[Exhibition of the Week] Themed Exhibition 'Memory·Space' and Kwon Hyunjin Solo Exhibition 'SPUMA' etc.

▲ Arko Art Center Thematic Exhibition ‘Memory·Space’ = Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service’s Arko Art Center is hosting the thematic exhibition ‘Memory·Space’ until July 23. This exhibition reinterprets the spatial and locational aspects of the art center through the experiences and social memories of contemporary artists, while reexamining the functions and roles of the art center.

Performance video by Moon Seung-hyun 'The Transparent Wall of the Exhibition Hall is Dyed in Siena Color' [Photo by Arko Art Center]

The site of the Arko Art Center was formerly home to Keij? Imperial University and later the College of Liberal Arts at Seoul National University. After Seoul National University relocated to Gwanak, the art center was completed in 1979, designed by architect Kim Swoo-geun. Characterized by its red brick exterior, the art center, along with the adjacent Arko Theater, is considered one of the iconic buildings of Daehangno.

Originally constructed as the first public exhibition hall for contemporary art in Korea (the predecessor of the Arko Art Center), the art hall witnessed social changes led by the democratization movements of the 1960s to 1980s and the youth and consumer cultures of the 1990s, continuing to the present day.

In the exhibition, Kim Bo-kyung presents a wallpaper work that overlays images of various events held in Naksan, Hyehwa-dong, and Marronnier Park around the art center. Ahn Kyung-soo showcases panoramic paintings that superimpose the past onto views of Marronnier Park seen through the large windows of the art center’s archive lounge.

Sound artwork 'Amadeus Chair' by artist Lee Hyun-jong.
[Photo by Arko Art Center]

Yang Seung-bin unveils a fake documentary inspired by the question of why Kim Swoo-geun never designed chairs, while Park Min-ha presents a work that imagines the square windows between the art center’s brick buildings as the ‘eyes of the building.’

A total of 23 new works by nine artists (teams), including paintings, sculptures, performances, video, and sound installations, are exhibited throughout the gallery, archive lounge, project space, outdoor lobby, staircases, corridors, and restrooms.

Im Geun-hye, director of the Arko Art Center, stated, “Over the past three years during the pandemic, we have explored sharp themes such as environment, ecology, locality, boundaries, and mobility as exhibition topics, receiving positive responses. This exhibition, prepared ahead of the Arko Art Center’s 50th anniversary in March next year, is a declaration that the art center will continue to witness social changes, breathe with the times, and evolve together.” The exhibition runs until July 23 at the Arko Art Center, Dongsung-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Seoh Hye-young, ectype C, 2015, steel, powder coating, 88.5x55.1x89.1cm
[Photo courtesy of Sungkok Art Museum]

▲ Seo Hye-young Solo Exhibition ‘Node: One Whole’ = Sungkok Art Museum is hosting a solo exhibition titled ‘Node: One Whole’ by mid-career artist Seo Hye-young. The exhibition highlights the artist’s 20-year creative journey. Since 2000, the artist has focused on works exploring space created by stacking brick motifs in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms.

Seo gained recognition with the 2003 painting series ‘Ubiquitous,’ which reinterprets the religious iconography of the ‘Annunciation.’ The space within the work, completed by drawing countless pencil lines on canvas, is composed of forms built by stacking brick shapes. Since 2000, the artist has consistently explored space through the brick motif, expanding beyond genres and media?from sculpture to site-specific installations and flat works?while experimenting with the boundaries between artistic and everyday spaces.

The ‘ectype’ series made of steel, presented in this exhibition, creates a new sense of space through the light passing through small bricks within the sculptures and the shadows generated by this light. Seo places units that can be assembled in various forms through connection methods throughout the exhibition space, showcasing a unique approach that seeks expandability and practicality to the audience. The exhibition runs until June 18 at Sungkok Art Museum, Sinmunno 2-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Kwon Hyunjin Visual Poetry, 91x91cm, Mixed Media on Canvas, 2023
[Photo by Next Museum]

▲ Kwon Hyun-jin Solo Exhibition ‘SPUMA’ = Next Museum is holding a solo exhibition titled ‘SPUMA’ by Kwon Hyun-jin, the original artist behind the works featured as painter Isara (Kim Hee-ra) in the Netflix original series ‘The Glory,’ which left a strong impression.

The artist presents over 30 works, including new pieces, in this exhibition. Receiving positive responses in the global art market, Kwon unfolds a diverse artistic world ranging from visual poetry and digital art to abstraction and sculpture.

‘Spuma’ refers to effects that intentionally blur the edges of color fields rather than depicting subjects with precise forms, variable surface effects created by brush strokes, or natural stains and dots formed by the material’s properties. The artist explains that sometimes works take on shapes different from the initial intention during this process, which is also a way to discover their unconscious mind.

Kwon’s works mainly involve repeatedly applying highly concentrated ink and urethane with a brush, where colors meet and blend to create unique surfaces. Rather than planning the composition, the artist expresses images that arise unconsciously through spuma, discovering the unconscious within and embodying new abstraction within abstraction. The exhibition runs until May 14 at Next Museum, Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul.

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