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Tag: KoreanArt

  • Wooyang Museum Unveils Lost Works of Nam June Paik

    A special exhibition titled “Nam June Paik: Humanity in the Circuits” featuring 12 works, including major pieces and prints by Nam June Paik, is being held at the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art in Gyeongju, South Korea.

    Greeting visitors at the entrance is Ancient Horseman Figure (1991), a work Paik created to commemorate the museum’s opening.

    Reinterpreting the familiar Silla-era relic “Clay Figure on Horseback,” the piece depicts a human made of television sets riding a horse — symbolizing the connection between analog and digital, the local and the global.

    The concept aligns perfectly with the upcoming APEC Summit in Gyeongju (Oct. 31–Nov. 1) under the theme “Connectivity, Innovation, and Prosperity.”

    The exhibition also showcases two rarely seen works from Paik’s iconic My Faust series — Economics and Spirituality.

    Inspired by Goethe’s Faust, the series explores the human condition and modern value systems.

    Economics uses currency and Gothic architecture imagery to critique the worship of capital, while Spirituality employs vivid religious symbols and video structures to question the sustainability of the soul.

    Both works have been restored and revealed for the first time in over 30 years since their last display at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in 1992.

    Other major works from the 1980s–1990s are also on view, including Electronic Superhighway–1929 Ford, a visionary piece combining a 1929 Ford car with a wooden palanquin and the phrase “Electronic Superhighway,” representing the fusion of tradition and modernity, East and West, past and future.A museum curator noted, “Paik believed that the world could be united through art. This exhibition best reflects that belief.”

    The exhibition runs through November 30 at Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeongju.

  • From 1592 to K-Culture: Leeum Museum Showcases Origins of the Magpie and Tiger Icon

    The Leeum Museum of Art has opened its exhibition “Magpie and Tiger: 虎鵲 (Hojak)” in parallel with the global success of Netflix’s K-pop Demon Hunters(Kedehon), unveiling Korea’s oldest known Hojakdo for the first time — a 1592 painting.

    The exhibition features seven traditional and folk paintings depicting tigers and magpies. The 1592 piece, recorded as painted in the “Imjin year,” is the earliest extant Magpie and Tiger work. Unlike later folk paintings, it follows classical art conventions while incorporating scenes such as “Chulsanho” (birth tiger), “Gyeongjo” (celebration and condolence), and “Yuho” (playing tiger), marking the origin of the Hojak iconography.

    Also on display is the 19th-century folk painting nicknamed the “Picasso Tiger,” famous for its humorous expression and yellow-striped coat, which inspired the 1988 Seoul Olympic mascot Hodori. Other highlights include Shin Jae-hyun’s 1874 Hojakdo, Hopijangmakdo featuring tiger-skin patterns and poetry by Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, and Kim Hong-do’s realistic Songha Maenghodo.

    The museum noted, “This exhibition shows how the tiger from 430 years ago evolved into today’s K-culture icon.”

    The exhibition runs until November 30 on the second floor of M1, with free admission. The Leeum Store also offers goods inspired by magpie-and-tiger motifs.