Korean Pavilion Exhibition Captivates Venice Biennale 'Art Olympics' Opening After 3 Years

The 59th Venice Biennale Opens with 213 Artists from 58 Countries
Korean Pavilion Artist Kim Yooncheol's 'Gyre' Expresses "Civilization in Transition"

Chroma V by artist Kim Yoon-chul installed at the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. Photo by Korea Arts & Culture Education Service

Impulse by artist Kim Yoon-chul installed at the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. Photo by Korea Arts & Culture Education Service

Giant with One Hundred Eyes by artist Kim Yoon-chul installed at the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennale - Argos-the Swollen Suns. Photo by Korea Arts & Culture Education Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] A 50-meter-long parametric structure composed of 382 polymer units shaped like fish scales, tied together in a knot form, captivates visitors at the exhibition hall.

On the 20th (local time), as the 59th Venice Biennale opened, the work of artist Kim Yooncheol (52), installed at the Korean Pavilion in Venice's Castello Park (Giardini), is attracting significant attention locally with its overwhelming form.

The Venice Biennale, known as the world's most prestigious art festival and the "Olympics of Art" where major countries compete, opened after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Korean Pavilion, operated by the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, features the massive mechanical installation "Chroma V" suspended in the air, filling the exhibition space. The polymer material used in the work expresses the effects of changing pressure in various colors whenever the device moves.

The Venice Biennale consists of an international exhibition curated by the chief curator and exhibitions at each national pavilion. Countries such as the United States, France, and Germany have their own buildings, creating a competitive environment with representative artists' works. The Korean Pavilion is a legacy gifted to the homeland in 1995 after media artist Nam June Paik, who participated as the representative artist of the German Pavilion in 1993, won the top prize, the Golden Lion, and persuaded the mayor of Venice. However, since the pavilion was originally an extension of a restroom building, it has been criticized for its narrow and poor exhibition space.

After remodeling last year, the Korean Pavilion had its original ceiling removed this year to install Kim Yooncheol's work. The exhibition at the Korean Pavilion, themed "Gyre," was planned by artistic director Lee Youngcheol and showcased Kim Yooncheol's work. The piece, themed on the gyre appearing in William Butler Yeats' poem "The Second Coming," expresses the confusion and novelty at the boundary between the coming era and the present. Through the spiral movement of matter, it invites the audience into that swollen moment.

Through this exhibition, artist Kim stated, "Nameless materials connect with the universe, space, and viewers on their own terms, regardless of their use or value. Through this, I aimed to show a new era of many suns rather than the absoluteness of a single sun, and the new sensations awakening and swirling within it."

This year, the main exhibition curated directly by Cecilia Alemani, the artistic director of the Venice Biennale, features 213 artists from 58 countries. Amid the remarkable rise of female artists, Korean artists Jung Geumhyeong and Lee Mirae were invited. Jung Geumhyeong's work "Toy Prototype" attracted attention by projecting human desires through medical human models and health equipment. Lee Mirae's work "Endless House: Holds and Drips," which depicts violence and desire using simple mechanical structures and tactile materials, is presented at the Arsenale.

The official collateral exhibition of the Venice Biennale includes a retrospective of Korea's leading Dansaekhwa artist Ha Chonghyun at the Palazzo Tito. Jeon Gwangyoung, known as a hanji (traditional Korean paper) artist, also exhibits at Contarini Polignac alongside Italian architect Stefano Boeri.

The 59th Venice Biennale international art exhibition will officially open on the 23rd after a three-day preview period from the 20th to the 22nd. It is scheduled to run for about seven months until November 27.

The awards ceremony for the national pavilions and main exhibition, chaired by Adrienne Edwards, curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, will be held at noon on the 23rd at the Venice Biennale Foundation headquarters, Ca’ Giustinian. Korea previously won the Silver Lion award for the first time by artist Lim Heungsun in 2015.

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