Two of Korea’s leading mid-career artists Koo Bohnchang and Hong Seung-Hye are participating in the large-scale special group exhibition Paik Nam June Effect at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Gwacheon, Korea. Juxtaposing works by the iconic 20th-century artist alongside those by approximately 25 Korean artists who were active in the 1990s, Paik Nam June Effect explores Paik's lasting, multifold impact on Korean contemporary art.

Koo Bohnchang, one of the most celebrated Korean contemporary photographers, presents Ah! My Fatherland (1992-1993), a series which the artist began as part of a group exhibition of the same title in which Koo participated not only as an artist but also as the organizer. The series depicts the zeitgeist of the time by reflecting the turmoil arising from a rapidly shifting national identity, intertwining traditional images with modern photographic technologies and thereby demonstrating the artist's diverse experimentation with the medium. Koo’s early work can be viewed in the section of the exhibition, titled ‘Identity of Nation, International Events, Dreams of Globalization.’
Also featured in the show are Hong Seung-Hye’s Paper Landscape (1994), in which the contemporary artist employs geometric shapes to create a landscape collage that is both flat and three-dimensional, and 2D to 3D (2022), Hong’s new work that brings Paper Landscape into our present space and time by expanding the earlier piece into a constructive, three-dimensional space. Hong's works, which compellingly engage with the variations of architectural spaces, can be seen in the third section of the exhibition titled ‘Mixed media and Installation, Hybridity, and the Third Space.’

Commemorating the 90th anniversary of the birth of Paik Nam June, the exhibition honors Paik's artistic achievements and his profound impact on the identity of Koran visual culture, while suggesting a new approach with which to survey Korean art in the 1990s. On view through February 26, 2023, Paik Nam June Effect reexamines the works of Paik along with those of subsequent generations of artists active at the time, reflecting on their attempts to discover new expressions for "Korean identity" at a time of rapid change owing to globalization and the advent of the information society, while at the same time contemplating on the expansion of the scope of artistic mediums incorporating science and technology.

The internationally renowned contemporary artist Anish Kapoor is the subject of an eponymous solo exhibition at the Centre of Polish Sculpture, Orońsko, Poland. Marking the artist’s first solo presentation in the country, the show introduces Kapoor’s works from 1997 to 2018 across the Museum of Contemporary Sculpture and the Orangery Gallery in the Centre of Polish Sculpture.
A central figure of the New British Sculpture movement in the 1980s, the Mumbai-born, London-based artist is known for his traditional approach to sculptural materials, techniques, and themes. In this exhibition, the artist presents organic, biomorphic stone sculptures alongside vibrant red works composed of soft and malleable materials.

The nine large-scale stone sculptures in the Museum of Contemporary Sculpture are comprised of blocks of granite, Vigaria marble, and Kilkenny limestone, reflecting the artist’s interest in the metaphysical. His abstract sculptures embody the immaterial void, creating a stark contrast to the sensual physicality of the fluid and oval forms. The void carved in stone block suggests an enigmatic, invisible dimension beyond the physical, and is closely connected to the artist’s ongoing exploration of the elusive relationships between two conflicting factors: mass and void, interior and exterior, and the physical and non-physical.

Introduced in the Orangery Gallery, the three sculptures made of wax and resin attest to the artist's persistent exploration of the concept of void in sculpture. Especially notable is the unique hue of rich and vibrant red, as shown in Past Present Future (2006) and Gethsemane (2013). Simultaneously evocative of the color of Indian spices and blood, Kapoor’s vivid red is closely connected to his diverse cultural background and longstanding interest in the vulnerability of the human body.
The exhibition is further enhanced by its innovative use of space, which accentuates the contrast between the physicality of different materials and visual narratives. As the audiences navigate through Kapoor’s artistic interventions across the two buildings, they are invited to experience a new dimension beyond the physical world.

The British contemporary artist Julian Opie is the subject of the solo exhibition titled Julian Opie: Studio for Kids, on view through April 10, 2023, at the National Gallery of Victoria (hereafter NGV), Melbourne, Australia. This interactive exhibition invites children and families to create their own digital self-portraits in the British artist’s signature style.

Julian Opie’s celebrated minimalist approach to painting, sculpture, and film has influenced the wider field of art and pop culture since he began his career in the early 1980s. Referencing pop art and modernist techniques, Opie’s distinctive formal language is instantly recognizable. 
Inspired by the artist’s London studio where the artist works surrounded by his personal art collection, visitors to Julian Opie: Studio for Kids can view a display of Opie’s works from the NGV Collection including Ali (2009), Elena rolling her eyes (2015), and Imogen smiling (2015). The multimedia studio begins with a tutorial on how to draw in Opie’s unique style using only line and color to create a digital portrait, which can then be shared with family and friends.

