< The Square: Art and Society in Korea > Part2- 50th Anniversary Exhibition of MMCA Korea

Did you enjoy the first < Virtual Korea-Exhibition Series #1> video at home? How was it?

Now, for our second post, we are presenting a video "Live Gallery Tour with Curator Part2" by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) from MMCA's Youtube channel.

The 2nd < Virtual Korea-Exhibition Series #2> video is about 60 minutes long, Live Gallery Tour with head curator of the Exhibition Department 1, Soojung Kang from MMCA < The Square: Art and Society in Korea > Part2.

Enjoy the video!



About < The Square: Part 2. 1950-2019 >

The Square. Part 2 (MMCA Gwacheon, Oct. 17-Mar. 29, 2020) covers the period from 1950 to 2019.

The Square, Part 2 (MMCA Gwacheon, Oct. 17-Mar. 29, 2020) spans the year 1950 to the present, exploring the significance of art joined to life while reflecting on the history of Korean contemporary art in light of Korean society and the public square. The exhibition hall comprises seven themes borrowed from Choi Inhun's novel The Square (1961): "Blackened Sun," "One Path," "Gray Caves," "Painful Sparks," "Blue Desert," "Arid Sea," and "White Bird." Drawn mainly from the MMCA collection, each era’s seminal artworks, designs, handicrafts, and everyday object are shown together in a space that transcends the era by encompassing individuals and communities alike. Material discovered with the help of specialists in literature, music, and theater allows for new perspectives toward Korean art history.

The exhibition presents about 300 artworks and 200 archival materials by nearly 200 artists, including Pen Varlen, Park Sookeun, Lee Jungseob, Chang Uc-chin, Yoo Youngkuk, Suh Doho, Christian Boltansky, and Lee Bul. Kim Whanki's representative painting "Where in What Form, Shall We Meet Again" (1970) is shown alongside a moon jar and celadon prunus vase that inspired the work. Yun Isang's handwritten music sheets of "Image" (1968), composed during his imprisonment caused by the East Berlin Affair, is shown next to Lee Ungno's painting "Composition" (1968), also completed in prison. The Main Hall reproduces the public square of the 1980s with Oh Yoon's geolgae (banner) painting (1980s) once thought to have been lost, Choi Byungsoo's large-scale geolgae paintings Save Han-yeol (1987) and a drawing of "Labor Liberation" (1989), "Sneaker of Lee han-yeol", a patriotic martyr for Democracy(1987), and Bae Youngwhan's "Pop Song 3: Farewell to My Youth" (2002), all of which reinterpret and reconstitute sites of protest. The Circular Gallery presenting the "Present-Day Square" offers a space for remembrance and mourning with works by Parttime Suite and weaving life, weaving nature_Jung Eun Sil, which are completed by participation of the viewers.