Lee Hwa-rang, a 26-year-old Seoul resident, considered herself “completely illiterate” when it came to art. That is, before she became a fan of rapper Kim Nam-joon, or RM from BTS, a well-known art collector. She then started to take what the fandom calls the “RM Tour” -- visiting the museums and galleries he frequents. “I started to go to exhibitions last year. At first, I was curious what he would have felt seeing those art works,” Lee said. “I tho

Arts & Design May 25, 2022

Jeju Biennale 2022 will take place across Jeju Island in November, addressing the message of living in harmony with all creatures and respecting nature, discourses that rose to the surface in the aftermath of the pandemic. The third edition of the biennale, helmed by artistic director Park Nam-hee, will evolve around the theme “Flowing Moon, Embracing Land,” taking place at the two main venues, Jeju Museum of Art and Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, from Nov. 16 to Feb. 12. The

Arts & Design May 19, 2022

When Kwon Jin-kyu (1922-1973) returned to his homeland of Korea in 1959, he was already an acclaimed sculptor in Japan. At age 37, he left behind many opportunities and headed home to take care of his elderly mother in Korea. He also harbored a strong desire to explore his own art in his homeland. Kwon pursed the archaic medium of terracotta and lacquer, which were not commonly used for sculptures at the time in Korea. Terracotta is a durable material naturally resistant to mold and bacter

Arts & Design May 17, 2022

GRAY, a US gallery based in Chicago and New York, was one of the most popular galleries at Art Busan 2022, with visitors stopping by its booth to take a selfie in front of David Hockney’s 8.7-meter-long photographic drawing and view Pablo Picasso‘s “Tete d‘homme et nu assis.” “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to exhibit at Art Busan in person. The last art fair we did in person in Asia was Art Basel Hong Kong in 2019, and it is great to be back

Arts & Design May 15, 2022

BUSAN – Art Busan, the second largest art fair in South Korea, hit yet another record-breaking sales figure this year, attracting established collectors and younger generations of collectors. South Korea’s thriving art market turned its focus to the southwestern port city over the past few days, as Art Busan 2022 kicked off Thursday with a VIP opening session and ran through Sunday. “As of Sunday morning, we are expecting to see around 60 billion won ($50 million) in sale

Arts & Design May 15, 2022

BUSAN -- South Korea’s thriving art market has turned its focus to the southwest, as Art Busan 2022 held VIP opening sessions on Thursday and Friday, attracting people from across the country. “It seems the collecting culture is maturing,” said an official from Gallery Hyundai. “I saw people hesitating before choosing works last year, but now it seems many collectors know what they want.” At the entrance to the booth of the gallery -- which is one of the oldest

Arts & Design May 13, 2022

Artist Yang Soon-yeal‘s two sculptures called “Mother Ottogi” have been donated to the Embassy of Ukraine in Seoul, as a wish for peace and an expression of respect to motherhood in war-torn Ukraine. The newly created works, funded by D.K.KIM Foundation, show "indomitable and fearless" mothers in Korea and Ukraine, according to the artist who has explored motherhood, which she believes to be a fundamental value of humanity. “I heard about a Ukraine mother

Arts & Design May 10, 2022

Art Busan, one of South Korea’s major art fairs, will kick off on Thursday with its VVIP opening featuring conversations with leading art professionals and exhibitions of works from world-renowned artists. The art fair will run through Sunday at the Bexco Exhibition Center in Busan. The four-day event will include works of 133 galleries in 21 countries including Gray -- a gallery based in Chicago and New York that represents David Hockney, Alex Katz and Jaume Plensa -- and is among the

Arts & Design May 9, 2022

“Digital Era NFT Art 101,“ an exhibition that aims to bring emerging nonfungible token projects to the public, is being held through May 29 at Gangdong Arts Center in Seoul. Some 70 artists are participating in the exhibition, alongside conferences and educational programs on NFT art that are being held. The NFT art exhibition is co-organized by Gangdong Arts Center, which is run by the Gangdong Cultural Foundation, and ArtToken, a Seoul-based digital art platform. The show spans

Arts & Design May 8, 2022

Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival will be held in person this summer as the country takes steps to return to normalcy after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rock festival will be held from Aug. 5 to 7, with performances from some 50 musicians and collectives from home and abroad at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park in Incheon. While the music festival mainly covers rock and electronic music, musicians who perform other genres such as alternative pop bands, indie bands and K-pop

Performance May 5, 2022

One of the most influential artists today, German artist Hito Steyerl transcends boundaries – as a visual artist, filmmaker, writer and philosopher. The artist questions where humans fit in an increasingly threatening world, where ever-evolving digital technology and capitalism has expanded to cryptocurrency. She is also a writer who has published academic journals and books such as “Duty Free Art -- Art in the Age of Planetary Civil Wars” and “The Wretched of the Scree

Arts & Design May 4, 2022

VENICE, Italy -- Park Seo-bo -- the pioneer of Korean abstract art, also known as the master of dansaekhwa -- has unveiled a new Ecriture painting in Venice, Italy. The painting, which took nearly three years to complete, is the result of the 92-year-old artist’s ceaseless devotion to his art. The 2.6-meter-wide painting, titled “Ecriture No 190512-21,” features pastel colors in his early pencil Ecriture style. Each gap between blocks of pencil shading seems like a breathing

Arts & Design May 2, 2022

The 14th Gwangju Biennale, taking place from April 7 to July 9 in Gwangju, will be held under the theme of “Soft and weak like water” as a metaphor for art that permeates deep into individuals, letting us embrace and understand the complexities of the world. The country’s largest biennale will be curated by Lee Sook-kyung, senior curator of International Art at Tate Modern, who will examine the so-called “Gwangju Spirit” -- an expression that connotes the city&r

Arts & Design April 29, 2022

Artist Kim Ki-ra is part of a generation of glass artists in South Korea to have pursued glass art over the past 40 years. The exhibition “The Stairs into My Memory” at Gallery Sklo in central Seoul showcases 30 new glass works inspired by homes. “Glass is a two-faced material. It can last long like a phoenix, but it is easily broken to pieces once it is hit by an impact. Glass is transparent, but it can be obscure,” Kim told The Korea Herald on Wednesday. With

Arts & Design April 29, 2022

When late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee and his family donated the late tycoon’s collection last April to the country’s national museums, the art circle was surprised at the unprecedented donation of art in Korea. Included among the approximately 23,000 donated works are national treasures and rarely seen Korean artworks. To mark the first anniversary of the donation, the two national museums -- The National Museum of Korea and The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Kore

Arts & Design April 27, 2022