First-generation Korean woman sculptor Kim Yun Shin and the Danish artist collective SUPERFLEX are participating in the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Having traversed disparate regions and cultures throughout their careers, both artists present works at the Giardini that reflect the complexity of global migration and hybrid cultural vocabularies that define our age, in accordance with this year’s theme-Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere.
Kim Yun Shin presents four wood and four stone sculptures—all of which come from her Add Two Add One, Divide One Divide Two series. The wood sculptures employ species such as Korean red pine and walnut trees, while her stone sculptures have been carved from semi-precious stones including onyx and jasper. The artist’s time-honored journey as a “stranger” exploring unfamiliar landscapes and places is evident in her particular formal vocabularies that remain embedded in her work.
Meanwhile, SUPERFLEX presents an updated rendition of their work, Foreigners, Please Don’t Leave Us Alone With The Danes! (2002). The exhibited work centers around posters that read “FOREIGNERS, PLEASE DON’T LEAVE US ALONE WITH THE DANES!,” raising awareness of the refugee crisis and further criticizing the reactionary immigration politics in Denmark. The artist collective chose to print the text using black on a blaring orange background, creating an eye-catching design reminiscent of a public billboard, framing universal concerns surrounding foreigners, immigrants, refugees, and diasporic communities.

Works by Ha Chong-Hyun and Sungsic Moon are currently being showcased as part of the special exhibition Perfectly Imperfect: Korean Buncheong Ceramics at the Denver Art Museum in Colorado, USA. Marking the first exhibition to be organized under the agreement with the National Museum of Korea to support the Denver Art Museum’s Korean Gallery, signed in December 2022, the exhibition illuminates the formative aesthetics of Korean art through the theme of Buncheong ceramics, a historical art form that bridges tradition and modernity.

The exhibition features more than 70 Korean Buncheong ceramics from the 15th century to the present, alongside modern and contemporary paintings and drawings that resonate with the unique expression of Buncheong ceramics. Among works displayed include the Dansaekhwa pioneer Ha Chong-Hyun’s Conjunction 93-005, in which the substantial materiality of bae-ap-bub, a method of pushing paint from the back to the front of the hemp cloth, connects with the imperfect, playful, and unconventional technique of Buncheong ceramics. In addition, 16 oil drawings by Sungsic Moon, created by scratching the thick oil paint surface with a pencil, establish a profound connection across time, echoing the intricately detailed techniques of Korean Buncheong ceramics. The exhibition continues until December 7, 2025.

Latter Genesis: Ana & Carl, a solo exhibition by the artist Kim Yong-Ik, is on view at the Bongsan Cultural Center in Daegu. Known for his longstanding conceptual approach to art, Kim has challenged the absoluteness, completeness, and uniqueness of modernism. In this exhibition, the artist articulates his vision for the “Latter Genesis,” described in his notes as a society marked by a harmonious accordance between the values of Yin and Yang. Here, the sole pursuit of growth and development associated with modern capitalism—the Yang values—is mediated by the promotion of Yin values rooted in care and reciprocity.

At the heart of the exhibition lies Latter Genesis: Ana & Carl (2024), an installation featuring 270 bricks reminiscent of works by the 20th-century minimalist Carl Andre. The blood-stained bricks evoke the artistic style of Ana Mendieta, the feminist artist and Andre's wife, hinting at a mysterious incident that has taken place. While referencing a moment in art history, the work distorts the structure of bricks—representative of Yang, or masculine value—by adding blood—symbolic of Yin, or feminine value. In doing so, Kim advocates for the equitable recognition of both artists.

Kim's conceptual approach, marked by an enduring inquiry into “what is art?” and “what can art do?” through the appropriation and modification of modernist principles, permeates the entire exhibition, from its conception to its execution. Rather than being directly shaped by the artist's hands, Latter Genesis: Ana & Carl was realized by a curator who was only given conceptual instructions via texts and drawings. Displayed alongside the work are the artist's notes, sketches, and emails exchanged between the curator and the artist, highlighting the contextual background of the exhibition and enhancing the understanding of each work.

Latter Genesis: Ana & Carl continues until April 21, 2024.

Currently on view at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, Exeter, UK, is ARTIST ROOMS Bill Viola, a solo exhibition of the internationally renowned video artist Bill Viola. A pivotal figure in establishing video as a significant form of contemporary art, Viola has explored universal human experiences such as birth, death, and the unfolding of consciousness since the early 1970s.

The exhibition highlights The Passions series by the artist, acclaimed for his precision and simplicity that incorporate influences from painting, photography, and cinema. Begun in 2000, this series is inspired in large part by Viola’s study of European religious paintings of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as well as his personal experience of loss with the death of his parents. Appearing like moving paintings, the series is a silent meditation on time, ritual, and human emotion.

The three featured works on view employ extreme slow-motion techniques to convey the intensity and complexity of emotions, navigating the extremes of human sentiment. They include Catherine’s Room (2001), portraying a woman undertaking a series of daily rituals at different times of the day across five screens; Four Hands (2001), where the hands of three generations of a family slowly perform predetermined gestures; and Surrender (2001), depicting two figures in increasing states of anguish, gradually lowering their heads into the water. ARTIST ROOMS Bill Viola continues until June 2, 2024.

Kwon Young-Woo, Byron Kim, and Lee Ufan participate in Lineages: Korean Art at The Met, a special exhibition that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the ‘Arts of Korea’ gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA. Showcasing works ranging from the 12th century to the present day, including pieces from the museum’s collection as well as important international loans, the exhibition displays the history of Korean art in broad strokes through four overarching themes—lines, things, places, and people.

