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Category Archives: Choi Jeong-hwa

Good Morning, Mr Choi

01-Feb-08
Congratulations to Choi Kyuhak and all at the Korean Cultural Centre UK on the opening of their very splendid new premises off Trafalgar Square. The formal opening ceremony took place on 30 January - a report is coming soon from Jennifer - and there was another party last night to launch their first cultural event, Good Morning, Mr Nam June Paik, an exhibition featuring works by Korea's best known video artist together with work by other established and emerging Korean artists. It was impossible in the crowds to enjoy the art work (artist Kang Seunghee was understandably concerned about her vulnerably-placed screen, shown last year at Gallery Yujiro), but downstairs it was quieter. Also taking refuge down there was the designer ...
Also filed in Good Morning Mr Nam June Paik, KCCUK | | Comments (2) »

Long-awaited London Korean Cultural Centre nearly ready

24-Jan-08
When I walked past the new Korean Cultural Centre the day before yesterday the windows were still covered up, and, through the gaps in the covers, you could see the builders inside racing to finish before the grand opening day. The Centre officially opens at the end of the month, at a ceremony to be attended by Vice Minister Park Yang-woo from the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, and Ambassador Dr Cho Yoon-je, in one of his last official duties before returning to Seoul in February. From the official press materials: With generous support from the Korean Ministry of Culture & Tourism and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the Korean Cultural Centre will showcase world-class examples of work from every ...
Also filed in KCCUK, Koreans in UK | | Comments (0) »

J Scott Burgeson: Korea Bug

11-Aug-07
(Eunhaeng Namu, Seoul, 2005) Stern(10,g) A recent article in the JoongAng daily about a foreigner in Seoul who hasn't made himself popular with hypersensitive and volatile Korean netizens introduced me to a gem. Burgeson, a foreigner who has been in Seoul since 1996 is one of the more unusual expats out there in that he takes an interest in the local culture, to the extent of having set up his own 'zine -- a home-produced, street-vended amateur magazine covering, well, just about anything the author feels like. It's a sort of heavyweight, hard-copy blog. And in Burgeson's case it made a point of trying to engage with and explore Korean culture, particularly those elements which seem unusual to a foreigner. The zine was ...
Also filed in Book reviews: traditional culture, Lee Bul | | Comments (0) »

Choi Jeong-hwa Welcome in Wolverhampton

08-Jul-07
In his first solo show in a UK public gallery, Choi Jeong-hwa's exhibition, Welcome, is also one of the first shows to be held in Wolverhampton Art Gallery's new exhibition space. Choi has celebrated by wrapping the gallery in bright-coloured ribbons (below left) - a project reminiscent of his installation as part of the Seoul Until Now! group exhibition in Copenhagen (2005), when he wrapped the Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall with discarded commercial banners. Choi (born in 1961), sometimes known as Korea's "pop artist", is also an architect and designer. He designed the set for Park Chul-soo's 1995 food-obsession film 301, 302, and created the interior for the Botticelli fashion boutique in Seoul's trendy Apkujong-dong ((Source: J Scott Burgeson, Korea Bug)). He ...
Also filed in Other exhibitions | | Comments (2) »

Uncovering Wonderland

05-Dec-06
Review of the Asia House exhibition by Beccy Kennedy The multi-storey, multi-story exhibition of contemporary Korean art at Asia House, Through the Looking Glass, provides a multi-faceted Korean art experience, in terms of the media used and the themes approached by the artists. Independent curator, Jiyoon Lee, uses the looking glass as an audience-friendly metaphor to describe the need for investigation between the worlds of Britain and Korea, as they collide within a globalising world. On one side of the glass are Korean art works, from an art world of which the British mind is perhaps unfamiliar; on the other side of the glass is this uninformed British consciousness, carrying with it assumptions and expectations of Korean culture. The two worlds ...
Also filed in Cho Duck-hyun, Event reports and reviews, Jung Yeon-doo, Kim Sora, Shin Mee-kyung, Through the Looking Glass | | Comments (0) »

“Through the Looking Glass” panel discussion at Asia house

26-Nov-06
Yesterday morning's panel session gave a priveleged ((And good value, at only £4)) insight into the work of some of the artists represented at the stimulating show at Asia House. Chaired by Beth McKillop of the V&A, the discussant panel included Alessio Antoniolli from Gasworks, Hans Ulrich Obrist from The Serpentine, curator Jiyoon Lee and artists Duck-hyun Cho, Yeondoo Jung, Jeong-hwa Choi and Meekyoung Shin. The artists presented some of their work outside of the pieces on display at Asia House. Choi Jeong-hwa talked about his colourful Flower Tree installations (most recently in Singapore - left) and his Happy Happy project in Christchurch, New Zealand (right), which fences off a children's play area with brightly-coloured plastic objects. Other works (such as ...
Also filed in Cho Duck-hyun, Jung Yeon-doo, Shin Mee-kyung, Through the Looking Glass | | Comments (0) »