New
Acquisitions 2013–16 Samramansang: from
KIM Whanki to YANG Fudong
13 March -
13 August 2017
MMCA Seoul
(Gallery 1-5)
The National Museum of
Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea (Director: Bartomeu Mari) is holding
its first exhibition of the year, New Acquisitions 2013-16, Samramansang: From KIM Whanki to YANG Fudong, from Monday 13 March
through Sunday 13 August.
Featuring a selection of
artworks acquired by MMCA over the past four years, the exhibition will
highlight each piece's importance in art history as well as the characteristics
of each period represented.
121 of the 932 artworks
collected between 2013 and 2016 will be showcased. The exhibit title Samramansang, which means "all things
and all phenomena in the universe," was taken from a piece on display by Kang
Ikjoong to underscore the diversity of contemporary art and the boundlessness
of artists' expression, ranging from KIM Whanki's modern period works in
Gallery 1 to contemporary artist YANG Fudong's works in Gallery 5.
Contrary to planned
exhibitions that select artwork based on a certain theme, MMCA's upcoming
exhibition builds on the sense of beauty found within each period of the
collected works. The total collection embodies a coexistence of distinctive and
unrestricted realms of expression and theme, rather than a single main theme.
Starting with Gallery 1, which will feature Korean modern art in a
chronological flow, the exhibition will look into contemporary art through a
number of sub-themes in the four other galleries.
Under the theme
"Samramansang," the works in Gallery 1 epitomize the roots and starting points
of modern and contemporary art. Kang Ikjoong's “Samramansang” will be joined by
KIM Kichang's "Quiet Listening," LEE Qoede's "Portrait of a Lady," PEN Varlen's
"Portrait of the writer LEE Kiyeong" and MMCA's most expensive possession ever-KIM Whanki's "Dawn #3" - to narrate of the flow of time
through Korean art, moving from figurativism and the New Realism Group to
abstraction and modern ink landscape paintings.
The theme of Gallery 2 is
"Daily Life." Works on display will include Kiki Smith's "Corsage," which
depicts a female body; AHN Changhong's "Bed Couch 1;" and KIM Eunjin's "The
Refrigerator."
The theme of Galleries 3 and
4 is "Boundary." Here, photography and media art pieces show the boundaries
between the artists' realms of expression and daily life. Works will include
Korea's leading media artist LEE Yongbaek's "Broken Mirror," KANG Honggoo's
"Osoeri Landscapes" and YOO Hyunmi's "Cosmos series," as well as "Made In –
Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar" by LEE Wan who will represent the
Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2017.
Themed "Seven Intellectuals
in Bamboo Forest," Gallery 5 is a space where visitors can look back on the
things they've lost through daily life. Well-known Chinese video artist YANG
Fudong's "Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest III" and "Seven Intellectuals in
Bamboo Forest IV" will be screened to question what we are losing today and
what we should pass on to the next generation.
In addition to helping
visitors understand how the MMCA collects and makes use of its artworks, the
upcoming exhibit will allow them to understand the flow of Korean modern and
contemporary art by introducing leading artists and their works. The exhibit
will run through Sunday, August 13 at MMCA Seoul.
