Don’t Miss These Top Seoul Exhibitions
While exploring the fair presentations at Kiaf and Frieze Seoul this week, be sure to make time in your schedule to visit premier exhibition debuts by Peres Projects, Pace Gallery, MMCA, Duarte Sequeira, and Leeum Museum of Art.
Paolo Salvador, “La seguridad de cerrar los ojos,” 2023, 39 x 47 in., oil on linen; courtesy of Peres Projects.
Top Seoul Exhibitions at Peres Projects
Paolo Salvador: “Misterios inscritos en tela”
September 7 — November 12, 2023
Peres Projects unveils an enchanting show by Lima-born and Berlin-based artist Paolo Salvador, currently on view through November 12. Titled “Misterios inscritos en tela (Mysteries inscribed on cloth),” the visually arresting series unites a myriad of inspirations, such as artist Francis Bacon’s haunting figures, the enduring mysteries of mother nature and the cosmos, as well as postmodern philosophy. Peruvian culture and geography are layered throughout the series, as colorful, hypnotic landscapes ebb and flow with fluid human figures and animal forms. A notable triptych, Los misterios del horizonte permanente (The mysteries of the permanent horizon) (2023) unfolds in softened shades of teal, blush, and sapphire, while sensuous feline and human figures impart the magic of memory, individual perception, and infinite time.
Robert Nava, “Mountain Fight (TBC),” 2023, 72 × 72 in., acrylic, grease pencil, and oil on canvas; © Robert Nava, photo by Richard Gary, courtesy of Pace Gallery.
Top Seoul Exhibitions at Pace
Robert Nava: “Tornado Rose”
September 5 — October 21, 2023
“Tornado Rose” is Robert Nava‘s firs solo exhibition in Asia—a riveting show of six new paintings, currently on view through October 21 at Pace Gallery. The artist re-energizes beloved figures of his oeuvre, including the ghost, the rabbit, and the shark, enticing them into explosive spaces of birth and apocalypse. Saturated hues and sparring animals ripple across the canvas in cinematic moments of rich focus and blurred metamorphosis, revealing the vital spirit of both the hunter and its prey. Storm Fire Body Bunny (2023) places the calm face of a bunny within turbulent brushstrokes, while Mountain Fight (2023) spotlights a legendary crusade between Nava’s symbolic angels and an army of ferocious dogs. Violet Shark Ghost (2023) and Burial Shark (2023) follow the haunting creature through deep waters during the witching hour, exploring its every voracious breath.
Kim Kulim, “Electric Art A,” 1969 (reproduction in 2013), 181.6 x 181.6 x 17 cm., plastic and bulbs on panel; courtesy of the artist and MMCA.
Kim Kulim
MMCA
August 25, 2023 — February 12, 2024
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea honors over 70 years of pioneering creativity by the multidisciplinary artist Kim Kulim with a sweeping exhibition. Highlighting Kim’s singular expression through a myriad of art forms, from painting to film, to performance, the transcendent show vibrates with the artist’s sixth sense of the human experience in contemporary society. With groundbreaking achievements in Experimental art since the 1950s, Kim is a pillar of both the Korean and global contemporary art landscape. Winding throughout the galleries of MMCA in Seoul, visitors will encounter over 230 artworks and 60 archival treasures. Early oil paintings, electric art, and installations are united with prints and two-dimensional collages, as an enduring passion for “presence and phenomena” acts as an unrestrained thru line from one investigation to another. On September 7, a four-part performance placed screenings of the artist’s experimental films, Civilization, Woman, Money (1969) and The Meaning of 1/24 Second (1969) in direct dialogue with dance, music, and theatre for an astounding journey through the mind of a highly skilled and intuitive icon.
Courtesy of Pieter Schoolwerth and Duarte Sequeira.
Pieter Schoolwerth: “Displacement Map”
Duarte Sequeira Deoksu Palace
September 5 — October 28, 2023
Duarte Sequeira celebrates the opening of its second exhibition space in Seoul with a dramatic presentation by cutting-edge New York-based artist Pieter Schoolwerth, currently on view through October 28. Titled “Displacement Map,” the enthralling show features eleven paintings and animated videos. From a deft process of merging a three-dimensional model with a technological framework, shards of identities and environments melt and collide in a knowing conversation of society vs. self. Displacement mapping, a 3D technological effect that skews and abstracts a chosen figure, is deftly used to invoke expressive Picasso-like visages. Mesmeric animations, created in collaboration between Schoolwerth, artist Phil Vanderhyden, and musician Aaron Dilloway, result in a visual symphony of CGI prowess.
Suki Seokyeong Kang, “Willow Drum Oriole,” 2021-2023, 15 min. 20 sec., 3 channel video, color, sound; photo by Sangtae Kim, courtesy of Studio Suki Seokyeong Kang and LEEUM Museum of Art.
Suki Seokyeong Kang: “Willow Drum Oriole”
Leeum Museum of Art
September 7 — December 31, 2023
Seoul-based contemporary artist Suki Seokyeong Kang debuts a large-scale, holistic solo exhibition at Leeum Museum of Art, currently on view through December 31. “Willow Drum Oriole,” which echoes the title of Kang’s visceral new video work, offers both past creations and fresh observations in the form of sculpture, installation, and performance “activations.” Curated by June Young Kwak, Head of Exhibition at Leeum, alongside EJ Cho, and in collaboration with Bottega Veneta, the alluring show is a tender exploration of the diverse forms and figures that occupy space and time. Textural and sculptural elements rise and fall within lyrical compositions, creating a humming, abstract landscape of tranquil unity. Video masterpiece Willow Drum Oriole (2021-2023) draws ardently from tradition—wherein sages would study the migration of the brightly colored birds through the sumptuous willow trees— while infusing contemporary social dynamics. An array of public programs such as a curator’s talk, artist conversations, and immersive workshops spotlight Kang as an enlightened decoder of our enigmatic universe.
