London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Book review: Make, Break, Remix

Trying to encapsulate a country’s design aesthetic, even when looking back at the past, is a challenge. With Korea, one might start suggesting that the monochrome art movement of the last 50 years or so, the simplicity of hanok architecture and the purity of Joseon dynasty white porcelain points towards an overriding aesthetic of restraint … [Read More]

Jinjoon Lee’s Audible Garden, at the KCC

This summer, the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) and the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) co-present Audible Garden, the solo exhibition of work by new media artist Jinjoon Lee as part of a yearlong celebration of the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the UK. Drawing inspiration from … [Read More]

Young In Hong in Threads: Breathing stories into materials, at Bristol’s Arnolfini

Arnolfini welcomes you to discover Threads, a major exhibition featuring 21 contemporary international artists and makers, who use textiles as their chosen medium. Celebrating material and making, these artists use the storytelling power of textiles to connect with past traditions, find commonalities between cultures, time and place, and to ‘breathe stories into materials’.* Threads encompasses … [Read More]

Shinuk Suh: Veiled Memories, at Daniel Benjamin Gallery

The solo exhibition of Shinuk Suh, Veiled Memories elicits an uncanny aura suggested by its title, indicating a departure from his previous practices. This sensibility contributes to the serene atmosphere within the exhibition hall, which brims with energy and remains free from the clamor of small mechanical sounds and vibrations. However, delving into the process … [Read More]

Sang Woon Nam: Blue, at Aleph Contemporary

As a satellite exhibition of Korean Art London 2023 – which opens for three weeks in July at Mall Galleries, London SW1 – Blue offers the opportunity to take a deeper dive into Sang Woon Nam ’s ultramarine lotus leaf paintings. Known for his signature colour, which he has dubbed ‘Blue Moon’, it took Nam … [Read More]

Blurred Traces: Beom Jun & Mimi Jeong, at J/M Gallery

Gallery M Platform presents the Blurred Traces summer duo exhibition, featuring the abstract artist Beom Jun and the ceramic artist Mimi Jeong. This exhibition represents a conceptual intersection of literature, craftsmanship, and endlessly layered abstract paintings of mountains – resulting in remarkable artworks that convey an ironic and metaphorical expression of their artistic practice. Sometimes, … [Read More]

Bomi Kim: A Wild Romance Surrounds Us, at Strike

Bomi Kim (b.1998) is a South Korean painter based in London and Seoul. Bomi’s paintings are an extension of her poetry. In her paintings Bomi explores the human condition from her perspective. From her writing several versions of herself emerge depending on time and place. Having grown up between Korea, Thailand and the UK her … [Read More]

Soojin Kang: To Be You, Whoever You Are, at Gathering

Gathering is pleased to present To Be You, Whoever You Are, a solo exhibition of new textile sculpture by Korean artist Soojin Kang. Using the ritualistic actions of weaving, knotting, winding and unwinding to explore the sculptural possibilities of textiles, Kang transubstantiates raw materials into structures that retain unmistakeable traces of their biotic origins. In … [Read More]

Lee Ufan and Claude Viallat: Encounter, at Pace Gallery

Pace Gallery is honoured to present Lee Ufan and Claude Viallat: Encounter, a two-person exhibition organised by the preeminent French curator, Alfred Pacquement. Spanning more than five decades, this exhibition will survey both artists’ enduring commitment to abstraction as a means of engaging philosophical ideas of time, space, and matter. At the centre of this … [Read More]

Acquainted with the Night: Dongwook Suh, Ahnnlee Lee and Yoonhee Choi at No 9 Cork Street

ONE AND J. Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition “Acquainted with the Night” featuring three Korean artists – Dongwook Suh, Ahnnlee Lee, and Yoonhee Choi – at Frieze No.9 Cork Street, London. It presents various artistic practices through portraits, abstract paintings, installations, and poem that have been created by experiencing the night which … [Read More]

Tae Kim: Bloom, at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery

Delicate, impish figures appear against bright, blazing backgrounds, their bodies embellished with or seemingly sprouting flowers and leaves while at other times, characters are hidden deep within thick pockets of foliage. This latest series of portraits by the Seoul-based artist Tae Kim continue her explorations into the heightened emotional experiences of the gaming world with a particular … [Read More]