Highlighting Social Issues Through Art Made from Materials of the Street,
Rapid Recognition Despite a Late Start
Breaking the Frame of Visual Art, Art to Be Felt Underfoot
"I Hope This Exhibition Sparks Questions About Painting"
Major Works on Display, Including Pieces Made with Perm Supplies
The world-renowned artist Mark Bradford, a leading figure in contemporary abstract painting, defines his artistic realm as "social abstraction." For Bradford, abstraction is not an escape from reality, but rather a form of sensory resistance that visualizes inequality, power, and the fractures of identity. This is why he describes himself as "someone who struggles with art history."
Mark Bradford's "He Will Watch the Country Burn Even to Become the King of Ashes" (2019). Photo by Seo Mideum
Mark Bradford's first large-scale retrospective in Asia, "Mark Bradford: Keep Walking," has opened at the Amorepacific Museum of Art in Yongsan, Seoul. As an extension of the 2024 touring exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof in Germany, the show features more than 40 works, including paintings, installations, and video art.
Highlighting Social Issues Through Art Made from Materials of the Street, Rapid Recognition Despite a Late Start
Born in 1961 in South Central Los Angeles, Bradford has built his unique artistic world based primarily on memories of spending his childhood in his mother's beauty salon. He gained attention by tearing and layering flyers, posters, and newspapers collected from the streets, transforming the lives of Black, queer, and urban underclass communities into art. Although he began formal art education relatively late, enrolling at the California Institute of the Arts in his mid-thirties, his artistry was quickly recognized. Since being selected as the representative for the United States Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale, he has been named one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" (2021) and ranked 19th on ArtReview's "Power 100" list (2024). He is currently represented by the world-renowned Swiss gallery Hauser & Wirth.
Breaking the Frame of Visual Art, Art to Be Felt Underfoot..."I Hope This Exhibition Sparks Questions About Painting"
The first work to greet visitors at this exhibition, "Lift" (2019), is an installation that vividly demonstrates Bradford's signature method of tearing and layering street materials. Flyers, advertising posters, and newspapers collected from the streets around his Los Angeles studio were cut into long strips and filled the large exhibition hall. Visitors can experience art not just with their eyes, but also physically, by walking on the work and feeling it underfoot.
The act of walking on the artwork embodies the discourse of "social abstraction." Bradford's intention is to liberate the artwork from the confines of a frame and create a physical point of contact with the audience. The artist explained, "I wanted viewers to enter and walk within the work. This is both a question about painting and a political act. We are all beings trapped within our own bodies, but through these bodies, we can navigate the world. Like a turtle, even if slowly, we keep walking; that is my metaphor."
Major Works on Display, Including Pieces Made with Perm Supplies
A key feature of the works in this exhibition is that they emanate from the experiences of social injustice Bradford encountered during his childhood in his mother's beauty salon, which served as the foundation for his artistic inspiration. Representative works such as "Blue" (2005), which uses the translucent end papers commonly found in beauty salons to address the history of structural inequality inscribed on the streets, and "The Betrayal of Faith" (2024), which depicts the restoration of autonomy within oppressive systems, clearly reflect the artist's concept of social abstraction.
"He Would See the Country Burn If He Could Be King of the Ashes" (2019) addresses global inequality. This work, composed of multiple spheres, uses paper to create burned continents and oceans, visualizing a fragmented world. The diverse textures and sizes sharply expose the realities of imbalance, isolation, and escalating ecological crisis on Earth. The title, quoting a line from the drama "Game of Thrones," carries a critical implication about social collapse and political downfall caused by destructive lust for power. "This work is about inequality. People live on the same planet, but under completely different conditions."
The exhibition runs until January 25 next year.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