Works on view include various reinterpretations of traditional materials and calligraphic techniques, such as Kwon Young-Woo’s Untitled (1984), created by cutting hanji paper with a sharp tool and letting blue-gray ink and gouache seep through the incisions, and Lee Ufan’s From Line (1979), which captures the traces of repeated lines drawn from top to bottom. Also on view are two paintings from Byron Kim’s Goryeo Green Glaze series, which depict the subtle color variations of Goryeo celadon on large canvases, exploring the aesthetic traditions of ancient art.

By highlighting the formation of lineages and histories shaped by Korean artists, the exhibition delves into topics and methodological applications that have inspired generations of Korean artists. The exhibition continues through October 20, 2024, with some displayed objects rotating during its duration.

Korea’s first-generation woman sculptor Kim Yun Shin has been invited to the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Biennale Arte 2024 will take place from April 20 to November 24, 2024 at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and multiple venues across Venice, Italy. During its preliminary presentation on January 31, 2024, La Biennale di Venezia announced the names of 332 artists and collectives invited to the exhibition including Kim.

Celebrating its 60th edition since its establishment in 1895, this year’s iteration of Biennale Arte 2024 will be presented under the title Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere. The title draws its inspiration from the eponymous sculptural series (2004–) by Claire Fontaine, an artist collective based in Palermo, Italy. The series comprises neon sculptures in which the phrase “Stranieri Ovunque (Foreigners Everywhere)” is rendered in various languages and colors, evoking the pervasive threat of xenophobia and the feeling of alienation in a global society. The phrase, originating from an eponymous organization that fought against racism and xenophobia in Italy in the early 2000s, carries a dual meaning: first, the recognition that foreigners are omnipresent; and second, that “no matter where you find yourself, you are always, truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner.”

In his statement published in June 2022, Adriano Pedrosa, the curator of Biennale Arte 2024, shared that the upcoming event will “focus on artists who are themselves foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, diasporic, émigrés, exiled, and refugees.” Expanding on this notion of “stranger,” he emphasized that the exhibition will also explore “the production of other related subjects: the queer artist, who has moved within different sexualities and genders, often being persecuted or outlawed; the outsider artist, who is located at the margins of the art world, much like the autodidact and the so-called folk artist; as well as the indigenous artist, frequently treated as a foreigner in their own land.”

In such context, the theme “Foreigners Everywhere” deeply resonates with the trajectory of Kim’s life as an artist. Born in Wonsan (present-day North Korea), Kim moved to Buenos Aires in 1984, captivated by the wilderness, vast grounds, and most notably, the robust wood of Argentina. Subsequently, Kim also spent time in Mexico and Brazil, where she continued her exploration of the unique materials found in each region. Currently approaching the age of 90, Kim continues to divide her time between Argentina and Korea, gracefully embracing her identity as a perpetual stranger in both lands. Marking the first time the event is curated by a Latin American curator in the 128-year history of La Biennale di Venezia, Foreigners Everywhere offers Kim a significant opportunity to showcase her work on an international stage where prominent figures in the art world and art enthusiasts from around the globe are expected to gather.

Since the late 1970s, Kim has encapsulated her body of work under the title Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One, assigning the same name to each sculptural piece. As implied by the title, each work elucidates Kim’s sculptural process of adding one’s spirit to the work, where “two becomes one through interaction, then splits again to become two different ones.” Most recently, Kukje Gallery and Lehmann Maupin announced their co-representation of the artist, marking the artist's first-ever partnership with commercial galleries throughout her 60-year artistic career.

Haegue Yang and Korakrit Arunanondchai are participating in the Thailand Biennale Chiang Rai 2023: The Open World. Held across multiple locations in Chiang Rai, including museums, temples, and historic sites, the biennale showcases works by 60 contemporary artists from around the world that celebrate the city's complex history and distinctive ecosystem and highlight marginalized narratives. The biennale sheds particular light on the locality of Chiang Rai, a city that has developed into a multicultural arena following its history of colonialism and the Cold War and now serves as a bridge connecting Thailand to the global stage, attempting to approach contemporary global issues with a more "open-minded” perspective.

As this year’s biennale celebrates the city’s vibrant diversity and unique identity while seeking cultural reconstruction, its main theme resonates deeply with Haegue Yang’s practice, which delves into migration, diaspora, and cultural identity. Yang’s works are featured across two venues in Chiang Rai: Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park and Chiang Rai International Art Museum. Displayed at Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park is Yang’s newly commissioned work from her hanji collage series, Mesmerizing Mesh. For this new body of work, Yang drew inspiration from the paper altars of the Hmong people, an indigenous group living in China, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. Here, Yang continues her exploration of domesticity as she utilizes the notion of ‘home’ as a site for religious practices and a representation of the cosmos. At the same time, the work emphasizes the universality of the papercraft tradition, which, while used as various forms across different cultures, embodies common themes of soul, spirit, and way of life.

Meanwhile, on view at Chiang Rai International Art Museum are four works from Yang's Intermediates series, comprising sculptures created with artificial straws that evoke hybrid creatures. Surrounding the sculptures is a wallpaper installation on which pinwheels are attached to an unpredictable, eclectic array of elements such as metallic bells, tree branches, and coral reefs.

Korakrit Arunanondchai presents paintings and video installations. Among them is Painting with history in a room filled with men with funny names 2 (2557) (2014), which was filmed at Wat Rong Khun (White Temple), where it is currently displayed. Featuring young men dressed in denim, which symbolizes the history of labor and Western forces of globalization in Arunanondchai’s work, the video explores the boundaries between the East and the West, fiction and reality, and the ultimate role of art in life. The third edition of the Thailand Biennale continues until April 30, 2024.