[This Week's Exhibitions] Kwon Suncheol: Gaze, Beyond the Figure, "People in Motion" and More Exhibitions

Editor's NoteThis week's exhibitions section introduces a selection of diverse and engaging shows taking place across the country that can be visited over the course of a week.

Kwak Myeongju, Running, Digital print, 42 x 29.7 cm, 2023. Photo by Kyobo Artspace

Kwak Myeongju, Beodeul, Oh Yeongeun, "People in Motion"

Kyobo Artspace is presenting a three-person exhibition, "People in Motion." Featuring illustrators Kwak Myeongju, Beodeul, and Oh Yeongeun, "People in Motion" begins with the familiar New Year resolution to "get moving" and develops into an exhibition where the three artists translate their own experiences of movement - such as swimming, running, and yoga - into works that explore the sensory qualities of motion. The works go beyond simply depicting physical activity, delicately capturing the changing states of body and mind brought about through movement.

Beodeul ＜I Need Time Drop Back＞ Digital print 21 x 29.7 cm 2026 Photo by Gyobo Artspace

Artist Beodeul has been depicting yoga poses from the perspective of "practice" rather than "exercise." The work "I Need Time" highlights the meaning of time and perseverance embedded in the process, rather than the perfection of the pose itself, through the advanced yoga posture Urdhva Dhanurasana.

Drawing on her experience of making swimming a part of her life, artist Oh Yeongeun captures familiar moments at the pool with her characteristic wit and warmth. Artist Kwak Myeongju visually expresses the sense of clarity of body and mind that comes through running, infusing the works with movements that breathe in rhythm with everyday life in Jeju.

Oh Yeongeun, Morning at the Swimming Pool, Digital print, 42 x 29.7 cm, 2026. Photo by Kyobo Artspace

The exhibition is structured to naturally prompt viewers, through the works, to recall the physical and emotional changes that "movement" brings. By appreciating the works, visitors are encouraged to reflect on their own bodies and daily lives and to reimagine exercise in everyday life. The exhibition runs until March 29 at Kyobo Artspace in Jongno 1-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Kwon Suncheol, "Deung", 2010, oil-on-canvas, 240x200cm. Photo by Kim Jongyoung Museum

Kwon Suncheol: Gaze, Beyond the Figure

The Kim Jongyoung Museum is presenting a solo invitational exhibition of veteran painter Kwon Suncheol (born 1944) as its first show of the new year. Focusing on the artist's six-decade career centered on portraits and mountains, the exhibition sheds light on his journey of sublimating pain and tragedy into art.

Since graduating from university, Kwon has consistently taken portraiture as his primary theme and is well known for his series of faces painted with rough brushstrokes and thick layers of paint. His portraits have been regarded both as an "observation in search of the archetype of Koreans" and as faces that condense the traces and emotions of life.

Kwon Suncheol, Soul, 1993, oil on canvas, 200 x 240 cm. Photo by Kim Jongyeong Museum

The artist's personal history is deeply embedded in his work. At the age of seven, he lived through the Korean War, and after his father and uncle went missing in the National Guidance League Incident, his family had to live for a long time under the shadow of guilt-by-association. These experiences formed the emotional foundation of Kwon Suncheol's painting, and his work has been interpreted from the perspective of the sublimation of han.

Although he describes his own painting as having a Fauvist tendency, the figures in his works leave not aesthetic pleasure but a heavy resonance and a sense of solemnity. His lifelong practice can be seen as a process of candidly revealing his personal scars and healing them through art.

Exhibition view of Annex 3 gallery. Photo by Kim Jongyeong Museum

As a member of the first generation of artists after Liberation, Kwon Suncheol's work is a record that looks beyond the individual to confront the spirit of the times and the essence of life. In an era dominated by lightness and speed, this exhibition offers an opportunity to reconsider the raison d'etre of art and the depth of life. The exhibition runs until March 29 at the Kim Jongyoung Museum in Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, homecoming exhibition view ? Choi Yongjun. Photo by Arko Art Center

The 19th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, Korean Pavilion Homecoming Exhibition "Dear Toad: The Time of the House"

The homecoming exhibition of the Korean Pavilion from the 19th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, "Dear Toad: The Time of the House," is being held in Galleries 1 and 2 at the Arko Art Center in Seoul. Marking the 30th anniversary of the construction of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, this show reinterprets the pavilion from the perspective of "home," retracing its meaning and the passage of time.

Four artists - Kim Hyeonjong, Park Heechan, Yang Yena, and Lee Dami - are participating in the homecoming exhibition, with CAC (Curating Architecture Collective: Jung Dayoung, Kim Heejeong, and Jung Seongkyu) serving as artistic director. The exhibition approaches the Korean Pavilion not as a neutral exhibition space but as an organic entity layered with time and memory, illuminating the context of its construction and its exhibition history while also exploring its future possibilities.

Overview of the Korea Pavilion at the Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition before repatriation. (C) Choi Yongjun. Photo by Arko Art Center

The title "Dear Toad" is a metaphor drawn from a traditional Korean children's song, symbolizing change and regeneration through the imagination that arises in house-building and playing with earth. The homecoming exhibition has been newly organized under conditions different from those in Venice: on the first floor, it presents archives and critical works dealing with the architecture and exhibition history of the Korean Pavilion, while on the second floor, it showcases works in which the participating artists expand and reinterpret the pavilion from a transnational perspective.

Site-specific installations that were presented in Venice have been reconfigured here so that their processes and strategies are revealed, allowing visitors to experience the exhibition by following multiple paths of interpretation. The exhibition runs until April 5 at the Arko Art Center on Dongsung-gil in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.