1950s output. The initial room indicates that Choi had yet settled down into a recognisable style. But soon comes the exploration of “earth painting”. The colours of these oils are various shades of ochre, and the rough, grainy texture of the paint on the canvas looks as if the work has been painted on sand or coarse concrete. According to Kim Youngna [1], Choi was

fascinated by surface texture[. He] primed his canvases with an earth-colored mixture of soil and glue or covered them with rough cloth, before painting in oil on it.

Mercy of Buddha. Choi Young Rim (1967) 97 x 130 cm

The subject matter of these more mature works are Buddhist in nature (Mercy of Buddha, above), or depicting Korean folk tales such as Shimchong-ga (top), or robustly rounded and primitive studies of the female form. Choi continued in this style, and, at least on the evidence of this retrospective, was not pushed off course by some of the more abstract counter-currents of the informel movement.

While much of the subject matter of the works are pastoral, folk or religious, one painting stands out: Choi’s Korean War (1974) which has a somewhat chaotic composition slightly reminiscent of Picasso’s Guernica and while much of the work is in Choi’s trademark earthy colours, the soldier is in an unnatural purple.

1950.6.25 Korean War. Choi Young Rim (1974) 144 x 96 cm

The exhibition at the Deoksu Palace continues until 30 March. The ground floor is devoted to the Korean paintings, while upstairs houses Munakata Shiko’s work. The exhibition is well worth a detour.

Links

  • Deoksu Palace Art Museum website (Korean only and, like many Korean websites, designed to reinforce the Microsoft stranglehold)
  • Deoksugung branch page of National Museum of Contemporary Art website (in English, but unfortunately the website has no easily findable information about exhibitions at the Deoksu museum)
  1. 20th Century Korean Art, Lawrence King, 2005, p180[back]
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Art for the People, Art by the People

07-Mar-08

Beccy Kennedy muses on an unnoticed exhibition at the Korean Cultural Centre:
Korean Folk Painting on White Porcelain : Kim So Sun
(30 January – 28 March 2008)

There is another exhibition on at the new Korean Cultural Centre at the moment and it doesn’t involve vociferous video installations by trans-cultural 20th century big wigs. In fact, there are several potential exhibitions contained within the same space that generates Good morning Mr Nam June Paik. The other titled exhibition to which I am actually referring resides in the basement area, above the PC library, as if a part of Jeong Hwa Choi’s eclectic interior design scheme, rather than a discernible display in itself. It is a contemporary show of what is often referred to as Minhwa - ‘People Ar’ or ‘Folk Art’, by Kim So Sun.

Blue Tiger. Kim So Sun. 33 x 45 cmBlue Tiger. Kim So Sun 33 x 45 cmRed Tiger. Kim So Sun. 33 x 45 cmRed Tiger. Kim So Sun 33 x 45 cm

This is the first time in Britain I have seen contemporary Korean folk painting, as opposed to older examples, often from the late Chosun Dynasty, provided in the British Museum, the V & A, the Korean Embassy or as decoration for Korean restaurants. Minhwa does not just provide a site for exploring ‘traditional’ Korean culture in the form of: Shamanistic healing rituals, the community worship of natural spirits and the multi-sacred mix of auspicious Confucian, Buddhist and Shamanist iconography, depicted in visually stunning earth found primary colours. Minhwa demonstrates the diverse and fulfilling spirit of culture in contemporary Korea. Wander round the streets by Inwangsan Mountain in central Seoul, and you can hear the drumming and chanting of shamanist gatherings interlacing with the hum-drum hum of traffic. Take a walk a little way up the mountain and in amongst the concrete areas of exercise equipment or army barracks, you may discover puzzling rock carvings and tiny towers of pebbles and flower offerings.

