[Exhibition of the Week] Maria Svarbova Photo Exhibition · Korakrit Arunanondchai Solo Exhibition and More

Maria Svarbova's 'Boder II'. Photo by Culture & I Leaders

[Asia Economy Reporter Heeyoon Kim] ▲Maria Svarbova Photo Exhibition 'Yesterday's Future' = Culture & iLeaders is hosting 'Yesterday's Future: FUTURO RETRO Exhibition' at the Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, showcasing works by female artist Maria Svarbova, who receives global acclaim for her unique and captivating pieces.

Maria Svarbova is a Slovak photographer who majored in restoration and archaeology. Her experimental photographic style, which departs from traditional portraiture, has received international praise and has been featured in special articles in global publications such as Vogue, Forbes, and The Guardian. Among her diverse works, 174 selected photographs are categorized into five sections: Living, Futuro Retro, The Swimming Pool, Couple, and Lost in the Valley, allowing viewers to appreciate Svarbova’s major works from 2010 to the present at a glance. These five sections address the artist’s artistic and personal experiences. In addition to her signature Swimming Pool series, the exhibition includes works created in collaboration with corporations and her latest pieces, encompassing both present and past.

Moreover, the exhibition offers a variety of experiences, including photo zones where visitors can step into the artworks. One of the most notable features of Maria Svarbova’s work is the remarkable harmony created through the appropriate combination of old and new. Svarbova’s delicate balancing of the new and the old allows the audience to fully immerse themselves in her work. This interaction between old and new serves as a reference for the exhibition’s title, 'Yesterday's Future (FUTURO RETRO).' The exhibition runs until February 26, 2023, at Hangaram Art Museum, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul Arts Center.

Installation view of Su-Kyung Lee's solo exhibition 'Nine Dragons in Wonderland'. Photo by The Page Gallery

▲Sookyung Lee Solo Exhibition 'Nine Dragons in Wonderland' = The Page Gallery is hosting a solo exhibition by Sookyung Lee titled 'Nine Dragons in Wonderland.' Known for her continuous experimentation with new media and her unique artistic world, Sookyung Lee, who has gained attention in both domestic and international art circles, presents 27 pieces of her representative work 'Translated Vase,' 13 new paintings titled 'Oh Rose!,' and two specially created media art pieces for this exhibition.

The artist showcases a diverse artistic world through three-dimensional, two-dimensional, and digital works. The exhibition space includes the sculptural object installation 'Translated Vase,' which uses broken ceramic fragments as its main material, the large-scale paintings 'Oh Rose!' that she has recently been developing, and media artworks that capture the meaning embedded in the 'rose' object within the paintings through video art. This composition offers a glimpse into the artist’s broad artistic spectrum, unconstrained by any specific genre.

Notably, this exhibition marks the first domestic showing of the 2017 Venice Biennale piece and the exhibition’s title work, 'Nine Dragons in Wonderland.' The exhibition provides an opportunity to view a variety of the artist’s works regardless of genre or size in one place. The artist’s works, which have steadily built a new dimension of creative world, invite viewers into a mysteriously unfolding realm. The exhibition runs until February 10, 2023, at The Page Gallery, Seongsu 1-ga, Seongdong-gu, Seoul.

Korakrit Arunanondchai_As I lay me down to sleep. Photo by Kukje Gallery

▲Korakrit Arunanondchai Solo Exhibition 'Image, Symbol, Prayer' = Kukje Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Thai contemporary artist Korakrit Arunanondchai titled 'Image, Symbol, Prayer.' This is the artist’s first exhibition at the gallery since being appointed as an exclusive artist in 2021. The artist skillfully weaves together various forms through works spanning video, performance, painting, and installation. He has posed fundamental questions about existence and meaning, encompassing individual and society, life and death, and diverse belief systems.

This exhibition features the artist’s representative series 'History Paintings' in a gallery space with a floor made of ash and earth. The black earthen floor is embossed with the artist’s prayer, which reads as follows:

In the beginning, there was discovery / A new nightmare disturbing sleep / The need to impose order on chaos / We create this world through prayers that are ignored. / Beyond upheaval, there is radiance / A longing for integration / In the land of mourning / I entrust you to the air, to the intangible / Ghosts possess nothing, nothing at all.

Above the prayer flowing along the edges of the gallery floor hang the artist’s 'History Paintings' and 'Empty Space (Sky Paintings).' The 'History Paintings' series, begun in 2012, is the artist’s most widely known body of work and primarily uses denim as its material. The artist started using denim as part of a reflection on Western-centered globalization and the history of labor,

Korakrit Arunanondchai_The only thing that survives. Photo by Kukje Gallery

bleaching the material and then layering multiple images on top. These images, which imprint his body or faithfully transfer the texture of the earth, become a stage for fire to act upon and materials for combustion. In other words, the artist sets these paintings on fire, with fire becoming both the process and the subject of the work. Form and content intertwine. After igniting the paintings, the artist photographs the burning process. Once the fire is extinguished, the burnt fragments of the painting, the resulting ashes, and the photographs documenting the burning process are combined. Ultimately, the final artwork vividly embodies its own creation process.

The artist has long been interested in the relationship between the art term 'medium' and the supernatural concept of a 'medium,' exploring the existence of spirits and their influence on our political systems and reality. In this context, the elements of fire and ash have become key materials through which the artist reflects on and narrates his personal experiences and surrounding social events. Through this journey involving fire, which reduces everything to an irreducible state, and the resulting ashes, the artist offers viewers an opportunity to contemplate the cosmic cycle of creation and destruction. The exhibition runs until January 29, 2023, at Kukje Gallery, Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

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