Painter Yoo Young-kuk's colors, nature come to light

Where a person was born and raised can have a huge impact on them as an artist. Pioneering painter Yoo Young-kuk (1916-2002) was born in Uljin County, North Gyeongsang Province, which borders the East Sea off the Korean Peninsula. Among the first generation of Korean abstract artists, many of the paintings he created since the 1960s feature radiant colors and geometric forms with a strong, warm atmosphere. This bold combination likely came about because he was inspired by the nature of his h

June 20, 2022

Seoul Fashion Week to be held fully in person in Oct. for 1st time in 3 yrs

Seoul Fashion Week, South Korea's biggest biannual fashion show, will be held fully in person in October, following two years of scaled-down events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seoul city government said Monday. Seoul Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 will kick off on Oct. 11 at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul for a five-day run, the city announced. As the upcoming event will be held fully in person for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, the city will also

June 20, 2022

NFT Art 101 Conference discusses copyright issues

It is a tough time for blockchain technologies like nonfungible tokens, as the volatile cryptocurrency market has upended the outlook for NFT art, which has enjoyed explosive growth in recent years. However, even though NFTs are going through a maturing period, experts say they still offer great potential for the art industry in the future. NFT is a financial security consisting of digital data stored in a blockchain. Each NFT is unique and acts as a digital certificate attesting to a work&rsq

June 19, 2022

Works by North Korean artists on exhibition in Gwangju

Works by some 20 North Korean artists are being presented at the Jinhan Art Museum in Gwangju through June 30. Hosted by the city of Gwangju and the Gwangju headquarters of the Central Association for National Unification of Korea, also known Mintong, the exhibition aims to foster inter-Korean cultural exchange. “We are not displaying any art that conveys propaganda, but only works of fine arts, such as landscape paintings and embroidery artworks,” a Jinhan Art Museum official tol

June 17, 2022

French artist awakens the senses of pandemic-weary people

A shimmering blue river runs along the floor of the museum and droplets in the form of knots float above the stream. The combination of works by French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel is overwhelming, stimulating the visual senses. The tranquil blue river, measuring 26 meters long and 7 meters wide, consists of bricks of blue glasses created in collaboration with glassblowers in Firozabad, a famous glassblowing center in India. The blue color, referred to as “Firozi” blue, embraces mu

June 16, 2022

G-Dragon, Hong Kyung-pyo share creative vision in ‘Chanel Connects’ podcast

South Korean musician G-Dragon and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo are among the celebrities and artists from diverse genres featured on the second season of Chanel’s arts and culture podcast “Chanel Connects.” Moderated by model Park Soo-joo, one of the ambassadors for the fashion house, the episode titled “The Power of Sound and Vision” was the first-ever Korean language podcast for ”Chanel Connects.“ In the episode, G-Dragon and Hong talked about wh

June 14, 2022

Catalog to introduce Cheong Wa Dae art collection

The government is going through the works of art stored and displayed at Cheong Wa Dae, aiming to publish an art catalog and introduce works that have been collected since the Republic of Korea was established in 1948. “We are sorting through the artwork collected at Cheong Wa Dae. The results will be published as an art catalog, which is expected to come out this year,” an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism told The Korea Herald. Whether an exhibition of th

June 13, 2022

Media artist Alex Verhaest’s new works question utopian ideas

Artists are inspired in many ways. Media artist Alex Verhaest, whose first solo exhibition in South Korea is running at Barakat Seoul, was struck by her best friend Sofie Verraest’s doctoral dissertation on utopian ideas. The dissertation, “Eutopia Unbound: Imagining Good Places in Narratives from 1945 to the Present,” claims that four types of utopias -- communitarianism, futurism, isolationism and hedonism -- appear in the modernist imaginations of postwar-Western literatur

June 12, 2022

Pioneering Korean artists in NY living like family: Kim Whan-ki, Han Yong-jin, Moon Mi-aie

When painter Kim Whan-ki (1913-1974) headed to New York City in 1963, the city was emerging as a new global art mecca attracting artists from around the world. Kim spent the rest of his life there, delving into abstract art and further developing the poetic approach to painting that he had begun exploring in Paris in the late 1950s. New York City was unfamiliar to the Korean-born artist. There were few artists from his home country who settled in the city and witnessed the latest developments

June 6, 2022

Korea-Italy collaborations to be featured at Milan Design Week

Craftworks made in collaboration between Korean artisans and Italian designers will be on display at Korean Craft 2022, which will be held during Milan Design Week 2022, a major design art fair due to take place June 6 to 12. The 10th edition of Korean Craft will showcase works that feature different beauty ideals realized by Korean artisans and Italian designers. Among the works on display will be the “Altar for offering to the gods” series created by Korean brassware artisans L