According to Sarfati [1], Shamanism is more alive and omnipresent than publicly perceived. Folk art has a utilitarian purpose for these ceremonies, assisting the conjuring or visualisation of earth spirits and offering a vivid consecrated atmosphere. Taken out of its traditional Korea context, the art still speaks for itself, giving a vibrant voice to the natural environment: celebrating the moon which sometimes shines orange, the tiger who seems to smile, and the rocky mountains whose crannies appear blue. Forget the over-told art historical narratives of European Impressionism and Expressionism whose inspiration came from their research into ‘Oriental’ art, as they sought to manipulate what they viewed as ‘primitive’ and expressive, recoining it as ‘Modernist’. Rousseau’s Tiger in a Tropical Storm can stay in it; bring on Kim So Sun’s friendly Big Tiger painting on porcelain (below).

Big Tiger: Kim So Sun, Painting on White Porcelain, 77 x 231 cm

Minhwa art and all nations’ ‘folk’ art is available to everyone, due to the inexpensive natural palette and materials, and community augmentation. In fact, in Korea, folk art was appreciated and used auspiciously by even the upper classes during the Chosun Dynasty, as well as providing an important place in the small households of the lower classes. Conversely, Modernist and Contemporary art tends to be a less wholesome affair, through its association with the academy or the market place. Its purpose is conditioned by expectation and fashion. However public centred it may claim to be, the gallery or museum always dictates. It appreciates its audience but it also crafts its audience appreciation, it captures the artists’ artistic concerns but the artists’ artistic concerns are also captured by it. Yet, resident curator at the Korean Cultural Centre, Kim Seungmin (Stephanie), is keen to show the audience the inherent value of folk art [2]. Kim So Sun’s paintings on porcelain are classic, charismatic examples of Minhwa subject matter. Perhaps next time, the artists will be unknown and without any prestige.

Displaying art for the people is ultimately about displaying art by the people. Lee Jiyoon’s Good Morning Mr Nam June Paik does not just provide examples from the expected renowned 20th century contemporary Korean artists, such as Paik himself, Kim Atta or Kim Jonghak, of which the audience would expect to mark the opening of a new major cultural centre. The exhibition also dares to show engaging art works by less known 21st century artists who are still studying art or have not yet had chance to exhibit widely internationally, such as Kang Seunghee, Kang Eemyun and Chun Woojung. These artists are due an exhibition in themselves. Kang Seunghee and Chun integrate aspects of popular culture into their art; Chun using textual excerpts from what appears to be romantic fiction and Kang encapsulating everyday scenes of cartoon styled people hanging about global city scapes in jeans and sports wear. This art depicts 21st century culture and these artists are aware of their place within it.

The Korean Cultural Centre is a ‘centre’ for members of the public to drop in, facilitate, engage with, and to ultimately form a part. Let us hope that the exhibiting space continues to reflect and redress the multi-layered aspects of contemporary Korean culture.

Flowers and Birds. Kim So Sun. Painting on White Porcelain, 26.5 x 80 cmFlowers and Birds. Kim So Sun. Painting on White Porcelain, 26.5 x 80 cmFlowers and Birds. Kim So Sun. Painting on White Porcelain, 26.5 x 80 cmFlowers and Birds. Kim So Sun. Painting on White Porcelain, 26.5 x 80 cm

  1. Sarfati, L. (Indiana University) spoke about her research into the prevalence of folk religion (Musok) and its inauguration into contemporary media, ‘Internet As a Medium for Promoting Musok in Contemporary South Korea,’ KPSA World Congress for Korean Studies 2007: Korea in the World: Democracy, Peace, Prospoerity and Culture, 24 August 2007, BEXCO, Busan.[back]
  2. In conversation with Stephanie Kim at KCC, 27 February 2008.[back]
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Korean 20th Century Art in context

15-Feb-08

I shouldn’t really be publicising the artwork of another nation on this site, but the current exhibition of Khoan and Michael Sullivan’s collection of modern Chinese art at Asia House is well worth a visit.

Zhang Daqian: Four Dancing Girls

Chinese twentieth century art faced many of the same issues as that of Korea, both pre- and post-division: how to strike the balance between old and new, East and West, and how to survive a repressive regime. It’s therefore fascinating to compare and contrast Korean paintings which you might have in your mind’s eye with what was happening in China at the time. This juxtaposition came to mind while browsing the show (Chinese on the left, Korean on the right, both from the same year):

Pang Xunqin: The LetterYu Yi-tae: Research

Michael and Khoan Sullivan have been studying and collecting Chinese contemporary art since the 1940s, and this two-part show includes highlights from their collection. The first part, on now, has the more traditional-style paintings. Coming soon, the more contemporary ones.

