An unprecedented number of galleries from around the world will come together in Seoul in early September for the inaugural Frieze Seoul, Kiaf Seoul and Kiaf Plus, the first joint opening of local and global art fairs in South Korea. Some 350 galleries will participate in Frieze Seoul, Kiaf Seoul and Kiaf Plus -- a satellite art fair of Kiaf Seoul which will feature newer galleries. As part of partnership between Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul, a single ticket will enable visitors to enter both

An ink wash painting shows rain coming down through a mostly black-and-white forest. Though a still image, 84-year-old painter Bang Ui-geol’s “Showers I,” seems to bring the misty scene to life, evoking the sounds of heavy raindrops hitting trees and a gurgling valley stream. Bang has devoted his whole life to ink wash paintings, known as “sumukhwa,” that are created with black ink and brush. The different concentrations of black ink create distances and a profoun

If you want to see new art this week, visit the galleries of Samcheong-dong, a cozy and renowned neighborhood in central Seoul next to the main palace Gyeongbokgung. New works by conceptual artist Olafur Eliasson, who plays with light and color, are on display at PKM Gallery. The gallery has a restaurant where one can grab some coffee or a meal before or after enjoying works. Right next to PKM Gallery is Barakat Contemporary, where the first solo exhibition by Berlin-based Nevin Aladag, who ha

Cultural curator Jung So-ik and art professor Park Kyong will curate South Korea‘s national pavilion at the upcoming 2023 Venice Biennale, Arts Council Korea announced Thursday. It is the first time for Korean Pavilion to have joint curation at the global art biennale. The 18th International Architecture Exhibition will be held from May 18 to Nov. 26 in Venice, Italy, bringing together some 150 exhibitors from 30 countries with the theme of “The Laboratory of the Future,” le

The inaugural Frieze Seoul will kick off in early September, bringing together some 110 galleries from 20 countries with special programs amid growing excitement about Seoul’s rise as an Asian art hub. Frieze Seoul is the first Frieze art fair to be held in Asia and the fifth to be launched by the global contemporary art platform. It will take place from Sept. 2 to 5 at Coex in Gangnam, southern Seoul, alongside KIAF, an art fair operated by the Galleries Association of Korea. Some 9

Art collector Kim Nam-joon, better known as RM from K-pop band BTS, hinted at opening a space to show his art collection in South Korea during an interview streamed on the Art Basel podcast. “This is my first time actually saying this. But seriously, I am planning to make a small space of my own private collection,” Kim said in an English-language interview on “Intersections: The Art Basel Podcast” released on Tuesday. He was responding to a question about whether the

A 3-meter-long folding screen shows a variety of books, fruits and other assorted items on bookshelves. The bright colors -- mainly blue, green and yellow -- are used to depict the items that symbolize prosperity. An old plum tree stretches across the panels of the folding screen. The 19th-century folding screen painting “Chaekgeorido with Plum Blossoms” is on display at National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as part of the exhibition

Kwon Chi-gyu delves into the concept of resilience with the belief that as humans, we all have the power to overcome, which is deeply embedded in ourselves. After the yearslong pandemic, people are incrementally returning to normal life, slowly overcoming the unprecedented challenge of a lifetime. Kwon has created sculptures inspired by nature -- more specifically nature in springtime, when the whole world seems to get its vitality back and earn new strength. The inspiration came naturally to

When Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, people here needed a way to relieve their grief, even in a sarcastic way. Although it is no longer widely performed, there was the genre of “manyo,” a popular form of folk music in the 1930s. Usually performed by musical troupes at the time, manyo songs generally had comic lyrics set to a melody that belied the sorrow and sarcasm underneath. Bujihwa Arts Company stages “Story Manyo,” a musical performance o

The 1950-1953 Korean War claimed the lives of some 5 million people and left the Korean Peninsula split into two. Also known as “6.25 War” in South Korea to remember the date of the war’s outbreak, the Korean War remains an unforgettable pain in the nation’s history. Some 70 years have passed, and the devastating experience and vivid memories of survivors have become art by seven Korean artists at an exhibition titled “Confluence: The way of the Peace.” Taki

Leeum Museum of Art has made another move to promote young and promising artists with their new exhibition, “ROOM Project.” This exhibition will take place in the museum‘s lobby, a newly installed space dedicated to up-and-coming artists. The project offers an opportunity for artists in their 20s and 30s to showcase their work and introduce their artistic vision. The museum plans to permanently run the exhibition space for emerging artists looking for a chance to present th

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yoo In-taek, head of the Seoul Arts Center, sees the potential of “gagok” -- a genre of Korean vocal music with poetry -- as many feel nostalgic for the nearly forgotten genre of music in South Korea. “We have a 100-year history of gagok, which may be remembered by the older generations. Some 15 million people from the older generations have nostalgia about gagok they used to learn in class and hear in their childhood. We are planning for performances of gagok targeting tho

Actor Gang Dong-won was skeptical at first as to whether the sentiment that flows in the heartwarming film “Broker” would come across well to Western audiences, although the film touches on the universal subject of abandoned children. “I was surprised to see audiences at Cannes Film Festival crying while watching the movie. I was relieved that the film received recognition,” the veteran actor said Wednesday during the interview held in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul. G

When singer-actress Lee Ji-eun played single mother So-young in “Broker,” she constantly thought about a special viewer she has known since filming at an orphanage when she was a teenager. “I met many children there, but there is a friend who is especially close to me. I had to think if any line or acting in the film could hurt that friend’s feelings,“ Lee said during a press interview Tuesday at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul. Some trepidation remain