Leading Korean Gallery Highlights Korean Modernists and International Contemporary Artists at Prestigious Art Fair

Photo by Sims Green

PKM Gallery, a prominent gallery in Korea, is presenting a diverse selection of artists at ART BUSAN 2023, the largest art fair in Korea. The ART BUSAN 2023 is being Held from May 4th to 7th at BEXCO Exhibition Center 1 in Busan. the fair is featuring works from over 21 countries and more than 150 domestic and international galleries.

▲ Jungjin Lee, Voice 15, 2019. Courtesy of PKMAmong the artists showcased by PKM Gallery are esteemed figures in Korean modern and contemporary art, such as Chung Chang-sup, Lee Jungjin, Koo Jeong A, Suh Seung won, Yoo Youngkuk, and YUN Hyungkuen. The gallery has also included internationally renowned artists, including Olafur Eliasson and Toby Ziegler, who have made an impact in the global art world.
▲ Young Do Jeong, Don't look back in anger, 2020-2021. Courtesy of PKM▲ Yun Hyong-keun,Burnt Umber & Ultramarine,1991, Courtesy of PKM

YUN Hyungkuen, the master of monochrome painting, uses the technique of allowing umber and ultramarine pigments to naturally permeate and flow on canvas, mapo, or hanji paper. His works, expressed with minimal materials and bold brushstrokes, align with the spirit of Korea's literati who viewed traditional painting as a part of their practice towards true humanity. Particularly, his works from the late 1980s, in which the form of the structure is expressed, along with his early works characterized by blurring and vertical lines, have established a modernity that both East and West can sympathize with, which is meaningful in the work of Wonsuk Lee.

▲ Yoo Youngkuk, 1979. Courtesy of PKM Yoo Youngkuk is a pioneer of Korean modernism and abstract art, who opened up the field of abstract art in Korea with his painting works that embody the essence of Korean nature and its colors in a strong and restrained form. His works, in which the basic elements of painting such as dots, lines, planes, forms, and colors coexist in tension and balance, approach the deep beauty of painting. Yoo graduated from the oil painting department of Tokyo Culture Academy in Japan in 1938, and after naturalizing in Korea in 1943, he led various avant-garde art groups in Korea in the mid-20th century, such as ShinSaShilpa (1948), Modern Art Society (1957), and Shin Sanghoe (1962), while leaving numerous sublime oil paintings through his daily routine of painting practice.

Filmed and photographed by Sims green, Video editing by Maria KIM

 Chung Chang-sup was a first-generation Korean artist in the late 20th century who created a unique artistic world that captured the beauty of traditional Korean paper and its inherent resonance. In the 1970s, he began to use hanji, a comfortable and rustic Korean paper that symbolizes the universal Korean identity, and from the 1980s, he presented his own works using tak, the raw material. Using his two hands to knead the tak dough, he captured the landscapes of Eastern nature, such as mountain ridges and river streams, on the canvas. By experimenting with the intersection of long-established aesthetics and new art forms, he brought forth abstract paintings that encapsulated the beauty of Korea.

▲ Suh Seung-won, Photo by Sims

Suh Seung-won has been exploring and visualizing the concept of "simultaneity" rooted in the cultural spirit of Koreans for over 50 years through his contemporary paintings. "Simultaneity" refers to the manifestation of the visible world and the invisible world of the mind in an equal and uniform spacetime through the artist as a mediator. His transparent artistic world, which expresses our traditional aesthetics and spirit with modern sensibility, represents a unique axis in Korean contemporary art history while also possessing universality that people around the world can intuitively empathize with.

▲ Wonwoo Lee, Fat coke(Diet), 2023. Courtesy oc PKMOlafur Eliasson draws inspiration from the mystical and vast landscapes of northern Europe. Using natural elements such as light, air, water, and moss, he creates and reproduces pseudo-scientific works, experimenting with human sensory reactions to the physical environment. His works transcend the confines of art museums or galleries and involve architecture projects, public places, education, policies, sustainability, and climate change issues, transforming the viewer's thoughts into practical actions that can change the world.

▲ Toby Ziegler, Leach field, 2021. Courtesy of PKM

Toby Ziegler has been creating paintings and sculptures by taking images of classical artworks and transforming them into 3D digital programs, then applying them to modern materials such as aluminum and synthetic materials, and finally deconstructing them through analog techniques such as sanding and painting. Through this process, he has presented various layers of creation and destruction, conception and abstraction, tradition and modernity, and originality and appropriation, showcasing his unique artistic value.

PKM Gallery has been a significant force in the Korean and international art scene since its establishment in 2001, promoting Korean modernist artists while also hosting exhibitions of contemporary artists who address social and cultural issues. The gallery has also curated large-scale exhibitions of international artists, establishing itself as a leading voice in the global art world. At ART BUSAN 2023, PKM Gallery continues its mission of presenting a diverse range of artists and promoting Korean contemporary art to the world.

Sayart.net
Jason Yim, yimjongho1969@gmail.com