There were moon jars a-plenty at the British Museum on Saturday: old and new, whole and smashed, real and fake and, as is the nature of these objects, none of them perfectly spherical. In pride of place in Room 3, just as you enter the museum, is one of the prized items in the British […]
Artists: Park Young-sook
Focus on a piece of happiness
The story goes that Bernard Leach, browsing in a Seoul antiques store in the mid 1930s, came across a Choson dynasty Moon Jar and held his head in disbelief at its beauty. And, after one of the more inspired impulse buys in recent art history, he walked out of the shop “carrying a piece of […]
Farewell to Seoul
Some of the highlights and not-so-highlights of my visit to Seoul. First the good. Soundday in Hongdae Gwacheon’s National Museum of Contemporary Arts The Leeum Gallery (post to come soon once I’ve done a bit of research. Now done. Post is here) Insadong. Yes, there’s some touristy tat for sale, but there’s also some really […]
Traditional Yet Contemporary sale at Bonhams
The sale of contemporary Japanese and Korean ceramics at Bonhams on 7 November was the first time that a London auction had a focus on Korean work. As such, there was a lot of admiration from buyers as to the quality of the work, but when it came to putting hands in pockets buyers were […]
Exhibition Visit: Traditional yet Contemporary
Air Gallery, London, May 29 – June 3 2006 As Stephanie Seung-min Kim says in her article introducing the exhibition, “…culture can only be seen in a clear light when compared with other cultures. I believe that is why Korean ceramic works have to be judged more in an international setting.” The exhibition demonstrated the […]
Korean Ceramics – Traditional Yet Contemporary
One of the highlights of this year’s Korean festival is likely to be the exhibition at Air Gallery, 32 Dover Street, London W1S 4NE, 29 May 2006 – 3 June 2006 — juxtaposing the work of contemporary British potters with the work of modern Korean ceramic artists. Stephanie Seungmin Kim, curator of the show, explains. […]