Four Korean design studios came to Tent London this year. There’s a gallery of their stalls at the bottom of this brief post. Zeup Design Studio presented some colourful pens which looked like pieces of lemongrass, while Kim HyunJoo Studio presented pens that also doubled as clips and as bookmarks. It was a shame the … [Read More]
Category: Exhibition reviews and comment (page 9)
A look at some of the Korean design on show at 100% Design London 2014
There may not be a Korean Pavilion at 100% Design London this year, but you don’t have to walk far from the central bar area of Earls Court 2 to find Korean designers. Just take one pace the other side of the bar and you come across Kim Been’s stall, Beeeen Company, with her range … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Jewyo Rhii at Wilkinson Gallery
Shamefully, I’ve never visited Wilkinson Gallery before. If I had, maybe I wouldn’t have been so bowled over by Sung Hwan Kim’s installation in the Tate Modern Tanks a couple of years ago, because Kim had already had two solo shows at Wilkinson which contained some of the work shown at the Tate. So, will … [Read More]
Fashion icon Nora Noh honoured in art and film
LKL looks at two works devoted the life and work of Nora Noh: A documentary by Kim Sung-hee (Nora Noh, 2013, South Korea, colour, DCP, 93′) and An installation by Cho Duck-hyun (The Nora Collection, 2008, Graphite and charcoal on canvases, frames, wall papers, dimensions variable) To the current generation of Koreans, two names that … [Read More]
Kim Ji-eun’s current exhibition at Mokspace is utterly charming
Another charming exhibition at Mokspace, Talk to me, Darling, is coming to a close: you have until 6 September to enjoy it. Kim Ji-eun’s work is quirky and enchanting while also being strangely comforting. Despite the sunny nature of the drawings they conjure up the autumnal emotions and cosy daydreams of woolly jumpers, hot chocolate … [Read More]
In pictures: Lee Seung-taek at Mot International
Lee Seung-taek’s solo show at Mot International continues until 23 August. Lee was born in 1932 and the works on show at the exhibition come from the years 1957 – 1971. His work has been collected by the Tate: a 1958 version of the 1957 Godret Stone (고드랫돌) that is on show here. Lee is still … [Read More]
Shin Meekyoung’s Plinth Project, two years on
Almost exactly two years ago – on 23 July 2012 – Shin Meekyoung’s equestrian statue of the Duke of Cumberland was hoisted into position in Cavendish Square. I happened to be in the area on 24 July 2014 so I paid a visit. The soap from which the statue is made has shown itself to … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Jeehee Park — Elephant in the Room, at Hanmi Gallery
If you haven’t been to Hanmi Gallery to see Jeehee Park’s Elephant in the Room, it could well be that you are too late. Although the exhibition is due to close on 3 August, the nature of the work is not ideally suited to the hottest days of the year. The main installation in the … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: MFA Degree show at Goldsmiths
It’s not always easy to get to the degree shows of the various art colleges, but I managed to sneak away from work one lunchtime and pop down to New Cross Gate to take a few installation shots at the Goldsmiths MFA 2014 degree show. Four Korean artists were showing, and I was lucky enough … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Kwon Soonhak at UNION Gallery
This is an exhibition whose accompanying essay says it all. So often the blurb which goes with an exhibition is incomprehensible. Union has done it exactly right with this particular essay. The altarpiece which is the subject of the work Ecce Homo is from All Souls Langham Place, where the artist sings in the choir. … [Read More]
Killer creativity at the RCA graduate show
A quick tour of the Royal College of Art degree show last weekend showed just how many Korean artists and designers there are in London. I had gone along to see the work of a handful of friends whose work I had got to know through various exhibitions over the past couple of years, and … [Read More]
In pictures: Kim Hayoung’s degree show
Kim Hayoung’s work grows on me each time I see it. And while I enjoy seeing work exhibited in a domestic setting (such as 43 Inverness Street, where Kim has had two solo shows already), it was also good to see it in a huge, well-lit exhibition space. The big work painted in acrylic on … [Read More]
2014 Travel Diary day 10: two art museums and a reality show
In which we have our customary day visiting the contemporary art museums. Eulji-ro, Seoul, Sunday 15 June, 9am. For the first time in recent memory I haven’t scheduled in a trip to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Gwacheon this visit. And that’s because, since the last visit, the big construction project on … [Read More]
2014 Travel Diary day 8: Two museums near Yongin
A day-trip South into Gyeonggi-do to visit two top museums. There are other things to visit near Yongin as well as the Folk Village. Eulji-ro, Seoul, Friday 13 June, 9am. The Ho-am Art Museum in Yongin is home to a number of treasures. The museum opened in 1982 as the permanent home for the collection of Samsung boss Lee … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Lee Jae-hyo — Grass Flower, at HADA Contemporary
“I want to make a work that does not require words… I think the greatest difference in the western and the eastern culture is the necessity for words. The key characteristic of the western visual culture is the debate, argument and attestation and to unravel the meaning carefully hidden behind the work. On the contrary, … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Above the line — photographs from the DPRK at the British Council
There must have been a time when photographs of the DPRK were a rarity. But it’s now a regular occurrence for a newspaper to run a series of photographs from North Korea, normally proclaiming that these are unique, never-before seen images from “the world’s most secretive state”. It is perhaps natural for photographers to seek … [Read More]