A special treat will be hearing Professor Sullivan himself talking about the collection on 20 February. Be sure to visit this exhibition, more than once. The first part of the show finishes mid-March.

Images

  • Top: Zhang Daqian: Four Dancing Girls (1942/3). Ink and body colour on paper, 79.7×116.7cm
  • Above Left: Pang Xunqin: The Letter (1944/5). Ink and watercolour on paper, 42.7×36.7cm
  • Above Right: Yu Yi-tae: Research (1944) (Korean)
  • Below: Wang Jia’nan: Listening to the sounds of the autumn mountains (2000). Ink and colour on paper, 119×98 cm.

Wang Jia'nan: Listening to the sounds of the autumn mountains

Links:

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Toy Stories at the Korea Society

08-Feb-08

Having looked in on the New York Korean Cultural Center last time I paid a visit to visit my co-workers at Head Office, I though that this time I’d use my lunch break to visit the competition: the Korea Society. I’ve always been a little bit puzzled as to why there should be two competing bodies in Manhattan both promoting Korean culture, and having visited the Korea Society I’m none the wiser. If market forces were allowed to rule, the Korean Cultural Center should probably have closed down years ago and its funding diverted to the Korea Society. One of the constant pleasures of watching things Korean as a hobby, though, is that you are always surprised and puzzled.

The Korea Society’s physical shopfront is welcoming in comparison to its consulate-housed competitor. You exit the lifts on the 8th floor of the office block above HSBC at the junction of 57th Street and 3rd Avenue (the KCC is on the 6th floor above a branch of fellow banking behemoth Citibank, literally only two blocks away at the junction of 57th with Park), and are greeted by wooden panels and lights, and a well-lit reception area. The library, though smaller in terms of extent (and, from recollection, only containing books rather than the DVDs and VHSs contained in the Cultural Center — so that’s one area where the public-sector body definitely wins hands down) is spacious, containing as it does a generous-sized meeting table, while the KCC’s collection is housed in a rabbit-warren. There is a feeling of light and space in the more public areas of the Korea Society, and the general feeling of welcome extends to the exhibition area. I caught a sneak preview of an exhibition of Korean toys from the 1970s and 80s. Although the exhibition was still under preparation, the signage and information was far more helpful and illuminating than what I recall of the signage in the KCC when I visited an art exhibition there last year.

If you’re in New York, do pay a visit to the exhibition, which officially opened on 1 February. Here’s a sample of the goodies on display.

Robot Taekwon V toy

Gundam Tank toy

Being still a schoolboy at heart, I was immediately drawn to the Robot Taekwon V toy, next to which was a mobile suit Gundam tank. More family oriented was a game of snakes and ladders, where informing the police of criminal activities (North Korean spy activities?) was rewarded with a huge ladder and an award certificate at the top of it. Hard work in the fields is rewarded with plenteous food to eat.

Snakes and Ladders

For the girls there were paper dolls to dress in cut-out clothes (note the Western look of the models):

Paper Dolls 2

Paper dolls 1

To go with the exhibition there was a lecture yesterday on Robot Taekwon V and South Korean Identity, and a screening of the remastered film in March. What tremendous fun.

Links:

Postscript (a snippet discovered while looking at the KCC website): if you’re still feeling fun-starved, go see the Wonder Girls at the JYP gig in Madison Square on 29 February. Classy.

JYP gig

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Korean Links in Manchester

06-Feb-08

ATM08 logoBeccy Kennedy, PhD candidate in contemporary Asian art at MIRIAD, and LKL’s visual arts correspondent, writes to remind us that London is not the only place in the UK to get your fix of Korean culture.

If you don’t already live here and have ever felt like paying a visit to Britain’s birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and Indie/Rave music scene, then this springtime may prove to be an exceptionally fruitful opportunity. There are two major Korean cultural events taking place, which alongside the popular Koreana Restaurant [1], and Seoul Kimchi foodstore [2], should be enough to entice you to take a long weekend away in Manchester.

This little mock tourism advert is coming from someone who used to live in London and still yearns for life in the multifaceted, multicultural metropolis. Yet part of this yearning is based on the multitude of Korean cultural events which continually take place in the capital, as LKL pays testimony. Now there’s a reason to be in Manchester. Britain’s Asian art triennial, ATM08 [3], will launch artworks from Korea, China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Taiwan in five of the city’s top galleries on April 4th. ATM08, organised by Shisha and MIRIAD (Manchester Institute for Innovation in Art and Design), will be a ground breaking arts event, providing a platform for new intercultural networking opportunities and site specific creations. Manchester Art Gallery will showcase stunning 3D works by two internationally recognised Korean artists, Choe U-Ram and Gwon Osang (who you may remember from Give me Shelter at Union Gallery), until September 21st. There will be a series of public events at Manchester Art Gallery based around these contemporary Korean art works. And a special date for your diary: on 5th April the ATM08 symposium will take place at Whitworth Art Gallery, where you’ll get the chance to hear all the artists talk about their work.

Manchester’s modish cinema/gallery/restaurant, Cornerhouse, has just opened an exhibition of the London based Korean artist, Chosil Kil. Kil’s exhibition, divided into ‘Living with Andis’ and ‘Cocoon’ inventively presents the artist’s personal feelings of memory and modification as she experiences the different cultures of (Korea), Denmark, Canada and Britain. She uses embroidery and recycled objects to produce unique havens signifying episodes of her private life, offering them up to the public space, like communal confessions. I came away from the exhibition feeling trusted and privileged to be let in on her secret story. You can experience this exhibition until March 23rd, so you may want to make your stay into a full length holiday or research into some ‘mega’ cheap coach and train tickets. Beginning in May there will also be an introductory eight week course of Contemporary Asian Art at Cornerhouse, which should introduce themes and debates in contemporary art from Korea, alongside other countries exhibiting at the Triennial.

For more information about the ATM08 related arts events, contact the galleries involved, listed on the Asia Triennial Manchester website.

Finally, being an Arsenal supporter I don’t want to harp on about this last Manchester-based attraction too much, but if you happen to know a Manchester United season ticket holder and fancy a break from the high arts, you may grab a chance to see Park Ji-sung play at Old Trafford too!

  1. 40a King St West, Manchester, M3 2WY, 0161 832 4330[back]
  2. 275 Upper Brook Street , Manchester, M13 0HR, 0161 273 5556[back]
  3. See http://www.asiatriennialmanchester.com/ or email beccykennedy [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] uk for more detailed information[back]
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Francesca Cho’s January shows

11-Jan-08

Korean-born artist Francesca Cho is exhibiting work in two group shows, in London and Bergamo, this month. The London show, Sacred, in the Novas Contemporary Urban Centre London Bridge (73-81 Southwark Bridge Road, SE1 ONQ [map]) near the Financial Times offices in Southwark Bridge Road — two minutes’ walk from Tate Modern — is to mark World Religion Day (celebrated on the third Sunday in January).

World Religion Day is practiced in all countries. Its mission is to foster the establishment of interfaith understanding and harmony by emphasizing the common denominators underlying all religions. The event was instituted by the Bahai community in 1950.

Sacred explores these common denominators and also the differences between religions and belief systems; the interweaving message throughout is of the world as one single global community. The reverberating pieces displayed also reveal the aspects of religion and spirituality that are personally sacred to each exhibiting artist.

The Deep Spring of Life - Francesca Cho (2005)

The Deep Spring of Life, Francesca Cho (2005), Oil on Canvas 95×127cm

My work is abstract and tends to be meditative. I focus on themes and preoccupations held in common by all religions. From my perspective as a Roman Catholic it is perhaps to be expected that I regard universal themes as inspirational — the word catholic meaning ‘universal’. Whilst my work has been published in Oremus: the magazine of Westminster Cathedral, this is not to say that my paintings are ‘religious’ or tied to a belief system. But again and again people have told me that they identify and recognise the spiritual nature of my work. It pleases me to hear this because every artist hopes to elicit a deep response in the viewer. Since there is a profoundly spiritual dimension to the human person and to all faith systems worthy of the name, my hope is that the paintings are able to move and delight those who see them. My fundamental religious belief is that love and peace are fruits of all great religious traditions when practised with sincerity and lived with commitment and integrity.

