Kukje Gallery is participating in KIAF ART SEOUL 2019 (hereafter KIAF), which will take place in the Coex Convention & Exhibition Center (COEX) in Samseong-dong from September 25 to 29. Having launched in 2002, KIAF has consistently supported the importance of contemporary art, focusing on emerging talent and establishing a reputation as one of Asia’s leading international art fairs. Attracting major collectors, curators, and art professionals from not only Korea but around the world, the 18th edition of KIAF will host 175 galleries from 17 countries including Europe, the Americas, and Asia. In addition, KIAF has organized a special exhibition focusing on modern Korean art and a series of conversations on topical subjects including the state of the art market today.
Kukje Gallery has always been a vital cultural hub in Seoul, establishing a reputation as a trend leader in the rapidly evolving international art market. In keeping with this commitment, the gallery’s booth will include a special curated section devoted to the work of Jean-Michel Othoniel. One of France’s most celebrated contemporary artists, since the late-1980s Othoniel has explored diverse artistic practices including photography, sculpture, installation, writing, and performance. His exquisitely crafted multimedia work explores the absence and presence of self and scars left by suffering and loss. The artist is currently the subject of a solo exhibition titled La Rose du Louvre (on view through February 24, 2020) at the Louvre Museum in Paris on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of its iconic Pyramid. Inspired by the triumphant rose motif painted by Rubens in the Flemish master’s watercolor and ink drawings series, six of Othoniel’s new paintings are installed amidst the garden statuary of the 17th and 18th centuries in the Puget Courtyard.
The “flower” is an essential subject that is extensively explored throughout Othoniel’s practice. Kukje Gallery’s special presentation of the artist will include paintings from his Black Lotus series. Composed of thick lithography ink painted on canvas gilded with gold leaf, the series is inspired by the contradictions implicit in the poetry of Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal and Arthur Rimbaud’s splendeur invisible. In preparation for his solo exhibition at Kukje Gallery in 2016, Othoniel traveled around Korea, researching the lotus based on its cultural and spiritual significance and unique symbolism.
Along with the two paintings from the Black Lotus series, the section will also showcase two of Othoniel’s signature works: Collier Aquamarine Mica (2019), a necklace-shaped installation consisting of translucent aquamarine Murano glass beads, and Precious Stonewall (2019), a sculptural installation that employs mirrored glass bricks as its primary material. A large-scale installation employing similar materials titled Îles Singulières is currently on view through November 22 at Château La Coste in Aix-en-Provence, a French vineyard and renowned venue for contemporary art. Characteristic of Othoniel’s interest in depicting the vitality of nature through material, Îles Singulières stands in perfect harmony with Renzo Piano’s linear architecture.
In addition to the special focus on Jean-Michel Othoniel‘s work, Kukje Gallery’s booth will highlight important pieces by Dansaekhwa artists including works from Park Seo-Bo’s Ecriture series, Ha Chong-Hyun’s Conjunction series, and Lee Ufan’s With Winds (1988). These three master artists are currently participating in the exhibition Landlord Colors: On Art, Economy, and Materiality (on view through October 6) at Cranbrook Art Museum in Michigan, along with other historically significant artists including Kwon Young-Woo, Yun Hyong-Keun, Lucio Fontana, and Jannis Kounellis.
Park Seo-Bo will open his first solo exhibition in Germany eponymously titled Park Seo-Bo (on view through March 29, 2020) at the Langen Foundation in Neuss, built on a former NATO rocket base by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The upcoming exhibition, opening on September 29, comes almost immediately after Park’s major retrospective titled Park Seo Bo: The Untiring Endeavorer at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. Ha Chong-Hyun has recently opened his first solo exhibition at Cardi Gallery in Milan titled HA CHONG-HYUN (on view through December 20). The artist’s red, blue, and white paintings from his signature Conjunction series are also currently on view in a group exhibition titled Abstraction(s) (on view through November 17) at Song Art Museum in Beijing. Lee Ufan will soon reveal his ambitious site-specific commission titled Lee Ufan: Open Dimension (on view through September 13, 2020) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. on September 27. The expansive installation, featuring ten new sculptures from the artist’s signature and ongoing Relatum series, marks Lee’s largest single outdoor sculpture project in the United States.
Other works in the booth include Kim Yong-Ik’s Erased Utopia #16-1 (2016) from the artist’s iconic “dot paintings,” a new sun painting titled viertermaizweitausendundneunzehn (2019) by Ugo Rondinone whose solo exhibition at Kukje Gallery recently closed, and a new embroidery painting titled Abstract Weave / Morris Louis Delta Kappa 1960 SS02 (2019) by Kyungah Ham. Works by an esteemed roster of contemporary artists including Candida Höfer, Anish Kapoor, Roni Horn, Julian Opie, and Gimhongsok will also be on view.
In addition, Kukje Gallery is pleased to announce that as part of KIAF’s public programming, the artist Yeondoo Jung will be in conversation with Miyatsu Daisuke, a collector and professor at Yokohama College of Art and Design. Titled Living Together with Artist and Coexisting with Artwork, the discussion will center on Jung and Miyatsu’s two-decade relationship as artist and patron, and will explore aesthetics and their value to contemporary society. The talk will begin at 2pm on September 26.
