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

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

Jan. 31, 2021

Three traditional folding screens, including one which was brought back from the United States last year, are on display at the National Palace Museum of Korea. The most famous of the three -- Yojiyeondo, or banquet at Yoji in Korean -- depicts an extravagant feast hosted by Seowangmo, a goddess in Chinese mythology. The banquet takes place by Yoji, a huge pond in the Kunlun Mountains which is believed to be the dwelling place of gods. King Mu of China’s Zhou dynasty was said to have at

Jan. 27, 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

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

Jan. 26, 2021

The National Museum of Korea announced on Tuesday that it is extending the run of its special exhibition “After Every Winter Comes Spring” for nine weeks. The exhibition, which opened Nov. 24 and reopened Jan. 19 after a two-week shutdown, will now run through April 4. Visitors will have an opportunity to see the painting “Sehando,” which reflects the hardships that its creator, scholar and calligrapher Chusa Kim Jeong-hui (1786-1856), experienced while in exile. &ldq

Jan. 26, 2021

The late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s treasure box is open. Besides being South Korea’s wealthiest and most powerful businessman, Lee, who died Oct. 25, was also an avid art collector who amassed an important collection of Korean art as well as contemporary Western works. Some of the works in his collection are under appraisal, raising speculation that they may be sold off in the near future. The appraisals are being carried out by the Galleries Association of Korea’s Art

Jan. 25, 2021

The Mapo Oil Depot, located near the World Cup Park in Mapo, western Seoul, was once a level-one security facility that was off limits to the public for almost 40 years. The facility has recently been refurbished as a cultural space for citizens.  A lantern exhibition, titled “Sea of Light,” is currently running at the once abandoned oil tank, offering a cultural experience for those who are feeling exhausted amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic.  The exhibition hall f

Jan. 23, 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

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.

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

Jan. 21, 2021

The Gwacheon branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, is holding an exhibition titled “Olympic Effect: Korean Architecture and Design From 1980s to 1990s.” The show reexamines the foundations of South Korea’s architecture and design culture, which grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s. It presents some 300 artworks, photos, documents and interview clips that shed light on the effects of the 1988 Seoul Olympics on urban development and industrial desig

Jan. 18, 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,

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

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

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

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

Jan. 11, 2021

Hakgojae Gallery kicked off the year with an exhibition looking into the meaning of humanity after the devastating COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things. The exhibition, “Hakgojae Collection, 38˚C,” takes place both offline and online. “People are focusing on their body now. They isolate themselves to protect it from the pandemic and react sensitively to symptoms. Thirty-eight degrees Celsius is widely considered a high fever for humans, which became a criteria for banni

Jan. 10, 2021

An exhibition highlighting foreign critics and historians who have explored and documented Korean art is under way at a museum in central Seoul. "Homebound Journey: Non-Korean Researchers' Study of Korean Arts" is taking place at the Kimdaljin Art Archives and Museum in the central Seoul neighborhood of Jongno. The museum has curated an archive of foreigners who have studied Korean Art from the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) to modern day. The 100 items on display include books, exh

Jan. 10, 2021