Julian Opie: Studio for Kids was originally developed by the artist in collaboration with the NGV during his major exhibition Julian Opie in 2018. The exhibition welcomes audiences to experience and foster creativity through Opie’s unique style, which reflects his artistic preoccupation with the idea of representation and the means by which images are perceived and understood.

The internationally acclaimed artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset are the subject of the solo exhibition After Dark, on view from November 13, 2022, through April 9, 2023, at By Art Matters in Hangzhou, China. Marking the third season of the museum’s exhibition program, After Dark induces a dynamic interaction between the audience and art by transforming the architectural features of the gallery space and moving away from the conventional white cube aesthetic. After Dark is the duo’s second major institutional solo exhibition in China, following The Well Fair (2016) at UCCA (Ullens Center for Contemporary Art), Beijing.

Continuing the duo’s long history of transforming museum spaces into unexpected environments, Elmgreen & Dragset have dramatically transformed the ground floor with a selection of sculptures and large-scale installations. Installed across the ground floor are a dance floor, stage, and cloakroom, evoking the scene of a club after its opening hours. From a young man sleeping in a pink rabbit costume to an acrobat suspended in midair looking down at the audience, sculptures in the midst of different activities come together to create a theatrical experience. On November 5, 2022, one week before the exhibition opening, Elmgreen & Dragset enlivened the space by hosting an actual club night, from which the traces are preserved in the gallery space to form a dialogue with the exhibited works.
Presented across the museum's sixth floor is Short Story (2020), a large-scale installation featuring a tennis court and two players. Instantly transporting viewers to a contrasting environment, the installation creates a narrative context in a static scene. Also on view is This Is How We Play Together (2021), which features two boy figures wearing VR devices, rendering them reminiscent of cyborg-like creatures.

Internationally acclaimed for their witty yet critical interpretations of everyday stereotypes, Elmgreen & Dragset have engendered dynamic discourse around existing social structures and human relationships for almost three decades. After Dark is inextricably linked to the history of the duo’s collaboration, as the title stems from an eponymous club in Copenhagen, where the two artists met each other for the first time. While representing a milestone in the duo’s artistic journey, After Dark delivers an uplifting message of hope to audiences, who are continuing to face major changes sparked by the pandemic.

Haegue Yang and Daniel Boyd are currently participating in the Okayama Art Summit 2022, an international art exhibition held in Okayama City, Japan, every three years. With the contemporary artist Rikrit Tiravanija as artistic director, this year’s triennale takes place across ten historical and cultural sites in Okayama City, including the Okayama Castle and Korakuen Garden.
Titled Do we dream under the same sky, the triennale brings together 25 artists from various cultural and social backgrounds. As artistic director, Tiravanija aimed to highlight the “peripheral practices” of the artists who come from “itinerant backgrounds,” encouraging viewers “to dream in a sky of difference, in a sky of multiplicity, of narratives of representation that [are] peripheral to the western canon.”

For the widely anticipated triennale, the celebrated Korean contemporary artist Haegue Yang presents four works across four different venues. Installed in an open area at Ishiyama Park is An Opaque Wind – Trifid Seating in Six Folds (2022), Yang’s new sculptural complex commissioned by the Okayama Art Summit. Comprised of arched towers of varying sizes and double-sided benches branching into three, the work highlights the artist’s long-standing interest in brick, a material both universally available and locally inflected. On view at the Okayama Shrine are two new works from Mesmerizing Mesh, Yang’s series of hanji (Korean traditional paper) collages inspired by sacred paper objects employed in shamanistic rituals, while the Okayama Orient Museum showcases Sonic Cosmic Rope – Gold Dodecagon Straight Weave (2022), in which metal bells are linked together to form a geometric arrangement. Also presented in the Tenjinyama Cultural Plaza of Okayama Prefecture is Sonicwear – Gold Conical Hands (2022), evoking the sculptural costumes from the performance directed by the German artist and choreographer Oskar Schlemmer.

Participating as the only Australian artist, Daniel Boyd introduces glass façade installations, alongside a selection of videos and paintings. Displayed across the classrooms, hallways, and gymnasium of the Former Uchisange Elementary School, Boyd’s paintings appropriate images of icons that have played significant roles in Australia’s founding history. He then covers much of the painting’s surface with clear, convex dots of glue, which act as “lenses” through which one views and comprehends the world. The artist further translates this signature technique into a moving image in Yamani (2018), exhibited in the Tenjinyama Cultural Plaza of Okayama Prefecture. Featuring numerous dots that consistently move across the screen, the video metaphorically evokes the process by which an individual fills and enlightens the dark void of the unknown based on their unique background and knowledge.

Shedding light on the narratives of diverse cultural and social backgrounds beyond the Western canon, Do we dream under the same sky runs through November 27, 2022. Throughout the duration of the triennale, the Okayama Art Summit will release interview videos with participating artists, which can be viewed on its official website.

