[Exhibition of the Week] Geometric Abstract Art of Korea Exhibition · Toby Ziegler 'Destroyed Idols' and More

Editor's NoteThis week's exhibitions introduce a variety of attractive shows from across the country that can be experienced over the course of one week.

▲National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) 'Geometric Abstraction in Korea' = The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) is hosting the exhibition 'Geometric Abstraction in Korea' at its Gwacheon branch, which surveys the history of geometric abstraction artworks produced in Korea from the 1920s to the 1970s.

Cover of Danseongjuboo No. 300, Danseongsa, February 1929, Collection of the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History [Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art]

Geometric abstraction, a trend in painting, emphasizes simple and geometric shapes such as dots, lines, circles, and squares, primary colors, and the flatness of the picture plane. In the West, geometric abstraction gained prominence through the works of artists like Mondrian, Kandinsky, and Malevich, emerging as a major trend in modern art throughout the 20th century. In Korea, geometric abstraction appeared during the modern period of the 1920s and 1930s and expanded comprehensively in the 1960s and 1970s, existing in various forms at key turning points in Korean art history.

However, geometric abstraction was often perceived as decorative art or as an abstraction that was not distinctly Korean, and was regarded as a peripheral trend compared to other abstract art movements such as Art Informel or Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting). This exhibition was planned to reveal the uniqueness of Korean geometric abstraction and restore its hidden meanings, providing an opportunity to view the history of Korean abstract art from a new perspective.

Lee Jun, 'Song-Yuhyang', 1985, oil on canvas, 130.5×97cm, [Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art]

The exhibition surveys the history of Korean geometric abstraction through over 150 works by 47 representative Korean abstract artists from the 1920s to the 1970s. It particularly focuses on how geometric abstraction formed intersections with related fields such as architecture and design, and how it played a role in expanding the scope of Korean art by interacting with social changes of the time.

The exhibition is organized into five sections following the major characteristics of Korean geometric abstraction by era. During the exhibition period, related programs such as 'Expert Lectures and Discussions' and 'Curator Dialogues' will be held. Experts in art history and design will participate in a session titled 'Geometric Abstraction and Design' to discuss the academic significance of Korean geometric abstraction in depth. The exhibition runs until May 19, 2024, at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Gwacheon, Gwangmyeong-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Broken Images, 2023
Photo by PKM Gallery

▲Toby Ziegler Solo Exhibition 'Broken Images' = PKM Gallery presents the solo exhibition 'Broken Images' by British contemporary artist Toby Ziegler. This exhibition, held in Korea for the first time in four years since his 2019 solo show, unveils eight new paintings that flexibly explore the relationships among objects, images, and space, crossing classical art and contemporary technology.

The artist has focused on how paintings, which have become both originals and data, approach the public in terms of method and speed through his work that deconstructs the formal elements and meanings of classical art using contemporary techniques and materials. He models the base image in 3D, empties its existing formal characteristics, and then prints it smoothly on a canvas that has been repeatedly coated with gesso and sanded. He then intervenes pictorially by moving brushstrokes organically and randomly inside and outside the printed grid layer, recombining the formal elements.

Respite, 2023 [Photo by PKM Gallery]

Recently, instead of using solid and smooth aluminum as a support, he has returned to fabric canvas, delving deeper into his unique working method that traverses reason and intuition, figuration and abstraction, analog and digital, while presenting a new polyphonic landscape where the boundaries of originality have collapsed before the viewers.

Through this exhibition, the artist boldly brings out the painterly elements of classical images by utilizing the unreality characteristic of digital technology. The exhibition title and the main work of this solo show, 'Broken Images,' is derived from a line in 'The Waste Land' (1922) by American-British poet T.S. Eliot, expressing the desolate and barren human condition caused by civilization-induced war while also suggesting hope for salvation. Following Eliot's irregular and fragmented rhythm, the artist presents the broken idols wandering like phantoms in a hybrid geometric space as a new Holy Grail aura. The exhibition runs until December 23 at PKM Gallery, Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Spotted Cat Garden_Linocut_100x70cm_2023 [Photo by Page Room 8]

▲Han Ji-min Solo Exhibition 'Wild Garden' = Page Room 8 presents the solo exhibition 'Wild Garden' by Han Ji-min as part of a project spotlighting four 'Monad Printmaking' artists. Through the artist’s works, which utilize the excellent linocut technique to depict delicate human forms made of fine lines, the exhibition aims to view printmaking as a complete visual art form, not belonging to any other genre, much like the philosophical term 'monad,' which denotes an ultimate entity indivisible into parts.

The works start from images collected from the artist’s surrounding environment. Stray cats appearing anywhere in the city, pigeons pecking at the ground or appearing on roads, narrowing unwanted gaps between people. Countless fences dividing roads, sidewalks, and buildings, and nameless weeds gathering and living in hidden places behind them. The artist grants agency to the flora and fauna of the street, which have been robustly trained by the city as nature. The 'artificial nature' called the city from a human perspective becomes a 'wild garden' for them. In this dual and ambiguous boundary world, the everyday scenes the artist finds 'beautiful' are not landscapes approached with vitality but images selectively chosen according to her visual and sensory preferences.

Stroller in the Ornate Garden 3, 30 x 28 cm, 2023. [Photo by Page Room 8]

Linocut is the latest relief printmaking technique and is suitable for concise expression, which may not always be ideal for delicate details. Nevertheless, the artist states that she uses linocut because "it allows very fine 'knife drawing' lines with carving tools, the plate can be cut out, and above all, the process of making the plate is interesting and the resulting expression feels good." The gaze that maintains a balance of strength and continues is also connected to the theme of the gaze in the linocut works she produces.

After carving the black ink-coated linoleum plate three times, the plate becomes a land and garden like a sealed ecosystem (terrarium). It awaits the protagonist to invite into this environment that constantly triggers chains with reality and is sustainable. In the artificial city, it may be just a pigeon covered with plastic, but in the wild garden, it can become a splendid creature. The artist’s images, based on realism and reflected like a mirror, engage with paper under pressure to present reversed images. The exhibition runs until December 10 at Page Room 8, Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul.