Lee Jaehyo was born in Hapchen, Korea, in 1965 and obtained his BFA in Plastic Arts from Hongik University, Seoul, in 1992. His first solo show was in 1996, but it is really in the last few years that his career has snowballed, with three solo exhibitions in 2007 and four in 2008 – including … [Read More]
Category: Exhibition reviews and comment (page 19)
Oriental male, Western female
One of the most memorable images in the 4482 exhibition on the South Bank last October was a large, carefully staged, meticulously lit photo of a scene from a fairy tale. An elaborate coach looks as if it could turn into a pumpkin at any moment. It’s certainly not going anywhere, despite the alert coachman … [Read More]
Korean Artists in London Art Fair 2009
Back in October last year Beccy Kennedy reported from the 4482 show: 40 Korean artists in London under one roof in a single exhibition. This week there are at least six Korean artists under one roof in Islington, represented by four galleries. Exhibiting in the London Art Fair are Albemarle Gallery (Lee Jaehyo and Park … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Smile of Buddha, the big Korean show in Brussels
The Smile of Buddha exhibition is the centrepiece of the Made in Korea festival currently showing in Brussels, which also includes photography, ceramics, architecture and video art. As the Korean ambassador to the EU says in his introduction to the exhibition catalogue, not many people in the West know much about Korea, and this exhibition … [Read More]
Forms without Pro formas
‘Entry Forms’ The Korean Cultural Centre, Grand Buildings, 1-3 Strand 9 December 2008 – 15 January 2009 Jeong Mun Hur, Heena Kim, Yun-Kyung Kim, Minho Kwon, Bommsoon Lee, Younjeong Lee, Soonnam Lim, Jun-Gu Noh, Jee Oh, Jihye Park, So Young Park, Changwoo Ryu, Gee Song, Hyemin Son Review by Beccy Kennedy Rephrase the title of … [Read More]
Blight, Hope and Photoshop
“This is not a Korean exhibition” announced Lee Chan-Buom, Director of the Cultural Cooperation Division of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as he introduced the panellists at a fascinating discussion to coincide with the “Blight and Hope” exhibition at the KCC. With sponsorship from the British Council and the UNDP, there was to … [Read More]
The Birth of the YKABs (Young Korean Artists in Britain)!
‘4482: Korean Contemporary Artists London’ exhibition, 16th – 19th October. Seminar, ‘How to promote Korean Art Abroad,’ 18th October 2008. Both at Bargehouse, Southwark. Report by Beccy Kennedy Take forty contemporary artists, a fervent independent curator, an unexpected art space, four floors of art works in throngs of media and genres, and a thriving spot … [Read More]
“Disposable People”: Comfort Women photos at the Festival Hall
Overlapping nicely with the photographic exhibition at the KCC (Poverty seen through the Lens) is Disposable People, an exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall on a related theme: modern day slavery. Magnum photographer Chris Steele Perkins spent some time talking with some of the last surviving sex slaves from the Pacific War – the Korean … [Read More]
Crowning glory at the Smile of Buddha
Matthew Jackson reports from the “Smile of Buddha” exhibition in Brussels I had never been to the Bozar Centre (French: “Palais des Beaux-Arts”) in Belgium prior to the current “Smile of Buddha” exhibition of Korean Buddhist art. It is an impressive place (right) and I highly recommend it if you are ever in Brussels. The … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Free Words at Mayfair Public Library
When I went to the Free Words exhibition at Mayfair Public Library it was a grey Friday evening, and consequently did not see the works at their best. It was the last day of the main show, and the artwork seemed to have been forgotten in a rather drab-feeling, unloved public-sector space on the top … [Read More]
Suh Do-ho in Psycho Buildings
Psycho Buildings is a cosmopolitan collaboration in which artists from as far afield as Tokyo and Cuba “take on” architecture. Suh Do-ho (right) is one of the diaspora of Korean artists working in various countries around the world. Like Baik Nam June, Suh has chosen to make his home in America. Suh’s work has in … [Read More]
Impossible landscapes: two exhibitions by Lim Taek and Lee Sea-hyun
Recently in London we’ve seen two seemingly very different responses to traditional Korean and Chinese landscape painting. In March we had Lim Taek (임택) at I-MYU; just finished at Union we had Lee Sea-hyun (이세현). Both artists portray the familiar mountains, the occasional ancient pavilion dotting the landscape. But Lim’s mountains are simple blocks of … [Read More]
Maps political and pictorial
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 … [Read More]
Ten contemporary Korean artists you should know
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 … [Read More]
Korea, Manchester and the International Art Triennial
Beccy Kennedy reports Britain’s first Triennial of Asian Art launched earlier this month, when a gaggle of global art goers gathered in the grandiose foyer and atrium of Manchester Art Gallery to preview the outstanding art installations from Korea. Of the five Asian countries selected by galleries in Manchester: China, India, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, … [Read More]
Good Evening, Ms. Jiyoon Lee!
Matthew Jackson reports from last Thursday’s gallery talk at the KCC I had assumed that the Nam June Paik talk by Jiyoon Lee would take the form of a tour around the gallery itself. The schedule of the evening was fuller than I had expected, and required the setting of the ‘Sejong Room’ on the … [Read More]