Park Seo-bo first Korean artist to collaborate with Louis Vuitton

Published : Nov 10, 2022 - 15:16 Updated : Nov 10, 2022 - 15:16

An installation view of "Louis Vuitton ArtyCapucines Presentation" at Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul (Louis Vuitton, GIZI Foundation)

A red painting by Korean contemporary artist Park Seo-bo has been turned into one of Louis Vuitton’s iconic Capucines bags, making Park the first Korean artist to collaborate with the French luxury brand for the Artycapucines collection.

Park began the Ecriture series -- also called "Myobop” in Korean -- in the late 1960s working with pencil before creating the color Ecriture series in the 2000s, inspired by a variety of colors found in nature. The red painting, which was turned into the Capucines bag, is from 2016.

Louis Vuitton has reinterpreted artwork by contemporary artists around the world since 2019, unveiling an Artycapucines collection every year. Daniel Buren, Ugo Rondinone, Peter Marino, Kennedy Yanko and Amelie Bertrand were the other artists to collaborate in this fourth edition collection.

An installation view of "Louis Vuitton ArtyCapucines Presentation" at Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul (Louis Vuitton, GIZI Foundation)

The “Louis Vuitton Artycapucines Presentation” opened Tuesday at Louis Vuitton Masion Seoul in Gangnam, southern Seoul, which can be viewed through Nov. 24.

The presentation at the luxury brand’s flagship store in Seoul includes Park’s Ecriture series on display and a video presentation that shows how the artist developed the Ecriture series over the years. Known as one of the founding members of the ‘dansaekhwa art movement,’ Park has stressed three notions in his paintings: purposeless action, repetitive exercise in meditation and material properties created out of the meditative act of painting.

An installation view of "Louis Vuitton ArtyCapucines Presentation" at Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul (Louis Vuitton, GIZI Foundation)

Park's new Ecriture painting was unveiled at Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice, Italy, to coincide with the 59th Venice Biennale. The 2.6-meter-wide painting, “Ecriture No 190512-21” featuring pastel colors in his early pencil Ecriture style, took nearly three years to complete. The Venice exhibition runs through Nov. 22.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)