And the connection with the anti-clerical Garibaldi (1807 - 1882)? ‘Garibaldi is the only wholly admirable figure in modern history’ claimed AJP Taylor.

Garibaldi was offered a ticker tape parade up the “canyon of heroes” in New York City. The Jesuits stirred up the Irish Catholics against him and in order to keep the peace he refused the offer. Of all the many world famous personalities to have been offered this singular honour, Garibaldi remains the only person to date to have refused it. [1]

Cho’s work grants him the honour posthumously.

The Only Person - Francesca Cho (2007)

The Only Person, Francesca Cho (2007), oil on canvas 77×57cm

Giuseppe Garibaldi: Uomo della libertà , uomo dell’umanità runs from 10-20 January at Museo Storico di Bergamo - Convento di S. Francesco (below right)

Museo Storico di Bergamo - Convento di San FrancescoSacred runs from 18 January to 16 February at Novas Contemporary Urban Centre, 73-81 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 ONQ, Mon - Sat 10-6.

Cho is currently preparing for a solo show in April.

Links:

  1. Reformation.org[back]
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Paekho’s architectural art

24-Sep-07

Panorama study - history of the Netherlands (detail)

I happened to arrive at the DPRK embassy at the tail end of the afternoon, after the reception which welcomed numerous dignitaries to the exhibition of work produced by the Korea Paekho Trading Corporation. I therefore had the works to myself: it was just me, Pak Chang Sop (People’s Artist and president of the corporation), the interpreter, and the man with the camcorder.

Like the exhibition of works from the Mansudae studios in La Galleria earlier this year, there was a wide range of work on display: propaganda posters, oils, one or two more traditional watercolours. There were no paintings of Mt Kumgang, but one or two of Mt Baektu. Pak Chang Sop himself had painted the atmospheric oil of Lake Chon, in the crater of Mt Baektu, and also a jewel painting of a Mt Baektu tiger.

The jewel painting is one of Paekho’s specialities. Surprisingly, given some of the vivid colours in these works, I was told that all the colours occur naturally in the minerals that are pulverised to make these pictures, and no artificial colour is added. This means that the pictures are particularly suitable for external work, as they are waterproof. Paekho were keen to emphasise that all the the works on display, in whatever medium, could be reproduced in any size.

One area of work which was not on show in La Galleria is the grand design for external projects. Paekho has been quite successful in selling its vast panoramas, which can be over 100 metres in length. There was a study for a grand panorama depicting the history of the Netherlands which had been installed in the embassy’s back garden:

Panorama study - History of the Netherlands

Also on display were some architectural designs for a waterfront convention centre, along the lines of Sydney:

Architectural design #2

Atchitectural design #1

Both the panorama and the architectural designs are speculative, with no specific client in mind, but show the style of work that Paekho can produce. While the panoramas have already found an international market, Paekho have yet to have the opportunity to realise one of these large building projects.

Links:

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Rags in the Wind - some photos

22-Sep-07

Here are some photos from Rags in the Wind - a group show in the Graz Botanical gardens, on now. It’s featured here because it includes the work of London-based, Korean-born artist Francesca Cho. Her “Floating Soul 1″ is below:

Francesca Cho: Floating Soul 1

Some thumbnails of the work of some of the other artists are below:

IMG_1095 (2)IMG_1077 (2)IMG_1089 (2)IMG_1065 (2)IMG_1111 (2)

View a slideshow of the complete set here. The set includes a couple of shots of a dancer interpreting a little fable written by one of the artists, accompanied by a recorder player. Most of the photos were taken by my 7-year-old niece, Heather. Not bad, huh?

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More DPRK art in London

19-Sep-07

October War Panorama

This is proving to a bumper year for North Korean Art in London. The exhibition in Pall Mall is just winding down, and we have yet more this week, in no less prestigious a location (albeit less central): on DPRK territory itself.

On Friday and Saturday this week there will be an exhibition of work from North Korea in the DPRK Embassy in Acton. The work on display will be from the Korea Paekho Trading Corporation, a general trading company which, among its many activities, employs hundreds of artists - architects, sculptors, painters and craftsmen. They produce oils, jewel paintings, and their speciality… huge panoramas. One or two of these have been created outside of the DPRK: The Fourth Middle East War (1998) in Syria, and October War (1988) in Cairo. To give an idea of the scale of these works, the October War is the image at the top of this post, with a detail below:

October War Panorama - detail

The President of the Korea Paekho Trading Corporation, People’s Artist and Kim Il-sung prizewinner Pak Chang Sop will be present at the London exhibition, along with some of the other artists. I’m sure that commissions are welcome.

The exhibition is for two days only (I’m not sure what works will be on display, but probably there won’t be any room for one of the panoramas…), Friday 21 September 12:30 - 6:00pm and Saturday 22 September 10:00am - 1:00pm at the DPRK Embassy, 73 Gunnersbury Avenue, London W5 4LP [Map]. Nearest tube Acton Town.

Pre-booking is required using the form linked below.

Links

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Jung at Heart

17-Sep-07

Eo-Ulim: In Harmony

Review by Beccy Kennedy

Sang-yoon Yoon: Friend to all is a friend to none, oil on canvas, 200 x 175cmOn first sight, you wouldn’t realise that any of the three distinctive painting styles had been selected to represent a fusion of Korean and British artistic styles and experiences. The title, Eo-ulim, the Korean term meaning in harmony, particularly used in relation to inter-cultural adaptability ignites interpretations of hybridised, transcultural identities within these images. Additional investigation into the artists’ backgrounds and influences further adds to the significance of this harmony. The exhibition works on a logical level due to this curatorial input, although the vivid tones and Surrealist vistas of the paintings make for an aesthetically enjoyable visit to the ArtsDepot, Finchley, regardless of whether the viewer is interested in Korean painting or painting generally.

Chul-won Kwak: Archaic Union, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 100 cmBeginning from the left of the gallery, Sangyoon Yoon’s contemporary scenes of everyday social experience, tell familiar stories of urban leisure seeking amongst the youthful. Clad in hoodies or ethnic cardigans, with sloped backs and beer glasses, gathered aimlessly together (and sometimes apart), around what looks like student campuses, these figures could be pleasure seeking in contemporary Seoul, London or elsewhere. Yoon’s nation-less characters seem without harmony, but with a familiarity, which is in harmony with the way (post-) modern lifestyles can leave us all feeling. As a contrast to these starkly realistic scenes, Chulwon Kwak’s silkily painted mountainous panoramas visit the shadowy depths of his unconsciousness, though this visitation is conscious itself. In conversation with Kwak at the private view, he described his attunement with Jungian psychology, in particular Jung’s analysis of shadows. Kwak talked of how studying art in the UK introduced him to the theories of Western philosophers. Similarly, Jungmi Bae’s works, which complete this contemplative circuit of canvasses, were strongly influenced by Lacanian philosophy. Bae describes her work as ‘feminist’ [1], and like Kwak’s use of shadows, Bae employs similar metaphors, but of flowers and mirrors, to explore the female psyche. Both artists seem to be searching internally, even embryonically, for a harmonisation with nature; that being human nature and the natural world of flowers and rural landscapes.

Jung-mi Bae: Another II, oil on canvas, 92 x 122 cmKwak and Bae’s technical painterly mastery was learnt through their Korean art education; Kwak describes his landscape painting as ‘Korean style’ [2]. Whilst his smooth topped mountains look like scenes from rural Korea, they could as easily be from the Peak District, and this ambiguity is perhaps what is most appealing. Bae paints Irises, a flower that grows wildly in Korea, but she also uses Delphiniums (anyone think of Winnie the Pooh?). Bae described to me how living and working in the UK, makes her ‘feel more open’ [3]. It would be interesting to compare these paintings to her previous works from Korea. Her use of mirrors certainly adds extra visual and thematic dimensions to her floral encapsulations, so her study of Lacan seems to have answered questions for which she had previously been searching just to ask.

