Concerns mount even as memorial services and exhibitions mark the fifth anniversary of Korean video artist’s death There is probably only one memorial service in the world where the mourners can smash up an electronic guitar to honor the deceased: video artist Paik Nam-june’s. Memorial services to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the renowned South Korean artist’s death were held at several...

ROME (AP) -- A male apprentice, longtime companion and possible lover of Leonardo da Vinci was the main influence and a model for the ``Mona Lisa'' painting, an Italian researcher said. But the researcher, Silvano Vinceti, said Wednesday the portrait also represents a synthesis of Leonardo's scientific, artistic and philosophical beliefs. Because the artist worked on it at various intervals...

Seoul offers a variety of events for the Lunar New Year holiday Seollal, the first day of the lunar calendar, is one of the most celebrated holidays in Korea. It has been traditionally considered a family-oriented occasion where people gather with their loved ones at home. But this year, more Seollal events are being held in Seoul for those who want to celebrate the holiday spirit and traditiona...

The famous 1976 novel “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is to be adapted into a Korean stage show which will be even more fun and intriguing than the 1985 film adaptation, the drama’s director said. “I have some friends who are gay and I tried to imitate them while practicing,” said Jung, who plays Molina. He said he could not fully act out a gay character in a recent TV drama “Personal Taste.” “Altho...

NEW YORK (AP) ― When American sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett was a graduate student studying with Grant Wood in Iowa, the painter of the iconic “American Gothic” told his young student to make art about what she knew best. Catlett, who was born into a middle-class family in Washington, D.C., in 1915 and raised by her mother and grandmother, took Wood’s advice to heart and began making...

Exhibition “Poem and Drawing”: Literary critic Kim Jae-hong and art critic Yun Beom-mo have organized a chance to see works by Korea’s best poets and artists together. This exhibition showcases poems by 74 Korean poets, accompanied by more than 80 artworks by 43 artists that serve as visual aids for the words. The participating poets include Ko Un, Kim Ji-ha, Kim Gwang-kyun and Kang Eun-gyo and ...

‘Gwanghwamun Younga’ features songs by Lee Young-hoon, whose work is enjoying a revival Late composer Lee Young-hoon, known for working with ballad singer Lee Moon-sae for more than 20 years, will have his dream posthumously fulfilled in the upcoming musical “Gwanghwamun Younga.” Although there have been several attempts to create a Korean musical based on K-pop songs, there was no musical that...

TAIPEI ― The famous “Varekai,” a Cirque du Soleil touring production, last week kicked off its first Asia tour in Taipei, Taiwan. And Korea is next on the troupe’s itinerary. Premiering in Montreal in 2002, the show, a happy, acrobatic version of the Greek Myth of Icarus, has attracted over 6 million people worldwide. The troupe has visited more than 60 cities in 12 countries in the last nine y...

FORT WORTH, Texas ― It was a frostbitten January day 50 years ago when the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art opened its doors to the public. Only 400 people braved the threat of an icy Camp Bowie Boulevard to visit the memorial to Fort Worth’s greatest champion. Before his death in 1955, as a final act of magnanimous boosterism, Amon G. Carter Sr., the self-made millionaire and publisher of the ...

Gana Art Gallery presents 80 pairings of poems, paintings by renowned Korean poets, artists Poetry and art are like a couple meant to be. The two distinct genres have long complemented each other, as emphasized by the close friendships shared by famous artists and poets throughout history. In Korea, paintings accompanied with poems have been a popular type of art for a long time, and were espec...

French choreographer Patrice Bart said Tuesday he would help the Korea National Ballet Company reproduce the 19th century French classical ballet “Giselle” next month in Seoul. “There have been different versions of ‘Giselle’ performed in the U.K. and Russia since late 19th century. But I think it is important to stage the original version of the 19th century French classical ballet,” Bart, firs...

The police said Monday that it is searching for a painting which allegedly disappeared from a storage room in the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. The request for the investigation came from Yoo Chong-ha, the South Korean Red Cross President and former foreign minister, who is looking for his oil painting by Albert Schenck, a Dutch artist, according to the Seou...

The exotic culture of an Asian country has captivated five U.S. artists and made them a team. Lois Lancaster, Linus Lancaster, Chris Sarley, Mary Pettis-Sarley and Marilyn Hulbert, all California-based artists, have been collaborating since last year because they share a same interest: Korean culture. Except for Lois Lancaster, the mother of Linus, curator of the exhibition and a fairly well-kn...