May 30, 2022

Pioneering artists of the time at Gallery Hyundai, Page Gallery

Artists are constantly expanding their own artistic world. Some defy conventional art to differentiate themselves, like South Korea’s avant-garde pioneer Lee Seung-taek and British pop artist Philip Colbert, who are both currently showcasing new works in Seoul. 　While Lee is known as a progenitor of Korea’s conceptual art from the 1950s, Colbert is an emerging British pop artist who has been expanding the realm of pop art to virtual reality. 　Born in 1932, Lee began working in i

May 30, 2022

Leeum Museum of Art names Cha Jea-min winner of ‘Artspectrum 2022’

Leeum Museum of Art has announced artist Cha Jea-min as the winner of “Artspectrum 2022,” the museum’s biennial exhibition that aims to introduce emerging young artists. The exhibition has been a gateway for many Korean artists who enjoy international renown today. The museum’s first exhibition of the year presented eight emerging Korean artists from different fields of art -- video artist Cha Jea-min, installation artist Kim Dong-hee, participatory artist Kim Mo, insta

May 28, 2022

[Well-curated] Twisted art, fine craftworks and film about female director by a female director

If you are a big fan of director Tim Burton or an even bigger fan of his “Edward Scissorhands,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” or “Alice in Wonderland,” you won’t want to miss a special exhibition now in Seoul. “The World of Tim Burton” traces the footsteps of the iconic American director, presenting around 520 of Burton’s unique artworks across mediums such as paintings, drawings and photos. As part of the retrospective’s

May 27, 2022

[Feature] Double-edged sword: celebrities’ influence on Korean art scene

Lee Hwa-rang, a 26-year-old Seoul resident, considered herself “completely illiterate” when it came to art. That is, before she became a fan of rapper Kim Nam-joon, or RM from BTS, a well-known art collector. She then started to take what the fandom calls the “RM Tour” -- visiting the museums and galleries he frequents. “I started to go to exhibitions last year. At first, I was curious what he would have felt seeing those art works,” Lee said. “I tho

May 25, 2022

[Herald Interview] ‘Millennials’ preference for experiences fuels luxury fashion market’

South Korea is rising in the ranks of the luxury market’s agenda, propelled by consumers’ pent-up desire to purchase high-end fashion goods as pandemic lockdowns are lifted and the country takes steps to return to normalcy. While many choose to buy high-end fashion items both offline and online, some prefer to rent them at much cheaper prices. To meet this demand, an increasing number of local companies have enrolled in rental services. “We have built an ecosystem of luxury to

May 23, 2022

[Weekender] Matisse is having a moment in S. Korea

When “Henri Matisse: Life and Joy” -- a retrospective exhibition of Matisse held in Seoul -- was drawing to an end in April, thousands of visitors came to see original works by the pioneering French painter and sculptor. “People continued to come to the exhibition despite the spread of the omicron variant, which began in February. Some 5,000 visitors were coming on a single day toward the end. It received a great deal of attention and love,” said director Seo Hyung-won a

May 21, 2022

Jeju Biennale 2022 to show how humans live in symbiosis with other life forms

Jeju Biennale 2022 will take place across Jeju Island in November, addressing the message of living in harmony with all creatures and respecting nature, discourses that rose to the surface in the aftermath of the pandemic. The third edition of the biennale, helmed by artistic director Park Nam-hee, will evolve around the theme “Flowing Moon, Embracing Land,” taking place at the two main venues, Jeju Museum of Art and Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, from Nov. 16 to Feb. 12. The

May 19, 2022

Terracotta sculptor Kwon Jin-kyu’s spirit lives on at Seoul Museum of Art

When Kwon Jin-kyu (1922-1973) returned to his homeland of Korea in 1959, he was already an acclaimed sculptor in Japan. At age 37, he left behind many opportunities and headed home to take care of his elderly mother in Korea. He also harbored a strong desire to explore his own art in his homeland. Kwon pursed the archaic medium of terracotta and lacquer, which were not commonly used for sculptures at the time in Korea. Terracotta is a durable material naturally resistant to mold and bacter

May 17, 2022

[Art Busan 2022] GRAY sees growing interest in contemporary works from Korean collectors

GRAY, a US gallery based in Chicago and New York, was one of the most popular galleries at Art Busan 2022, with visitors stopping by its booth to take a selfie in front of David Hockney’s 8.7-meter-long photographic drawing and view Pablo Picasso‘s “Tete d‘homme et nu assis.” “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to exhibit at Art Busan in person. The last art fair we did in person in Asia was Art Basel Hong Kong in 2019, and it is great to be back

May 15, 2022

[From the Scene] Another record-breaking year for Art Busan as collectors mature

BUSAN – Art Busan, the second largest art fair in South Korea, hit yet another record-breaking sales figure this year, attracting established collectors and younger generations of collectors. South Korea’s thriving art market turned its focus to the southwestern port city over the past few days, as Art Busan 2022 kicked off Thursday with a VIP opening session and ran through Sunday. “As of Sunday morning, we are expecting to see around 60 billion won ($50 million) in sale

May 15, 2022