'Arts as a Growth Engine' ... Ulsan Museum of Art to Hold Second International Special Exhibition

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Ulsan Museum of Art (Director Seo Jin-seok) is holding its second special exhibition since its opening, titled ‘Art and Industry.’

The special exhibition, held in Exhibition Halls 1 and 2 until January 29 next year, is an international exhibition featuring 15 artists (teams) from a total of 10 countries.

It includes 6 Korean artists as well as artists from China, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.

This exhibition introduces works that demonstrate outstanding aesthetic achievements resulting from collaborations between artists and various industrial entities.

The participating artists present artworks created in collaboration with industries in diverse fields such as automobiles, energy chemistry, information technology (IT), music, fashion, film, and food and beverage.

Yang Fudong, a representative contemporary Chinese artist, produced a video commissioned by Prada set in 1930s Shanghai. This work embodies Yang Fudong’s unique interpretation of the fusion between tradition and modernity, possessing exceptional artistic value.

AES+F is showcasing ‘Cycle of Life,’ an advertising video created in collaboration with Gentle Monster. Set against a surreal space, it maximizes ‘artificial’ editing techniques, earning recognition for its outstanding visual artistry.

Artist Jung Yeon-doo collaborated with Hyundai Motor Company to create a drive-in theater. Inside the exhibition hall stands a car popularly known as ‘Gak Grandeur.’ When visitors sit in this car, they can see themselves racing like a movie protagonist on a large screen accompanied by soothing music. This work uniquely incorporates the complete form of the ‘car’ product into the artwork, allowing visitors to directly experience the product.

The Singaporean artist collective PHUNK created sculptures, videos, and posters to commemorate the launch of Nike’s skateboarding shoes.

Instead of the usual approach of painting on the shoes, they ‘deconstructed’ the shoes and used them as materials for their work. They visualized skateboarding moves such as jumps, spins, and grabs, highlighting the value of the skateboarding shoes.

Exploring the diverse relationships between artists and companies is another highlight of this exhibition. The ‘Creators Project,’ operated by the American semiconductor company Intel and media company Vice, is close to the traditional corporate sponsorship of art, whereas the German automobile company Audi has gone a step further by collaborating with artists to directly apply car headlights and parking sensors onto dresses.

Additionally, SK Innovation, an energy chemical company with a factory in Ulsan, produced and broadcast a television commercial featuring artist Kim Jung-gi’s live drawing process.

The purpose of this exhibition is to uncover and reveal the various dimensions hidden between art sponsorship, corporate art marketing, advertising, and artworks.

As a related event, lectures on the theme of art and industry will also be held.

The lectures will take place twice on October 18 and 25 from 2 PM to 4 PM in the multipurpose hall on the first floor of the museum.

The lecture on the 18th is titled ‘Destination Creator ? Focusing on Paradise City,’ with Jeon Dong-hwi, director of the Paradise Segasami Art Team, invited as the speaker.

The lecture on the 25th is titled ‘Contemporary Art Since the 1990s: The Aesthetics of Relations and the Economy of Experience,’ and will be given by Professor Woo Jung-ah from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at POSTECH.

An official from Ulsan Museum of Art stated, “In today’s era, where various forms of convergence between art and industry are emerging, culture rather than products is being produced and consumed. Visitors to this exhibition will be able to see the potential for the value of art to mutually expand into industrial value creation.”

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