Gwangju Shinsegae and Artist Lee Inam's Second Collaboration Offers a Gift-Like Year-End Experience

Starting from the 18th, a giant media facade covering the entire exterior wall of the department store will be unveiled

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho] World-renowned media artist Lee Inam and Gwangju Shinsegae Department Store present a gift-like year-end through their second collaboration. The main building's exterior wall is fully covered with a media facade, debuting for the first time at Gwangju Shinsegae.

Gwangju Shinsegae Co., Ltd. (CEO Lee Dong-hoon) announced on the 17th that starting from the 18th, it will showcase a fairy tale-like content using the building's exterior wall under the theme "ALICE in SHINSEGAE."

Aligned with this year's Shinsegae Department Store Christmas theme, the local corporation Gwangju Shinsegae will unveil its first media facade in collaboration with local representative media artist Lee Inam.

Established in 1995 as the first local branch in the provinces, Gwangju Shinsegae plans to utilize the unique architectural exterior of the department store, built at that time, like a canvas to project video images as if painting a picture on it.

This media art show marks the second collaboration between Gwangju Shinsegae and media artist Lee Inam.

Last September, Gwangju Shinsegae renovated the underground passage connecting the main and new buildings, installing five large LED screens and creating a "Special Stage" to exhibit media art works.

The collaboration began with an exhibition held with Lee Inam Studio as the first featured artist.

Lee Inam and Gwangju Shinsegae have maintained a long-standing relationship. The artist won the grand prize at the 8th Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival contest in 2005, a competition held since 1996 by Gwangju Shinsegae to discover and support young local artists.

He has stated that winning the grand prize early in his career at the Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival greatly helped him continue his work to this day.

Since then, he has continued various exhibitions and project activities at Shinsegae Galleries across regions, becoming a representative win-win model between corporations and local cultural and artistic communities.

Lee, who graduated with a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Chosun University Graduate School and completed a doctoral course in Film Arts at Yonsei University Graduate School of Communication, has pioneered new realms of media art by reinterpreting Western and Eastern masterpieces such as "Mona Lisa" and "Girl with a Pearl Earring" through the integration of the latest video technology.

The artist’s media work "Light of Mudeung," installed at the tollgate, the first gateway to Gwangju, has become a unique local landmark representing the image of the cultural city of Gwangju. The "Lee Inam Studio," opened in Yangnim-dong as a fusion of architecture and media art, has evolved beyond the artist’s studio and gallery into a cultural spot where visitors can enjoy a caf? within an art piece.

Additionally, this year, Lee created the domestic tourism media wall content "New City Landscape" commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization. In June last year, he presented the history and beauty of Zhangzhou City on the media facade of the world's largest complex theater media wall in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China, titled "Unique Henan-Land of Drama."

Lee Inam, who directed this media art show, drew inspiration from the rabbit symbolizing the Year of the Rabbit 2023 (Gimyo year) and the familiar novel "Alice in Wonderland," unfolding a story themed around traveling through Shinsegae Department Store transformed into a gift box by following Alice’s rabbit.

Like Alice entering the rabbit hole to embark on a fantastical adventure, the 5-minute 50-second video guides viewers into a magical fantasy world where the playful Alice’s rabbit enters a giant gift box and meets characters from masterpieces such as Vincent van Gogh amid a splendid winter fairy tale landscape.

Han Woo-jong, curator of Gwangju Shinsegae Gallery, said, "Through this fairy tale-like video image, we hope it becomes a time of gratitude and a gift-like year-end and New Year’s moment for citizens who have supported us throughout 2022." He added about this new challenge with media artist Lee Inam, who represents the region, "We look forward to the dazzling appearance of the department store building combined with the artist’s imagination," going beyond the gallery space that has held various exhibitions to promote local culture and arts.

The media art show "ALICE in SHINSEGAE," a collaboration between Gwangju Shinsegae Department Store and artist Lee Inam, will run daily from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. until January 2 next year.

In connection with this media art show, a year-end special exhibition featuring diverse video, media, painting, and installation works by Lee Inam and six other local artists active in various media will open on the first floor gallery of Gwangju Shinsegae main building starting from the 8th of next month.

Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho yjm3070@asiae.co.kr