Print Bakery by Seoul Auction in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, has turned into an upscale multicultural complex. The art store reopened on Aug. 14, after going through an extensive renovation, under a new brand name, Print Bakery X Collector, according to the company. Print Bakery, which is run by Seoul Auction, the largest art auction firm in Korea, has eight branches across the country. The flagship store in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul will offer premium print editions of artworks

Atelier Hermes -- a nonprofit gallery in Seoul run by Fondation d’Entreprise Hermes -- has brought together rising South Korean contemporary artists around the theme of “Elsewhere.” “Elsewhere” -- which opened Friday and runs through Oct. 25 -- showcases five new works by five Korean contemporary artists that explore the domains of the psyche and the subconscious, questioning our visual perception. Artists Kim Dong-hee, Kim Hee-cheon, Noh Sang-ho, Son Kwang-ju

"Chaekkori Painting: A Korean Jigsaw Puzzle” By Kay E. Black Sahoipyoungnon Academy  The paintings of books and stationery laid on bookshelves give off a feeling of coziness and comfort, as if you were in a library. “Chaekkori” or “chaekgeori” refers to a unique genre of Korean painting that proliferated in the Joseon era (1392-1910), depicting books and other assorted items on bookshelves. Literally meaning “books and things,” chaekgeori

Gana Art, a major commercial art gallery in Korea, will host the solo exhibition of sculptor Ji Yong-ho, who is widely known for his “Mutant” series of giant animal sculptures made from abandoned tires. The upcoming exhibition aims to show how his mutant series has developed with the use of new techniques and different materials. With the “New Mutant” series Ji’s previous mutants have been turned into new mutant sculptures reproduced with 3D modeling techniques.

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, has launched an online store that offers nearly 500 items including exhibition catalogs and books. The online store has 57 exhibition catalogs as well as books. Some have been translated into English, including “The Transnational Museum,” “What Do Museums Collect?” “MMCA Collection 300” and “Architecture and Heritage: Unearthing Future.” Museum merchandise such as postcards, magnets an

The Busan Biennale, an international contemporary art show that takes place in the southern port city, is ready to demonstrate that the role of art has become more essential than ever in these pandemic-hit times. “In a situation of a crisis, an art space can be a space of reflection. It can be a space where you can think and share your thought with other people,” Busan Biennale Artistic Director Jacob Fabricius told The Korea Herald during an interview last week in central Seoul.

Yeol Korean Heritage Preservation Society, a private organization founded to promote Korean beauty and cultural heritage, will host its first exhibition of the year, presenting the beauty of Korean craft art from 12 promising artists. The exhibition, “Ornament,” will be held from Sept. 1 to 28 at Yeol Bukchonga in central Seoul, showcasing a variety of ornaments and scarves that feature Korean traditional beauty from nine craft artists and three textile artists. The artists includ

Seoul Auction is holding an online auction in conjunction with Artsy, a global art sale platform, featuring artworks by Korean masters as well as international artists, such as Damien Hirst and KAWS. South Korea’s largest auction firm is running a preview until Sept. 1 at the Seoul Auction Gangnam Center. The “Artsy x Seoul Auction: Splash! Splash!” will show around 80 art pieces by artists from 11 countries. The total value of the pieces estimated at around $780,000. It

Walking around Seoul, one can easily spot buildings built during the Japanese colonial era. Park Ga-hee, 31-year-old resident of a neighborhood next to Gyeongbokgung Palace in central Seoul, passes by the Bank of Korea Money Museum on her way to and from work. The building, built in 1912, was the headquarters for the Bank of Joseon during the Japanese colonial era. “I am aware that the building was used to colonize Korea. It is not a pleasant thing to see the building,” Park said

　Three venues of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) -- Seoul, Gwacheon and Deoksugung -- will temporarily close, starting Wednesday, as the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic began to escalate again in the metropolitan area. 　“We have decided to close for now and will gauge the timing to reopen again,” Tiffany Yun, deputy director of communication and media team at MMCA, told The Korea Herald. 　MMCA’s Cheongju venue in North Chungcheong Provin

