Nam June Paik was an artist ahead of his time and his influence on today’s media artists is greater than when he was alive in the 80s and 90s, according to Doug Aitken, winner of the 2012 Nam June Paik Art Center Prize. “Paik was incredibly ahead of his time ... his works were about mixing up the media and this has been the DNA of today’s media artists,” said Aitken at the press opening of his exhibition at Nam June Paik Art Center in Korea last week. Aitken was awarded the NJP Art Center Prize

NEW YORK (AP) ― A prized 1963 Andy Warhol painting that captures the immediate aftermath of a car crash sold for $105 million Wednesday at a New York City auction, shattering the record for the famed pop artist amid a spending frenzy at the high end of the art world.The 3.96-meter painting titled “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” depicts a twisted body sprawled across a car’s mangled interior. It has only been seen once in public in the past 26 years. The buyer wasn’t immediately identified.T

Ballad singer looks to expand his repertoire with more youthful beats

MBC has stopped sales of “I Got C,” a song featured on the entertainment show “Infinite Challenge” that is in hot water over plagiarism claims.The broadcaster said it reached the decision to stop all sales of the song with Amoeba Culture Entertainment, which represents the hip-hop producer Primary, until the issue is settled. It said it would stop selling the CDs, which feature other songs made for the show, after Nov. 15 in a banner message on its website. The decision was made as the controver

Principal dancer Kim Ji-young shines as the fiery gypsy at China’s first International Ballet Season

On April 8, 2006 at Seoul Arts Center, the classical music hall was alive with rapturous applause. More than 30 curtain calls were made, with the audience roaring as if they were cheering a rock star. It was the first Seoul recital by child prodigy-turned-mega pianist Evgeny Kissin. The then 34-year-old Russian responded by turning up for each curtain call and giving more than 10 encore performances, extending the concert’s finishing time to near midnight. The fervor was repeated in 2009, when 2

NEW YORK (AFP) ― A work by British painter Francis Bacon was sold for $142.4 million in New York on Tuesday, smashing the world record for the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned.“Three Studies of Lucian Freud” by the 20th-century figurative artist, who lived from 1909 to 1992, was sold by Christie’s after being offered at auction for the first time.“The work was sold for $142,405,000, after six minutes of fierce bidding in the room and on the phone,” Christie’s announced.Hammered to an o

Hallyu star Kim Junsu, also referred to as XIA Junsu, has reportedly invested approximately 12.9 billion won ($12 million) in his soon-to-be-opened, 80,000-square-foot family hotel on Jejudo Island. Kim’s Jeju Toscana Family Hotel, which will be operated and managed by his father, is a large-scale resort-style hotel located in the Gangjeong-dong, Seogwipo area of the island and will include 65 guest rooms, an outdoor swimming pool, restaurant, caf, spa, seminar room and other facilities. Kim sta

“The Phantom of the Opera,” the musical that has enchanted 130 million people around the world, will be staged in Daegu in February next year in a rare opporunity for regional audiences to witness the original cast. The original cast members of the full-scale production will visit Daegu Gemyung Art Center on Feb. 27 as part of their world tour commemorating the show’s successful 25-year run. The cast includes Broadway stars such as Brad Little playing the role of the Phantom, Claire Lyon as Chri

Kim Jae-joong, a member of boy group JYJ, will kick off his solo concert in Yokohama, Japan, on Friday. The concert is part of the “2013 Kim Jae Joong 1st Album Asia Tour,” which started in Seoul on Nov. 2 after he released his first full-length album “WWW: Who, When, Why” on Oct. 29. As soon as the album was unveiled, it ranked first on Japanese music charts including Japan Tower Records’ daily chart and iTunes charts in Japan.  “The album is gaining more popularity than we expected as it cons

Kang Hyung-koo presents new approach to portraits, clay sculptures and drawings in solo exhibition at Arario Gallery Seoul

When American jazz musician Ronn Branton was a young boy, he heard his neighbor’s father playing Chopin and Liszt on the piano. At that moment he said to himself, “I want to write music like that.” After instantly falling in love with the sound of the piano, he desperately tried to learn how to write music, practicing six hours a day to the point where even his own mother would ask him to quit playing. However, the young artist’s love of music never died and Branton ended up studying music throu

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Angela Lansbury says “it’s a mistake” for NBC to call a new series “Murder, She Wrote.”The network recently announced plans to reboot the show with Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer as its star. Spencer acknowledged her new TV project on Twitter last month.Lansbury, who will accept an honorary Academy Award later this week, said “Murder, She Wrote” was her “greatest doorway to the world.”“I suddenly became a worldwide-known character as Jessica Fletcher and really built an enormous