Young Korean, Chinese artists exhibit works in Beijing

A group exhibition of young Korean and Chinese artists opened at Songzhuang Art Center in Beijing Saturday, showcasing artwork in diverse mediums and dealing with various topics in contemporary art.

The exhibition, held by city-run museums in Seoul and Beijing, presents photographs, installations, video works and drawings by 10 Korean and Chinese artists in their mid-30s to early 40s whose works shed light on their engagement with reality and the society in which they live.

“The exhibition aims to promote exchanges between Korean and Chinese artists and introduce Korean artists to China,” said Park Sun-young, curator of the exhibition at Nanji Residency, run by the Seoul Museum of Art. Nanji Residency has been holding an annual group exhibition of young Korean artists and foreign artists as part of an international art exchange program since last year.

The participating Korean artists include emerging young artists such as Beak Jung-ki, Jo Hae-jun and Lee Chang-won, and Chinese artists including Li Wei, Liu Ren, Liubo+Liyu, Zhang Xiaotao and Zhu Ming.

The exhibition, titled “Roots of Relations,” brings together works that deal with the meaning of different relationships. Topics covered include relations between reality and the virtual world, father and son, history and personal experiences and more.

Performance artist and photographer Li Wei presents his famous illusion photographs as documentations of his performances. Using scaffolds and metal wires, the artist creates what many people call “gravity-defying” images. Featuring the artist himself as a model, he flies in the air, stands on a narrow stick and does a handstand in water.

Jo Hae-jun presents pencil drawings that consist of illustrations and accompanying texts as cooperative works with his father. The decade-long collaboration between father and son, considered rare in the Korean art scene, extends the family relationship to a broader spectrum.

Artists also use diverse, creative mediums to transfer their ideas: Beak Jung-ki uses litmus paper and water from Hangang River to create new images of the Seoul cityscape. Li Ren uses computer graphics to combine historic images and her own memories in mysterious photographs that are meant to explore her youth and love.

The exhibition runs through Dec. 15 at Songzhuang Art Center in Tongzhou, Beijing.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)