Centre Pompidou has arrived in Seoul with a major Cubist exhibition, marking the start of its four-year partnership with Hanwha Cultural Foundation.
The four-story Centre Pompidou Hanwha building is located at the annex of the 63 Building in Yeouido, Seoul — the former site of Hanwha Aqua Planet 63, once the city's best-known aquarium.
The landmark space, designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, was completely transformed into a new cultural venue, featuring a translucent white box-like structure reminiscent of a light box.
At the lobby, the iconic sculpture associated with Cubism and early modernism "The Large Horse" by Raymond Duchamp-Villon, the older brother of Marcel Duchamp is on view beneath a translucent ceiling that casts a soft glow over the work.
The inaugural exhibition, "The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision," features 91 works by 43 Cubist artists, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Leger, Juan Gris and Robert Delaunay.
Another exhibition, "Korea Focus: Dream Maps Towards Modernity," explores Korean art influenced by Cubism and Western avant-garde movements from the 1920s to the 1950s.
"Not only will we introduce works from the Centre Pompidou collection that have never before been shown in Korea or elsewhere in Asia, but we also plan to use the Pompidou’s global network to further promote Korean art internationally," said Lee Sung-su, chairman of Hanwha Cultural Foundation, Tuesday.
The partnership with Hanwha is part of the French museum's "Constellation" project to strengthen its global network and present its collection internationally, following the opening of the Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum project in Shanghai in 2019.
Last year, the Pompidou Center in Paris temporarily closed for a massive five-year renovation project.
“What I would like to say to those familiar with the Pompidou Center in Paris is this: some may think we have closed, but we are very much alive,” said Laurent Le Bon, president of Centre Pompidou Paris.
Le Bon also praised the building designed by Wilmotte, saying it “perfectly embodies the spirit of minimalism.”
Christian Briend, head curator of the Modern Collections Department at Centre Pompidou, stressed Cubism’s historical significance as the reason for choosing it as the inaugural exhibition at Centre Pompidou Hanwha.
“Cubism was born in Paris and became one of the first major avant-garde movements of the 20th century, fundamentally changing the course of modern art,” he said.
“Cubist artists broke with traditional perspective and painted not simply what they saw, but what they perceived.”
Cubism's impact on Korea
Aligning with the Cubism exhibition, “Korea Focus: Dream Maps Towards Modernity” highlights Korean artists influenced by Cubism. Korean interpretations of Cubism evolved in distinct ways, often mediated through Japan during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945).
The exhibition traces the rise of Cubist experimentation from early pioneers such as Kim Whan-ki and Yoo Young-kuk to the experimental postwar generation of the 1950s, when artists embraced fragmented forms and geometric abstraction amid the upheavals of liberation and the Korean War.
“While Korean artists absorbed Cubist ideas through Japan during the colonial period, they transformed them through distinctly Korean sensibilities,” said Cho Ju-hyun, head curator of Centre Pompidou Hanwha.
"The exhibition also calls for renewed attention to women artists such as Park Re-hyun, whose work fused Cubist composition with the aesthetics of East Asian ink painting," the curator added.
Beyond the initial four-year agreement, Hanwha Cultural Foundation plans to continue its partnership with Centre Pompidou while further expanding the global visibility of Korean artists through the museum’s international network. The foundation is affiliated with Hanwha Group, a South Korean conglomerate.
“While the current agreement runs for four years, we envision this as the beginning of a long-term collaboration with Centre Pompidou, and we hope to continue working together well beyond the initial term,” Lee said.
yunapark@heraldcorp.com
