Young artists explore relationships with society

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea presents a bold selection of young Korean artists at the regular exhibition introducing young talent. In an effort to break away from the institutional authority of the museum,

The NMOCA has exhibited young Korean artists’ experimental spirits in this way since 1981.

“The young artist exhibition has produced some of the internationally acclaimed Korean contemporary artists such as Suh Do-ho, Choi Jeong-hwa and Lee Bul. The exhibition will continue to be an incubator for talented young artists and help them shape the future Korean art scene,” said Choi Eun-joo, chief curator of the NMOCA.

This year’s exhibition explores how artists form relationships with society and their surroundings.

“Society is diversifying and people are more connected than ever with social networks. In this trend, we see young artists develop relationships with others as members of society rather than focusing on finishing their work on their own in their studios,” said Park Su-jin, curator of the exhibition.

Seven young artists, in their late 20s and mid 30s, present different approaches as they observe reality and consider the role of art.

Baak Je attempts to present different perspectives of common objects such as money. Baak collected 1,000-won bills and scraped the surfaces into powder. He displayed the powder as an object, and glued the 1,000-won bills on a white wall, which seemed like a painting to viewers.

You Hyeon-kyung and Kim Tae-dong portray random people they met on the street or as models.

You portrays impressions she felt from people and draws them until it shows the emotion she felt. During the course of the year, she developed relationships with her models and a subjective view toward them. Her portraits are blurred lines of figures and without facial features. The artist said she met models multiple times over a year and painted colors over and over until it reflected the impression they left on her.

Kim Tae-dong captured people he encountered on the street at dawn. The blank faces of people, who volunteered to be models of his photographs, intensify the lonely and negative images of the city.

Beak Jung-ki challenges the elements of objects through scientific exploration. The artist uses blue litmus paper as print paper and water from the Hangang River as ink to print out the pictures of Seoul. The blue litmus paper turns red under the acidic conditions of the water.

The exhibition “New Visions New Voices” runs through June 23 at the Gwacheon branch of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea. For more information, call (02) 2188-6114.

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