Eo-Ulim succeeds in what it set out to do: explore the assimilated harmonious and complex experiences of artists from Korea working in Britain. However, this achievement becomes apparent on closer observation, not of the paintings themselves, but of the artists’ histories and mind mapping movements. As an exhibition working around the theme of harmony, it works best when you consider the visual interweaving tapestry of this artistic trio and how the three distinct painting styles somehow merge to form a complete and seamless painterly experience for the viewer. Yoon represents the real, Kwak the subconscious real and Bae, the surreal, though these states begin to inter-tangle into each other the more you gaze, and consider your own experience within the gallery space.

Eo-Ulim / In Harmony, an exhibition of young Korean artists working in London, is showing in the Arts Depot, 5 Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, N12 0GA, from 13 to 19 September.

  1. In conversation with Jungmi Bae, Eo-Ulim private view, 14 September, 2007[back]
  2. In conversation with Chulwon Kwak, Eo-Ulim private view, 14 September, 2007[back]
  3. In conversation with Jungmi Bae, Eo-Ulim private view, 14 September, 2007[back]
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North Korea - Behind the Headlines

07-Sep-07

As often happens with events related to Korea, one has to make choices. On 20 September one has to choose between the Anglo-Korean Society Chuseok dinner and something more sombre.

Earlier this year two reports were published on North Korean human rights by Anti-Slavery International and Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Meanwhile the BBC have been working on a documentary, extracts from which will be screened on 20 September. Here are the details:

Spotlight on Slavery
North Korea - behind the headlines
7.00pm, 20 September 2007,
 
This event will provide insights into different human rights issues in North Korea including a screening of part of the documentary Access to Evil. Access to Evil features footage from inside North Korea where more than one hundred thousand of people are thought to have been imprisoned without charge because their relatives are believed to be critical of the regime.
 
Following the screening there will be short presentations and a question and answer session. The Panel will include representatives from Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, Human Rights Watch and Olenka Frankiel, BBC journalist and presenter for Access to Evil.
 
The event will also feature an exhibition of Jonathan Barnbrook’s art work on North Korea. Mr Barnbrook is a London based graphic designer who believes that design has the possibility to change people’s viewpoints and provides a different perspective on North Korea.
 
Venue: The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA [Map]. No booking is required.

Links

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Abandoned Protocol at Ritter / Zamet

06-Sep-07

Two Korean photographers who studied in London are participating in a group exhibition at Ritter / Zamet near the Globe Theatre this month.

ABANDONED PROTOCOL
Seung Woo Back, Kate Hawkins & Eloise Fornieles, Ben Judd, Hyung-Geun Park

Curated by Charles Danby and I-MYU Projects
7 - 29 September 2007

Abandoned Protocol brings together artists from Korea and the UK through a primary discourse of photography that includes video and touches upon performance. Protocol offers a standard of behaviour, setting rules that govern syntax and conventions that inform communication. The artists in Abandoned Protocol consider such codes of social exchange, turning to the periphery of cultural convention to question the social, political and economic implication of these systems. The works move through social, psychological spaces, revealing in the poetical-uncanny of the landscape social codes that disclose considerations of environment and territory - terrains that exist on the margins of inhabited spaces.

Ben Judd’s video work I Will Heal You (2007) draws on an amalgamation of religious and quasi-religious belief systems that were experienced and investigated by the artist during a recent three-month residency in Cali, Colombia. During this time, Judd created his own Movement complete with a manifesto that was contradictory at every turn, questioning the channels through which social codes are created, authenticated and come to stand as valid units of cultural currency. Also shown are a series of Judd’s stereoscopic photographs whose manufacture perpetuates primary systems of illusion within the medium of photography.

Seung Woo Back, Aiins World theme park

Seung Woo Back’s photographs (above),