The Korea Herald

Korean art dealer tapped to serve at H.K. arts council

Dec 8, 2011

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― A South Korean businesswoman has been appointed to serve at a Hong Kong government-related body aimed at developing the arts, officials said Wednesday, marking the first time a South Korean national has held such a position.Moon Eun-myung, founder of the Hong Kong-based Moon Gallery started her term as an examiner for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council on Dec. 1, according to the council. Her term lasts until April 30, 2014.The ADC is a statutory body set up by the
Craft fair looks for the extraordinary in the ordinary

Dec 8, 2011

The nation’s biggest craft fair kicks off its four-day run on Dec. 15 at COEX Hall C in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by Korea Craft & Design Foundation, the annual “Craft Trend Fair” has, over the years, become an important event for craft-lovers. This is the sixth year of the fair which attracts about 600 artisans and more than 30,000 visitors each year. This year’s theme is “Extraordinary.” “The Craft Trend Fair will shed n
Plagiarism or parody?

Dec 7, 2011

Critics argue that it is up to artists’ conscience South Korean artist Kwon Kyung-yup was recently shocked to find out that works very similar to hers were on sale in Singapore. A foreigner who came across an Indonesian artist’s solo exhibition in August at Art Front Gallery in Singapore sent an e-mail to Kwon to fill her in on the news. In the show, Indonesian artist Dani King Heriyanto’s 2011 painting “Bandage” featured a girl wearing a hoodie and a bandage over her eye just like Kwon’s 2009 w
Strong sales shine on Art Basel Miami Beach

Dec 6, 2011

MIAMI (AFP) ― Tough economic times around the world did not stop European and Latin American collectors from snapping up works at Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest art fair of its kind in the United States.The 10th edition of the event in Miami Beach wrapped up Sunday on a sunny note.“I heard estimates as high as a billion dollars in art sales, which would be wonderful. We were just reaching, we were on the genesis of what this will be. It’s bigger every year,” said Florida Republican senator M
Scottish installation artist Boyce wins Turner Prize

Dec 6, 2011

LONDON (AFP) ― Scottish artist Martin Boyce, whose works include a modernist reworking of a library table and artificial trees, on Monday won Britain’s Turner Prize at a ceremony in Gateshead, north-east England.On picking up the 25,000 pound ($39,100) award at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, 44-year-old Boyce paid tribute to his parents and highlighted the importance of teachers in light of the government’s spending cuts.The Turner is regarded as the art world’s most edgy prize, but the
Looted Korean royal texts return home

Dec 6, 2011

Nearly 1,200 documents taken by Japan during colonial period arrive in SeoulKorea celebrated the return of nearly 1,200 ancient documents looted by the Japanese during its 1910-1945 colonial rule, with welcoming ceremonies at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday.The books, including some 150 copies of Uigwe ― Joseon’s royal texts ― arrived in Seoul on Tuesday afternoon, on two separate Korean Air flights. Each aircraft carried about 600 copies. Members of the Cultural Heritage Administratio
Clinton flies home to fete Kennedy Center honorees

Dec 5, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined in celebrating the top artists receiving the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday while home for less than 36 hours between diplomatic travels.Between her historic visit to Myanmar and a trip to Germany to discuss Afghanistan’s future, Clinton hosted a dinner Saturday for some big names from Broadway, jazz, pop, classical music and Hollywood. On Sunday, Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma, Sonny Rollins and Meryl Streep will also be
Ma, Diamond, Streep receive Kennedy Center Honors

Dec 5, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Meryl Streep may have her next film assignment and Neil Diamond thanked the namesake of his famous tune “Sweet Caroline’’ as they joined other luminaries from Broadway, jazz and classical music Sunday to receive the Kennedy Center Honors.Broadway singer Barbara Cook, famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins were among several to receive the top award for those who have influenced American culture through the arts.Caroline Kennedy, who hosts the show as part of
Photographers bring their wars to New York’s Bronx

Dec 5, 2011

NEW YORK (AFP) ― After dangerous, dusty assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan, photographer Michael Kamber has chosen a tough area of New York City as the new backdrop for his interest in war.The award-winning journalist recently opened a gallery in the Bronx, the first in the borough, and he hopes that his gesture will both help photographers and build bridges with a neighborhood that, while not at war, certainly knows the harder side of life.The Bronx Documentary Center’s inaugural exhibition fo
Amsterdam museum identifies new Rembrandt painting

Dec 5, 2011

THE HAGUE (AFP) ― A painting by Rembrandt that had long been attributed to one of his school is in fact by the 17th-century Dutch master himself, the Rembrandthuis museum in Amsterdam said Friday.“We are 100 percent sure now that we can attribute the painting to Rembrandt,” Leslie Schwartz, a museum spokeswoman, told AFP.She said the painting called “Old Man with a Beard” had up to now been attributed to “an associate.”The 18.5-centimeter by 17-centimeter oil painting was done around 1630, at th
MOCA sheds light on donors

Dec 5, 2011

Exhibition at National Museum of Contemporary Art features donated artwork; museum vows to better manage donations The National Museum of Contemporary Art kicked off on Monday an exhibition highlighting its donors, an unprecedented move in the museum’s history.The exhibition “Beautiful Encounter: Selected Gifts from the Collection,” currently held at MOCA in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, showcases 270 among the total 3,045 donated works in the museum’s collection. The museum also invited about 15
U.S. investigates forgery of modern art: report

Dec 4, 2011

NEW YORK (AFP) ― U.S. federal authorities are investigating whether paintings and drawings sold by elite New York art dealers as the work of Modernist masters are in fact fakes, The New York Times reported Saturday.The pieces purported to be by artists like Robert Motherwell and Jackson Pollock, sold for up to $17 million apiece, were purchased through Glafira Rosales, a little-known art dealer claiming the works were obtained by a secret collector, the Times said.Some of the works were then sol
LatAm collectors shop for deals at Art Basel Miami

Dec 4, 2011

MIAMI (AFP) ― Latin Americans who sell or collect top notch contemporary art are key players in the 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest art fair of its kind in the United States.Thousands of art lovers, collectors and gallery operators from all over the world filled the Miami Beach Convention Center in a frenzied opening Thursday that recalled last week’s Black Friday shopping binge.“I want to buy a sculpture by a young Korean woman who is promising and spectacular,” said Ana Rosa
City of art shines at night

Dec 4, 2011

Highest art gallery in Seoul offers contemporary work by 14 N.Y.-based artistsThe dazzling night cityscape has always been an advantage for Sky Art Gallery, the highest art space in Seoul. Even more credit should be given to it this time, though, for providing a perfect background for the contemporary art show heralding the start of the holiday season. The jazzy artworks from New York showcased at the exhibition “The City of Art: New York 1945-2000” meld in marvelously with the glitzy atmosphere
British Museum acquires rare Picasso prints

Dec 1, 2011

LONDON (AFP) ― The British Museum announced on Tuesday it had acquired an exceptional set of Pablo Picasso’s “Vollard Suite,” comprising 100 etchings produced by the artist between 1930 and 1937.Complete sets of the suite are very rare, held only by a handful of museums in the world including the National Gallery in Washington, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Picasso museum in Paris.The series shows Picasso’s developing interest in sculptural forms and moves from neoclassical images