Continuing the Success of 'Ron Mueck'... National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art to Host Asia's First Large-Scale Damien Hirst Solo Exhibition

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art to Host Damien Hirst Exhibition in 2026
A Major International Artist Follows the Success of the Ron Mueck Show

"In 2026, Damien Hirst's first large-scale solo exhibition in Asia will continue the momentum of last year's successful Ron Mueck exhibition."

Damien Hirst's "For the Love of God" (2007) is a platinum cast modeled after a real 18th-century human skull, embedded with 8,601 diamonds. Courtesy of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Kim Sunghee, Director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), made this announcement at a press conference on the "2026 Exhibition Plans and Major Projects," held on January 6 at the MMCA Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

This March, MMCA Seoul will host the first large-scale solo exhibition in Asia by British visual artist Damien Hirst. The exhibition will encompass works from Hirst's early career to his most recent pieces, providing a comprehensive overview across various media, including installations, sculptures, and paintings. Through Hirst's ongoing exploration of core themes such as death and immortality, humanity's faith and desire in science and medicine, and the value of art versus market logic, the exhibition aims to create a broad platform for discourse on contemporary life and values.

However, Hirst's work has always been accompanied by controversy. His "Natural History" series, which features dead animals preserved in formaldehyde tanks, sparked debates on bioethics, and his candid treatment of the relationship between life and death, money and art, has challenged the conventions of contemporary art. His 1991 installation, which preserved a shark carcass in formaldehyde, caused a major stir, while his 2007 work-a platinum skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds-drew criticism for its overt display of the fusion between art and capital. Other taxidermy pieces featuring calves, sheep, and butterflies have also been described as turning the museum into a "space for uncomfortable contemplation."

Addressing these points, Director Kim stated, "There are concerns that we are focusing too much on commercial exhibitions following the success of the Ron Mueck show, but last year's exhibition of water drop artist Kim Tschangyeul was also highly praised for its multidimensional re-examination of the artist's trajectory and artistic world." She added, "The Damien Hirst exhibition will also serve as an opportunity to reinterpret humanity's desire to overcome death from a new perspective." Kim further emphasized, "It is significant that this exhibition has been curated by MMCA curators with a fresh viewpoint."

The upcoming exhibition will feature "For the Love of God" (2007), a platinum cast modeled after a real 18th-century human skull and set with 8,601 diamonds, as well as the "Cherry Blossoms" painting series (2018-2020) depicting full-bloom cherry blossoms in spring, and other previously unreleased recent works.

Meanwhile, MMCA will officially launch a project this year to train young art conservation specialists. Eighteen trainees will be selected across six fields-paper, oil painting, photography, new media, scientific analysis, and condition assessment and emergency treatment-and will undergo nine months of training, after which they will receive a certificate of completion.

In addition, for the first time, MMCA will make public digital images from its art archive, which contains approximately 520,000 items. Previously, only the archive list was available, but this marks the first time the images themselves will be released. This year, about 100,000 items will be made public, including the archives of Lee Jungseop, Park Sookeun, Lee Inseong, Lee Kwaidae, Yoo Youngkuk, Nam June Paik, Park Iso, as well as collections of modern magazine covers and illustrations, and institutional materials. The archive will be expanded sequentially through 2028. Director Kim commented, "We expect this to become a major milestone for art research."