HONG KONG -- All eyes were on Art Basel Hong Kong last week, which made its first full return since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, Asia's largest art fair went online and the following two years saw the event running at a much reduced scale. “One of the beautiful things about fairs is the spillover that the fair has into the cultural fabric of the city itself. The gallery scene in Hong Kong has accelerated tremendously in the years since A

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's art scene got back into full gear last week, drawing international visitors back to Asia’s premier art fair -- Art Basel Hong Kong -- as well as to the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District, anchored by the recently opened contemporary art museum, the M+. The Hong Kong Palace Museum, also part of the district, completed its renovation and opened to the public in 2022 to show more than 900 pieces of treasure from mainland China. The West Kowloon Cultura

Artist Oh Sea-young was a painter who strived to embody Korean aesthetics, which he interpreted in his own unique way. His paintings show how much he pushed himself as an artist during his life, based both in South Korea and the US. He constantly evolved his art throughout his career, creating large-scale paintings. Oh got much of his inspiration from Korean artifacts such as traditional earthenware and elements found in the national flag of Korea. His paintings -- for which he used acrylic,

A white porcelain moon jar from the 18th century fetched $4.5 million at Christie’s “Japanese and Korean Art” sale, the highest price fetch at auction by a moon jar. The sale was held Tuesday in New York. The British auction house explained that Joseon era porcelain was the highest quality moon jar put up for auction in at least 10 years. Owned by a Japanese private collector, the moon jar's estimated sale price was between $1 million and $2 million, according to preview

HONG KONG -- South Korea’s homegrown galleries have brought contemporary Korean artists to Art Basel Hong Kong, Asia’s largest art fair, as it made a full return after four years this week at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. “We had a smooth start. I see as many people as before the pandemic. All of the paintings by Joung Young-ju were sold out to collectors from outside South Korea, including those from the US,” said Woo Chan-kyu, president of Hakgojae, on

HONG KONG -- Returning after four years, Art Basel Hong Kong has pumped energy back into the city, attracting art lovers from around the world who swarmed the booths at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday, “The city never stood still during the pandemic. It continued to push the boundaries and innovate. In fact, the cultural landscape in Hong Kong has continued to grow from strength to strength,” said Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, at a press reception Tuesday

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- The first museum dedicated to Korea’s leading contemporary artist, Park Seo-bo, will be built on Jeju Island. The museum is set to open in summer 2024 on a site next to JW Marriot Jeju Resort and Spa. “I was very delighted when I was presented with the offer of building a museum (by JW Marriot Jeju Resort and Spa). I had been wishing to found my own museum during my lifetime,” Park said at the press conference held on Tuesday at JW Marriot Jeju Resort

Leeum Museum of Art has staged white porcelains from the Joseon era (1392-1910) at its special exhibition, “Joseon White Procelain, Paragon of Virtue,” bringing together high-quality works of white porcelains, which are known as the symbolic craftwork of the era. White porcelain began to be made under the supervision of the royal court in the late 15th century, with the official kilns established in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. Diverse types of white porcelain had been produced for

Lehmann Maupin has added Korean artist Sung Neung-kyung, a pioneer of avant-garde art in South Korea in the 1970s, to the list of artists it represents and will support Sung’s artistic career. Sung has become the fourth Korean artist to be represented by the American gallery. “His canonical works have not only sparked urgent conversations about politics, identity and the body, but also continue to expand our understanding of contemporary art making. I look forward to placing him in

Art Basel Hong Kong, Asia’s largest art fair, will fully return to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre next week after a three-year pandemic hiatus with a stronger line-up of galleries from Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, including 12 homegrown galleries from South Korea. The five-day art fair will kick off on Tuesday and run through Saturday, opening to the public from Thursday through Saturday. It will bring together 177 galleries from 32 countries, including 22 first-time

The sunlight coming through the window provides natural lighting at ceramicist Suh Dong-hee's home gallery. “I used to change the works on display every year, but since the pandemic has limited people's visits (to the gallery), I have left these works out for a while. This is 'The Lily of the Valleys' series that I began in 2020,” Suh, 76, told The Korea Herald during a recent interview at her home gallery in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Suh is professor emeritus of cerami

Sung Neung-kyung pioneered South Korea’s avant-garde art in the 1970s as a conceptual artist, when many other artists in the scene at the time were involved in speaking out against the dictator-led government through their art. Sung created rebellious art using newspapers that were censored at the time. The 1970s was a time when the Korean art scene was a mixture of different art genres – Dansaekhwa, or Korea’s monochrome-style paintings; Minjung art, or paintings that criticiz

The solo exhibition of installation artist Ahn Jong-yuen, who has explored -- and played with -- light throughout her artistic career opens Wednesday at Summit Gallery in southern Seoul. The exhibition titled, “Skywalk, Lightwalker: Time for Walking the Sky and Light,” is jointly organized by Herald Auction and ArtToken, and will run through March 15. Ahn has been dubbed an “artist of light” for her works that use LED lighting and media art inspired by light. Born in 1952

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has selected Jung Yeon-doo as the artist featured in its MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2023, in recognition of his art that hovers between reality and illusion and casts a critical look on various social issues. Jung has explored various artistic media, including photographs, performances and installations, creating art that provokes curiosity about the relationship between reality and illusion. His “DMZ Theater” shown at MMCA

Conceptual artist Peter Weibel, who had pioneered media art as a theorist and curator since the 1960s, died on Wednesday. He was 78. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, which is hosting an ongoing exhibition by Weibel, announced Friday it will set up a space dedicated to the artist, allowing visitors to pay tribute to him until May 14. Weibel’s exhibition, “respectively, Peter Weibel. Art as an Act of Cognition,” that opened on Feb. 3 became the artist&

Seoul Museum of Art announced Friday that this September's Seoul Mediacity Biennale would aim to redefine the concepts of migration, diaspora and languages. Titled “This Too, is a Map,” this year's edition of the contemporary art event will be helmed by artistic director Rachael Rakes. The artistic director of the 12th biennale was selected through an open call process for the first time in an effort to embrace diversity, organizers said. The artistic director had previous

K-Auction, a major art auctioneer in South Korea, will host an online charity auction starting Saturday to help children affected by the earthquakes that killed at least 50,000 people in Turkey and northwest Syria last month. The charity auction will run through March 14 jointly with the Seoul-based nonprofit AIF Children, offering 100 works by 76 artists who have agreed to help. Between 50 to 100 percent of the profits from the auctioned item, except for some fees that will go to the artists an

Inspiring house items for spring E-commerce platform 29CM’s curation showroom, 29 Seongsu, in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, is holding an exhibition for the spring season under the theme of “inspiring house,” introducing the living and lifestyle brands' items for garden, lounge, dining room and bathroom. Danish brands Hay and &Tradition’s signature color lamps adorn the lounge-like space on the first floor of the showroom, whereas the second floor has been turned into a b

When life doesn't turn out the way you expect, you might actually end up laughing about it all, having been pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Lee Won-woo is an artist who captures this sentiment in his work, playing with irony and poking fun at life with his art in a lighthearted and humorous way. “I think I enjoy seeking out the funny aspects of things,” Lee said, gesturing as if digging into something with his index finger while talking with reporters Tuesday at the PKM

Media artist Kim Hee-cheon has won the 20th Hermes Foundation Missulsang, Hermes Korea announced Monday. The foundation awards a rising Korean artist every two years to support their artistic career, offering a solo exhibition at the nonprofit Atelier Hermes gallery in Seoul located at the building of the luxury brand’s flagship store. “Kim Hee-cheon’s work deals with some of the most challenging and urgent questions of our age of digital domination, especially the questions of