Korea Foundation helps introduce Korean contemporary artists to world

Korean contemporary art will be showcased at 10 overseas institutes in six countries, promoted by the Korea Foundation, including some in Europe and US that will present Korean contemporary art for the first time.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York will shed light on South Korean experimental art from the 1960s to the 1970s in September in collaboration with the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Known as “silheom misul” in Korea, experimental art started to emerge in the Korean art scene after the Korean War (1950-53) with a move among artists to break away from the conventional artistic practice.

The experimental art exhibition will travel to Hammer Museum in LA in early 2024, supported by the Korea Foundation, introducing Korean contemporary art to both eastern and western parts of the US, according to the foundation.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will show the exhibition of Korean contemporary art titled “The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989” in October for the first time in 150 years of the museum’s history, bringing together some 30 works by Korean artists created since 1989, surveying over 30 years of Korean contemporary art.

The Korea Foundation will continue supporting Korean ink-wash painter Park Dae-sung’s solo exhibition tour in the US this year. Born in 1945, Park is an artist who has expanded the scope of the traditional Korean arts, reinterpreting landscapes with his modern brushstrokes and technical finesse.

Park’s solo show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, “Park Dae Sung: Virtuous Ink and Contemporary Brush,” ran until December last year. Hood Museum of Art operated by Dartmouth College is currently presenting "Park Dae Sung: Ink Reimagined," which began in September last year. Park's 23 works, some of which are more than 25 feet long, are on display at the show, according to the museum.

Park’s exhibition will continue this year at the Charles B. Wang Center at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York and at the University of Mary Washington Galleries in Virginia, US.

The Korea Foundation will support the introduction of Korean contemporary art in European countries, too. In June, Hastings Contemporary in UK will present the late Korean artist Yun Hyong-keun’s solo exhibition, showcasing Yun’s paintings from the 1970s that feature the artist’s signature umber and ultramarine colors.

Korean artist Kim Yun-chul will among the artists whose works will be on display at the show “Exploring the Unknown” at the Science Gateway, an educational center established by the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland, which is scheduled to start in June. Yun was chosen as an artist who has successfully united art and science in his work, according to the Korea Foundation.

(yunapark@heraldcorp.com)