Candida Höfer, the acclaimed German photographer based in Cologne, is the subject of the solo exhibition Candida Höfer: Liechtenstein at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz. The exhibition presents a selection of new works by Höfer, created in Liechtenstein throughout the fall and winter of 2021. The artist has previously created a number of site-specific works across cities such as Brussels or Düsseldorf; her most recent group of works created in and for Liechtenstein lies within a similar oeuvre. For most of the works currently on view, Höfer used a large format digital camera to photograph her subjects, which are the interior and exterior structures of museums or libraries that serve a range of cultural purposes.

Höfer’s photographs are juxtaposed with selected works from two collections of the museum, creating dialogue about surfaces and materiality, geometric shapes and abstraction found in artworks from different genres and periods—ranging from classical modernism to present day. Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein und Hilti Art Foundation Vaduz I 2021, capturing the exteriors of the two buildings, inspires discourse on surfaces and materiality by being displayed alongside works by Edith Dekyndt, Bill Bollinger, and Gotthard Graubner. The exhibition allows visitors to experience Höfer’s photographs from a refreshing perspective, by presenting them within an unfamiliar context featuring other works.

Characteristic of Höfer’s oeuvre is an objective, minimalist visual idiom, a pronounced interest in structures and orders of space, followed by remarkable attention to detail. To create her images, she makes use of the light available at the various locations and spaces, avoiding using any spotlights for illumination. Carefully planned and precisely executed, the artist’s photographs are the opposite of snapshots. The subject matter bespeaks human presence and influence, even when human presence is absent in most of the spaces captured by the artist.

The 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale’s pre-biennale exhibition, Station, in which leading artists like Kim Yong-Ik, Ahn Kyuchul, and Hong Seung-Hye are participating, runs through January 29, 2023, across eight cultural spaces in Seoul, including the Seoul Museum of Art, the Seoul Metropolitan Archives, and the Seoul Citizens Hall. The exhibition is designed to reflect on media art practices and experiments that have occurred in Korean art history, alongside works from the Seoul Mediacity Biennale's permanent collection, examining the perception of media art at an empirical level. More than half of the entries from 18 contemporary artists belong to the collection of the Seoul Museum of Art, representing the identity of the Seoul Mediacity Biennale, which aims to preserve the theme surrounding artistic practice and contemplation as a resource during the temporary period of the Biennale within museum’s permanent system.
One of Seoul Museum of Art’s most acclaimed international exhibitions, the Seoul Mediacity Biennale has been providing a stage for contemporary art experiments while resonating with the changing media and urban environment, ever since being established in 2000 under the name of ‘Media_City Seoul.’ When referring to the identity of this biennale, it is essential to mention the exhibition Seoul in Media, which took place three times between 1996 and 1999. The inaugural edition of Seoul in Media: 1988-2002 did not limit itself to the old media represented by paintings, calligraphy, and sculpture, introducing art that corresponded to the contemporary generation and new media such as video, installation, graphics, film, and animation; this ultimately encouraged the audience to view art as everyday objects. 
The project’s composition, in which artistic images were intercrossed with modern images flooding inside and outside the exhibition space—moving beyond the traditional way of viewing—was seen as an unconventional attempt. Meanwhile, the essential questions revealed by this encounter between artistic visuals and ever-changing cityscapes remain valid in the modern world. 

A leading modernist of the Korean art scene, Kim Yong-Ik presents Plane Object (1977), a work that represents the artist's activities and identity from the 1970s. Showcasing a piece of sprayed, wrinkled fabric pinned onto the wall, the work juxtaposes the fabric’s “real” and “imitated” wrinkles across the same plane, experimenting with the ideas of the reproduction, illusion, and momentary expression of painting. 
Ahn Kyuchul once again presents For Vincent (1994) —a series of sculptures featuring asymmetrical holes penetrating the plaster filling in mass-produced flowerpots—previously introduced in Seoul in Media - Food, Clothing, Shelter. Ambivalent concepts evoked by the work’s title and form, provide stark contrast with the conventional utilization of space, and existing, functional visual language often encountered in urban residential settings. 
Meanwhile, Hong Seung-Hye presents Organic Geometry (1999), from the eponymous series initiated in 1999, utilizing the basic elements of pixels, black and white tones, simplified shapes, repeated movements, and square-shaped frames. As a sequence and painting that forecasts the series’ future forms and structures, Organic Geometry takes upon many compositional variations including moving image and installation. 

As a platform of media art research for the last 25 years, the Seoul Mediacity Biennale has been exploring the “nowness” of art without being attributed to a specific space and time. Station, as a pre-test that examines the ideal operation of the Seoul Mediacity Biennale, which combines conditions of connected regions, non-material resources, and self-sustainable systems, provides a place to “be here and now” for the sake of artistic participation and production.

[Source from the 12th Seoul Mediacity Pre-Biennale: Station press release]