Daejeon Museum of Art to Feature Exhibitions from Andy Warhol to Lee Jungseop and Emerging Local Artists This Year

An Invitation to the World of Masterpieces
Introducing New Public Collection Acquisitions and Regional Art Highlights

Exterior view of Daejeon Museum of Art (Photo by Daejeon City)

Daejeon Museum of Art will present an exhibition program this year centered on major special exhibitions featuring Andy Warhol, a leading figure in global contemporary art, and Lee Jungseop, an iconic artist of modern and contemporary Korean art. The program will also include international exhibitions, public collections, children's art, and regional creative works.

This year's exhibition schedule aims to examine the relationship between popular culture and art, the historical achievements of modern and contemporary Korean art, and the future generation and local art ecosystem as a continuous flow, with a clear focus on highlighting the role of a public art museum.

At the heart of the exhibition lineup is the special contemporary art exhibition "Andy Warhol: Selling Art," which opens in March. This exhibition revisits the structure of today's visual culture by asking, "How did images become art and, at the same time, commodities?"

Among Andy Warhol's works, which redefined the boundaries between popular culture and art, the major collection of renowned curator Paul Marechal will be unveiled for the first time in the world. The exhibition critically examines the structure of image production and consumption in the twentieth century and today.

In the summer, the exhibition "Lee Jungseop" will follow as part of the "MMCA Regional Partnership Project" in collaboration with the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. The exhibition will intensively showcase major works by Lee Jungseop, a representative figure in modern and contemporary Korean art, shedding new light on his artistic achievements and their significance in his era.

This exhibition will allow the local community to enjoy high-quality public art content and serve as an opportunity to share important moments in Korean art history with the citizens of Daejeon.

These two exhibitions highlight key aspects of global contemporary art and modern and contemporary Korean art, serving as the main pillars of Daejeon Museum of Art's 2026 exhibition program. Based on these two pillars, the museum has structured the year to flow from collection exhibitions to children's art and contemporary regional art.

This exhibition flow begins with a collection exhibition at the start of the year. In January and February, the "Museum on the Artwork" exhibition will present major works acquired between 2022 and 2024. This exhibition will share the museum's collection direction and research achievements with the public, serving as a starting point to reflect on the significance of a public art museum's collection.

From March, the children's art exhibition "The Eleventh Twinkle" will be held. This exhibition interprets the fleeting moments of children's minds that appear between rules as "twinkle," and, through the works of Baek Ingyo and Jung Seungwon, proposes experiences that encourage children to recognize and express their emotions rather than evaluate them.

In the summer, exhibitions focusing on the present state of contemporary regional art will continue. In July, the museum's representative support exhibition for young artists, "Next Code," will be held. This exhibition serves as a gateway for discovering and supporting young local artists, providing emerging artists with a foundation to expand their artistic language and participate in contemporary art discourse.

Daejeon Museum of Art (Photo by Daejeon City)

During the same period, the Lee Donghun Art Award Exhibition will honor the achievements of Lee Donghun, who laid the foundation for Daejeon's art scene, by showcasing the works of Grand Prize winner Lim Songja and Special Prize winners Kim Eunhee and Jung Euicheol. By examining the practices of both veteran and mid-career artists, the exhibition will provide a multidimensional view of the flow of regional art.

In October, the third installment of the Regional Art Spotlight Project will take place. This policy-driven exhibition investigates, documents, and uncovers the history and present of local art, offering a long-term perspective on the regional art ecosystem.

The museum's open storage collection exhibition, which is held year-round, will stably present its collection to the public and share the processes of research and preservation with visitors. By reorganizing representative collection pieces in solo exhibition formats by artists Stella Sujin and Bae Seongho, the exhibition will convey the diversity and depth of the museum's collection in an accessible way.

Through its 2026 exhibitions, Daejeon Museum of Art aims to reaffirm, together with citizens, the public art museum's responsibilities: stewardship of public collections, expansion of contemporary art discourse, and building a cultural foundation that connects future generations and the region.

Yoon Euihyang, Director of Daejeon Museum of Art, stated, "2026 will be a year for Daejeon Museum of Art to examine both its international perspective and regional responsibilities. Through the dual pillars of the Andy Warhol and Lee Jungseop exhibitions, we hope to share significant points in global and Korean art with citizens and clearly demonstrate what questions a public art museum should ask and what it should accumulate."