MMCA announces four finalists for 2024 Korea Artist Prize

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea announced Tuesday four finalists for Korea Artist Prize 2024, the annual artist prize given to a promising Korean artist.

The finalists – Kwon Ha-youn, Yang Jung-uk, Yoon Ji-young and Jane Jin Kaisen – will showcase their art at the exhibition from Oct. 25 to March 23, 2025 at MMCA Seoul as part of the award program. Their works will be reviewed by a jury of seven experts from home and abroad who will then announce a winner in February 2025.

Kwon Ha-youn creates art using virtual reality to explore personal memories that transcend space and time. Yang examines the daily lives of ordinary people, such as an apartment security guard, an office worker and the head of a household, and tells their stories through kinetic sculptures.

Meanwhile, Yoon employs her sculptural language to produce works that expose the operative structures of sacrifice and faith underlying society. Born on Jeju Island and adopted into a family in Denmark, Kaisen, based on research into the island's history and cultural heritage, delves into issues of memory, migration, borders and translation in her video works.

Inaugurated in 2012, the Korea Artist Prize is co-organized by MMCA and the SBS Foundation. The finalists receive 50 million won towards producing works for the exhibition and the winner receives an additional 10 million won.

Kwon Byung-jun, who delves into the relationship between humanity and robots, was announced as the recipient of the Korea Artist Prize 2023 in February.