With abandoned materials, Sook Jin Jo finds life beyond death

Entering Sook Jin Jo's exhibition at Seoul Museum of Art's Nam-Seoul branch, visitors encounter reclaimed railroad ties, weathered rafters and discarded timber. At first, the atmosphere feels solemn. But the longer one lingers, the more the abandoned materials seem to pulse with unexpected vitality. Despite using materials that evoke decay and mortality, the exhibition is not about death. It is about how life emerges from what has been left behind. "I don't treat death as something dark," Jo sai

2026-07-30 16:01:21:00

Korean art market rebounds in first half, but growth remains concentrated: report

South Korea's art market nearly doubled in value in the first half of this year, but growth was driven more by sizeable sales than a broader recovery, according to a report by the Korea Art Authentication and Appraisal Institute. Combined sales at seven domestic auction houses reached 110.8 billion won ($75,700) in the January-June period, up 99.05 percent from the same period last year, the report showed on Monday. The number of lots offered, however, fell 11.03 percent during the period from 9

2026-07-28 14:34:43:00

VANK urges Met Museum to revise Korean gallery texts over historical framing

South Korea's cyber diplomacy group VANK has called on New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to revise texts in its Korean gallery, arguing that several descriptions present a biased interpretation of Korean history and culture. The organization said Monday it will launch a campaign urging the museum to amend what it described as four problematic historical and cultural narratives embedded in gallery texts dedicated to Korean art. "The findings were made during VANK's recent visit to the United

2026-07-27 14:42:00:00

Korea to overhaul architect licensing system after 15-year transition

The architect licensing system will be overhauled following the completion of a 15-year transition to internationally aligned eligibility requirements. Beginning in 2027, only graduates of five-year university architecture programs or graduate schools who have completed at least three years of practical training at architectural firms will be eligible for the national licensing examination, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Sunday. The change marks the end of a t

2026-07-27 13:55:48:00

Korea Artist Prize spotlights AI, memory, politics of images

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has unveiled works by the four artists selected for its annual Korea Artist Prize that explore how images, technology and memory shape the way we perceive the world. The exhibition, which runs July 24 to Dec. 6 at MMCA Seoul, features newly commissioned works by Lee Haeminseon, Lee Jung-woo, Jeon Hyun-sun and Hong Jin-hwon. The four artists, who work in painting, installation, photography, video and digital media, explore how images, tech

2026-07-26 12:33:26:00

Saving art from the algorithm

What does it mean for an artist to remain true to instinct in an era when artificial intelligence, social media and political polarization continue to reshape how people perceive reality? Gallery Hyundai's exhibition "Sauve Qui Peut" brings together eight Korean artists born after the 1980s whose works span contemporary reinterpretations of East Asian painting, AI-assisted figurative painting, abstraction, sculpture and installation. The exhibition takes its title from French New Wave filmmaker

2026-07-08 14:39:19:00

How three women artists turned cooking into exhibition

For three women artists in their mid 30s to early 40s, conversations about food often began with an everyday question: "How have you been getting by?" As they shared stories about making a living, grocery shopping and cooking, those casual exchanges gradually evolved into a three-person exhibition at G Gallery in Seoul. Conceived by sculptor Woo Hannah, the exhibition “Faisandage” — a French culinary term for the aging of wild game — brings together works by Woo, Choi Su-jin and Chinese artist S

2026-07-07 16:00:49:00

What 40 years in clay and fire can teach

Stepping into ceramic artist Park Young-sook's studio in Gyeonggi Province, the first thing that greets visitors is not the gleaming white moon jars for which she is known, but the earthy scent of damp clay. Some of the largest moon jars, standing nearly 60 centimeters tall, have been drying for more than 100 days, still awaiting their first firing. Their pristine white surfaces have turned an earthy brown as impurities gradually emerge from the clay. "The clay is naturally releasing everything

2026-07-07 14:36:02:00

How Korean 'jang' traveled from earthenware jars to fine dining

Rows of brown earthenware jars may appear unremarkable at first glance. Yet these traditional Korean earthenware vessels known as "onggi" have been far more than simple kitchenware for centuries. The humble vessels helped shape one of Korea's defining culinary traditions by allowing fermented condiments and foods to mature over time. Among the foods traditionally fermented in onggi is "jang" — the family of fermented condiments such as soy sauce, or ganjang, soybean paste, or doenjang, and red c

2026-07-04 16:00:00:00

National Museum sets the table for Korea's food history

In Korea, "have you eaten?" has long served as a greeting, while countless expressions — from sikgu, meaning family and derived from "people who share meals" to idioms built around the dining table — reveal how deeply food is woven into everyday language and relationships. The newly opened exhibition "The Korean Table: Food, Nature, and Life" at the National Museum of Korea explores the history of Korean dining culture and food through some 650 artifacts, paintings and immersive installations in

2026-07-03 17:02:05:00