Artnews

Contemporary museum to showcase new acquisitions

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea will open an exhibition on 23th February to unveil its new collection of over 300 modern and contemporary pieces of art by over 120 artists. The exhibition is titled "New Acquisitions 2006."

This year's collection includes such genres as photography, crafts, media installation and design - as well as calligraphy, paintings and sculptures.

Hwang Jong-rye, who pioneered contemporary ceramic art, Kim Ki-chul who reinterpreted traditional white porcelains, and Choi Byeong-hun who combines art and design into furniture, are among the craft artists that made it onto the list.

New media installation is focused as the museum commits itself to actively engage contemporary art. Jeong Yeon-doo crosses the boundary between reality and fantasy, Lee Yong-baek pushes the envelope with extreme and often grotesque visuals and technology, and Kim Young-jin, one of the most established media installation artists, stays true to his own sensibility with innovative and sophisticated works.

Also shown are mammoth steel installations by Choe U-ram, designs by architects Seung H-sang and Hwang Doo-jin, calligraphy by Jeong Ki-ho and over 140 drawings by Byeon Gwan-sik (1899-1976) from the 1960s.

MOCA's 2006 collection also includes works of foreign artists. Among them are German painter Imi Knoebel's (1940-) geometric abstract paintings, American artist Eric Orr's (1939-1998) public sculpture, pioneer of nouveau realism Armand Pierre Arman's (1928-2005) sculpture created with assemblage technique as well as photographs by Nigerian-born Londoner Simon Norfolk (1963-), Italian photojournalist Massimo Vitali (1944-) and German photographer and film producer Werner Kruger.

The exhibition runs through April 1 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. There are shuttle buses every 20 minutes from Exit 4, Seoul Grand Park Station, Subway Line No. 4. The museum is closed on Mondays. Detailed explanations for the collection are offered at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, visit www.moca.go.kr

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