Four Nominees Selected for National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Artist of the Year Award... Exhibition at Seoul Branch in October

Kim Min-ae, Lee Seul-gi, Jeong Hee-seung, and Jeong Yoon-seok, selected as sponsored artists for the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's 'Artist of the Year Award 2020' (clockwise from top left)
Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) announced on the 3rd that it has selected Kim Min-ae (39), Lee Seul-gi (48), Jung Yoon-seok (39), and Jung Hee-seung (46) as sponsored artists for the 'Artist of the Year Award 2020,' co-hosted with the SBS Cultural Foundation.

The 'Artist of the Year Award' is an award system jointly hosted by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the SBS Cultural Foundation since 2012 to support, nurture, and sponsor artists who present possibilities, visions, and new alternatives for Korean contemporary art.

Marking its 9th year, the 'Artist of the Year Award 2020' selected four sponsored artists through the judgment of a panel of domestic and international art experts. The panel includes overseas jurors to reflect diverse perspectives in the changing art environment and to continuously increase interest in Korean art, and it is newly composed each year.

The jurors for the 'Artist of the Year Award 2020' are Lolita Zabolinskiene (Chief Curator at the National Gallery of Lithuania), Patrick Flores (Professor at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, Artistic Director of the 2019 Singapore Biennale), Christopher Lew (Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art), Lee Young-cheol (Professor at Kaywon School of Art and Design), and Yoon Bum-mo (Director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, ex officio), totaling five members. After the new works exhibition, the panel will convene to select the final award-winning artist.

The four artists selected as sponsored artists for the 'Artist of the Year Award 2020' have each been active in sculpture, installation, photography, and video fields. Kim Min-ae has continuously created site-specific installation works intervening in everyday objects and spaces, focusing on architectural space and the institutional environment of art. Lee Seul-gi, who has been residing and working in France since the early 1990s, has presented works connecting the formal qualities of everyday objects, traditional crafts, and folk artifacts with contemporary contexts. Jung Yoon-seok has addressed personal life and social issues with a sharp perspective through documentary video works, questioning what it means to be human. Jung Hee-seung has explored the possibilities and limitations of photographic representation and has presented various works including installations mixing photography and text.

The exhibition will be held from October 30 this year to March 29 next year at Exhibition Rooms 2, 3, and 4 of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, showcasing new works newly conceived and proposed by the artists. The final award-winning artist will be announced in December.

The artists selected in 2020 will each receive a creative sponsorship fund of 40 million KRW provided by the SBS Cultural Foundation for their work production. The final award-winning artist, announced through the second round of judging during the exhibition period, will be proclaimed as the 'Artist of the Year 2020' and will receive an additional prize of 10 million KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.