Meaning “The Twins” in Portuguese, Osgemeos is a Brazilian artist duo and brothers, Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo, whose graffiti works are internationally renowned. Having started out as graffiti artists, their art world of fantasies and dreams now encompasses paintings, video art and sculptures. At the pair’s first solo exhibition in Korea, “Osgemeos: You Are My Guest,” the artist duo invites visitors to their world dream. Upon entering the exhibition hall, &ld

If you are an art lover, you might have been overwhelmed by the recent flood of online content that museums and galleries have posted on their websites or social media platforms. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, almost all museums were forced to close temporarily. Thus began their efforts to enhance online content, offering virtual exhibitions, online streaming services and online access to material from their archives about their collection and research. “Museums, museum profes

Design company d’strict, which gained global attention in May with its immersive video art installation “Wave” at Coex K-pop Square, has launched a media artist unit “a-strict,” and is showcasing its first exhibition at Kukje Gallery, a commercial gallery in central Seoul. The commercial design company’s a’strict is a loose group of artistic creators from both inside and outside the company. The members are freely formed based on an art project, said

Photographer Choi Kwang-ho’s solo exhibition brings you back to New York 30 years ago through more than 400 of his photographs. The ongoing exhibition at Gallery Ryugaheon in central Seoul -- a space dedicated solely to documentary photography -- showcases a variety of peoples’ lives in New York between 1988 and 1994, when the city was much rougher than it is now. Choi, 65, remembers those five years in New York as a passionate and precious time for him, living as a young and fea

The Amorepacific Museum of Art -- a museum run by Korea’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific Group -- has unveiled its collection of antique art for the first time since its opening in 2018. The exhibition, “APMA, Chapter Two,” showcases a total of 1,500 artworks spanning from paintings, folding screens, ceramics, ornaments and clothing to wooden furniture from the prehistoric era to the modern times. The exhibition aims to shed light on the beauty of Korean traditional art throug

The fragrance of Indian ink and old mulberry paper fills the studio of emographic artist Huh Hwe-tae in central Seoul. In the corner of his studio, sculptural works that he has been pursuing in recent years are laid aside. In the mid and late 2000s, Huh attracted global attention for his “emography” – a portmanteau of emotion and calligraphy. The term was coined by Ryu Byoung-hak -- an art critic and independent curator based in Seoul and Germany who also directed the Busa

When South Korea was in political turmoil in the 1960s, after the Korean War and during the early days of the democracy movement, painter Lee Seung-jio (1941-1990) was at the center of the country’s avant-garde art scene. He introduced geometric abstraction painting with his “Nucleus” series, which he worked on for more than 20 years. The “Nucleus” paintings -- which looked like arrangements of pipes and were first showcased in 1967 -- came as a shock to Korea&rs

The 2020 PLZ Festival kicked off Saturday near the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, in hopes of bringing peace in the Korean Peninsula. Standing for “Peace and Life Zone Festival,” it is the sole international music festival held at the DMZ. This year marks the second year for the festival, held under the theme “The Sound Within the Sound!” The festival is being held in five counties in Gangwon Province close to the DMZ, including Inje, Yanggu, Hwach

Painter Shin Kum-rye is attracted by wild flowers -- blooms that persist despite a hostile environment. Of them, thistles are her favorite. “The leaves of thistles, they look quite defiant, which is really attractive to me. I feel like painting when I see this type of flowers,” Shin told The Korea Herald on Tuesday at Whanki Museum. The 94-year-old artist, who is based in Seoul, is holding a solo exhibition, “The Spirit of Painting” at the museum in central Seoul, s

In remembrance of the Korean War that resulted in the killing of several million civilians and the division of the Korean Peninsula, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea will screen films about the Korean War to mark the 70th anniversary this year at the Seoul venue in Jongno, central Seoul. The “Unflattening Screening Series” will begin on Wednesday and run through Sept. 20, with 20 films being screened from Wednesdays to Sundays at MMCA Film and Video, the t