While the coronavirus has closed borders and restricted travel, virtual space remains wide open, offering new possibilities. Taking advantage of such possibilities is the online exhibition platform “Manifold,” which introduces emerging Korean artists to the international arts scene at a time when the pandemic hinders in-person exhibitions. Manifold is part of the Korea Arts Management Service’s Grant for Artists Management’s project, begun in 2019, that aims to suppo

Arts & Design Feb. 3, 2021

The sole public museum dedicated to Korea’s modern artist Lee Jung-seop has decided to adopt “Lee Jung-seop” as the artist’s official name in English. This means the museum, located on Jeju Island, will change its current name -- Lee Jung-seob Gallery -- to one using the current romanization. For decades, various organizations and exhibitions have used many different romanizations of Lee’s name. “We have long recognized the need to decide on the English

Arts & Design Feb. 3, 2021

The 13th Gwangju Biennale, which was scheduled for Feb. 26, will now be held in April as the pandemic continues to ravage the country, the Gwangju Biennale Foundation announced on Monday. “We have decided to put off the biennale due to the pandemic, but other things, including the participating artists and commissioned artworks, remain as planned. We are preparing online exhibitions as well,” a public relations official from the Gwangju Biennale Foundation told The Korea Herald. Fe

Arts & Design Feb. 1, 2021

The Nam June Paik Art Center on Friday hosted a conversation with Lev Manovich, a professor at City University of New York and the leading theorist of digital culture and media art, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of video art pioneer Paik Nam-june’s death. The conversation took place at the Nam June Paik Art Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and was led by the director of the art center, Kim Seong-eun. The talk, which will be uploaded online in early February, was livestreamed v

Arts & Design Jan. 31, 2021

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, has published “MMCA Collection 300” in English, providing an introduction to representative modern and contemporary works from the museum’s holdings. The Korean-language edition of the book was published in 2019 to commemorate the museum’s 50th anniversary, and was a bestseller at major online bookstores in South Korea. The English-language edition features a glossary section newly added for international rea

Arts & Design Jan. 27, 2021

Seoul Museum of Art’s first exhibition of the year is an attempt to redefine the museum’s collection with an experimental approach -- interaction between citizens and experts. Scattered at three locations throughout Seoul, the Seoul City-run SeMA is located at Seoul Museum of Art (Seosomun-dong), Buk-Seoul Museum of Art in Nowon-gu and Nam-Seoul Museum of Art in Gwanak-gu. Established in 1988, SeMA holds more than 5,000 works in its collection. “Collection_Opening Hacking

Arts & Design Jan. 26, 2021

Paik Nam-june is widely known as the founder of the video art who expanded the art medium to television sets in the early 1960s. The internationally acclaimed artist is receiving a renewed interest ahead of a restoration of “The More the Better,” Paik’s magnum opus, at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and a solo exhibition of his works at Leeahn Gallery in Seoul is an opportunity to look at Paik’s various art practices. The exhibition, the gallery&rsqu

Arts & Design Jan. 23, 2021

The artworks of lacquer artist Jeong Kwang-bok and sculptor Hong Seung-tae may seem like they have nothing in common. But the two artists’ work styles share a common feature -- expanding the boundary of art without confining themselves to a certain art medium or art category. The exhibition “Modern Postmodern, Postmodern Post” at Gallery Insa Art in Insadong, central Seoul, showcases the two artists’ latest 70 artworks -- sculptures, lacquer paintings and craftworks.

Arts & Design Jan. 22, 2021

Sinnoi -- a Korean jazz trio that is pioneering a new music genre combining Korean folk music and jazz -- will perform their new song “Neo Simbangkok” on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 at Arko Arts Theater in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. The trio’s performance is part of the project “Arko Selection” by the Arts Council Korea, the national art organization that supports artists and arts entities. The project aims to promote development in the music industry by selecting 21

Arts & Design Jan. 21, 2021

In a dark room, animals bloom from digitally projected flowers on a wall. When touched, the flowers scatter and disappear -- just as it would in nature when humans seek to manipulate it. The artwork -- “Animals of Flower, Symbiotic Lives II” -- was one of several at the exhibition “teamLab: LIFE” at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul that went viral after it opened last September, attracting a large number of visitors despite the ongoing pandemic. Designed by teamLab,

Arts & Design Jan. 18, 2021

French visual artist David Jamin is a delicate observer of people’s emotions. The artist delivers his subjects’ emotions on his canvas using a variety of vivid colors and spontaneous drawings of their gestures. His paintings suggest a portrait of someone’s soul. The artist, based in France, hosts his first museum exhibition in South Korea at the Hangaram Art Museum at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul, showcasing his 61 original paintings, including the new “Intr

Arts & Design Jan. 17, 2021

Kukje Gallery‘s newly renovated K1 building has been chosen as the winner of the Best Cultural Draw at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2021. Design magazine Wallpaper* annually announces the winners of the awards in its February issue, publishing the list of outstanding places and products across the world from the past 12 months. The gallery’s K1 building is a multiuse arts complex featuring an expanded gallery space, cafe, restaurant, yoga studio and private gym where works by the

Arts & Design Jan. 13, 2021

Hyundai Hwarang (Gallery Hyundai) hosts a special exhibition in memory of South Korean artist Chang Uc-chin, whose works of modern art are loved by many Koreans for their unique warm-hearted simplicity, reflecting the artist’s own painting style. Born in 1918, the artist loved folksy subjects such as Korea’s rural scenery, family, magpies and hanok, or traditional Korean houses. Due to his pursuit of simplicity, some say his paintings look like the work of a child. But that simple

Arts & Design Jan. 12, 2021

BTS won album of the year at the 35th Golden Disc Awards on Sunday, grabbing the trophy for the fourth consecutive year, further cementing its position as the most popular boy band in the country. The boy band won the honor for its fourth full album, “Map of the Soul:7,” which was released in February 2020. The album consists of 19 tracks that deliver stories of BTS members discovering their true selves. The video for the album’s main track, “On,” received more th

Arts & Design Jan. 11, 2021