With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away, Opera Gallery Seoul is showcasing love-themed artwork during the month of February.

The Valentine’s Day selection will feature 50 artworks by 15 artists, including sculptures of Auguste Rodin, and works by famous contemporary artists Peter Klasen, Mr. Brainwash, Romero Britto and Korean artist Lee Dong-uk.

“Love has always been a favorite theme of artists who expressed different emotions of love in their creations,” said Hong Su-ryun, a curator of the gallery. 

“The artists featured in this exhibition have dealt with many other issues such as social issues, nature. But we gathered the works with love theme at the exhibition,” said Hong.

Auguste Rodin’s sculptures of a man and a woman, inspired by the theme of love and romance will be on display. Rodin, famous for “The Thinker” sculpture, expressed a passionate love scene in the form of lovers in “Eternal Spring Time” and “Eternal Idol.”

German artist Peter Klasen’s “Love” expresses complicated emotions of love through a collage of sheet metals, a gas gauge and an electronic display board. From vulnerability to sensuality, the artworks feature different emotions on illustrated images of man and a heart. The “Love” sign that can be turned off symbolizes that the emotion can disappear at anytime.

Korean artist Lee Dong-uk’s “Balloon in Rest” features balloons in lovely pastel colors. The artist, who recently fell in love, changed the colors of his signature balloons from the usual blue and purple to lovely pastel colors, according to the curator.

Pop artist Romero Britto offers the joy of love in the colorful, playful sculptures. A heart-shaped sculpture “For Your Heart,” and “Honey” are on display at the exhibition.

“For Your Heart” features bright colors combined together with dots and stripes, which make the artwork a statement accessory and dcor item.

The sweetness of love can be seen in Laurence Jenkell’s sculptural work “Petits Bonbons Wrapping.” The French artist uses real candies mixed with synthetic resins to make candy-shaped sculptures in black, turquoise and green.

The gallery also plans to donate the proceeds of the exhibition to Child Fund, a nonprofit group that promotes children’s welfare.

The exhibition “My Arty Valentine” runs from Feb. 1-28 at Opera Gallery on Dosan Boulevard, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

For more information, call (02) 3446-0070.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)