Hong Kong -- Art Central, a global art fair in Hong Kong for distinguished galleries based in the Asia-Pacific region, held its eighth edition last week during Hong Kong Art Week. With over 40,000 visitors, this year's event marked the strongest turnout in the fair's history, after having to scale down due to the pandemic for three years. “There is certainly a lot of synergy of the art market here in Hong Kong, especially with the auction sector and internal growth of Hong Kong g

Arts & Design April 1, 2023

Cherry blossoms at Jamsil Cherry blossoms are in full bloom earlier than usual to welcome spring. This weekend is the perfect time of the year to enjoy cherry blossoms with your beloved ones across the country. One of the most popular spots is Seokchon Lake in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul, which was once shut down during the pandemic. The lake is surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms during the springtime, visited by people strolling around the 2.5-kilometer road round the lake with their belove

Culture March 31, 2023

HONG KONG -- All eyes were on Art Basel Hong Kong last week, which made its first full return since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, Asia's largest art fair went online and the following two years saw the event running at a much reduced scale. “One of the beautiful things about fairs is the spillover that the fair has into the cultural fabric of the city itself. The gallery scene in Hong Kong has accelerated tremendously in the years since A

Arts & Design March 29, 2023

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's art scene got back into full gear last week, drawing international visitors back to Asia’s premier art fair -- Art Basel Hong Kong -- as well as to the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District, anchored by the recently opened contemporary art museum, the M+. The Hong Kong Palace Museum, also part of the district, completed its renovation and opened to the public in 2022 to show more than 900 pieces of treasure from mainland China. The West Kowloon Cultura

Arts & Design March 29, 2023

Artist Oh Sea-young was a painter who strived to embody Korean aesthetics, which he interpreted in his own unique way. His paintings show how much he pushed himself as an artist during his life, based both in South Korea and the US. He constantly evolved his art throughout his career, creating large-scale paintings. Oh got much of his inspiration from Korean artifacts such as traditional earthenware and elements found in the national flag of Korea. His paintings -- for which he used acrylic,

Arts & Design March 26, 2023

A white porcelain moon jar from the 18th century fetched $4.5 million at Christie’s “Japanese and Korean Art” sale, the highest price fetch at auction by a moon jar. The sale was held Tuesday in New York. The British auction house explained that Joseon era porcelain was the highest quality moon jar put up for auction in at least 10 years. Owned by a Japanese private collector, the moon jar's estimated sale price was between $1 million and $2 million, according to preview

Arts & Design March 23, 2023

HONG KONG -- South Korea’s homegrown galleries have brought contemporary Korean artists to Art Basel Hong Kong, Asia’s largest art fair, as it made a full return after four years this week at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. “We had a smooth start. I see as many people as before the pandemic. All of the paintings by Joung Young-ju were sold out to collectors from outside South Korea, including those from the US,” said Woo Chan-kyu, president of Hakgojae, on

Travel March 23, 2023

HONG KONG -- Returning after four years, Art Basel Hong Kong has pumped energy back into the city, attracting art lovers from around the world who swarmed the booths at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday, “The city never stood still during the pandemic. It continued to push the boundaries and innovate. In fact, the cultural landscape in Hong Kong has continued to grow from strength to strength,” said Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, at a press reception Tuesday

Arts & Design March 21, 2023

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- The first museum dedicated to Korea’s leading contemporary artist, Park Seo-bo, will be built on Jeju Island. The museum is set to open in summer 2024 on a site next to JW Marriot Jeju Resort and Spa. “I was very delighted when I was presented with the offer of building a museum (by JW Marriot Jeju Resort and Spa). I had been wishing to found my own museum during my lifetime,” Park said at the press conference held on Tuesday at JW Marriot Jeju Resort

Arts & Design March 18, 2023

Leeum Museum of Art has staged white porcelains from the Joseon era (1392-1910) at its special exhibition, “Joseon White Procelain, Paragon of Virtue,” bringing together high-quality works of white porcelains, which are known as the symbolic craftwork of the era. White porcelain began to be made under the supervision of the royal court in the late 15th century, with the official kilns established in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. Diverse types of white porcelain had been produced for

Arts & Design March 17, 2023

Lehmann Maupin has added Korean artist Sung Neung-kyung, a pioneer of avant-garde art in South Korea in the 1970s, to the list of artists it represents and will support Sung’s artistic career. Sung has become the fourth Korean artist to be represented by the American gallery. “His canonical works have not only sparked urgent conversations about politics, identity and the body, but also continue to expand our understanding of contemporary art making. I look forward to placing him in

Arts & Design March 17, 2023

Art Basel Hong Kong, Asia’s largest art fair, will fully return to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre next week after a three-year pandemic hiatus with a stronger line-up of galleries from Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, including 12 homegrown galleries from South Korea. The five-day art fair will kick off on Tuesday and run through Saturday, opening to the public from Thursday through Saturday. It will bring together 177 galleries from 32 countries, including 22 first-time

Arts & Design March 15, 2023

The sunlight coming through the window provides natural lighting at ceramicist Suh Dong-hee's home gallery. “I used to change the works on display every year, but since the pandemic has limited people's visits (to the gallery), I have left these works out for a while. This is 'The Lily of the Valleys' series that I began in 2020,” Suh, 76, told The Korea Herald during a recent interview at her home gallery in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Suh is professor emeritus of cerami

Arts & Design March 13, 2023

Sung Neung-kyung pioneered South Korea’s avant-garde art in the 1970s as a conceptual artist, when many other artists in the scene at the time were involved in speaking out against the dictator-led government through their art. Sung created rebellious art using newspapers that were censored at the time. The 1970s was a time when the Korean art scene was a mixture of different art genres – Dansaekhwa, or Korea’s monochrome-style paintings; Minjung art, or paintings that criticiz

Arts & Design March 13, 2023

The solo exhibition of installation artist Ahn Jong-yuen, who has explored -- and played with -- light throughout her artistic career opens Wednesday at Summit Gallery in southern Seoul. The exhibition titled, “Skywalk, Lightwalker: Time for Walking the Sky and Light,” is jointly organized by Herald Auction and ArtToken, and will run through March 15. Ahn has been dubbed an “artist of light” for her works that use LED lighting and media art inspired by light. Born in 1952

Arts & Design March 9, 2023