Activating Korea: Tides Of Collective Action

Activating Korea: Tides of collective action,15 September - 25 November 2007

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery offers an insight into Korean contemporary art and culture with Activating Korea: Tides of collective action from 15 September to 25 November 2007.

This exhibition explores the complex and contradictory meanings of collectivism within Korean contemporary art in a society where traditional values and today's multifaceted changes coexist.

Co-curated by the Govett-Brewster's Mercedes Vicente and ARKO Art Center director Beck Jee-sook, the exhibition is presented in conjunction with Insa Art Space (IAS) of the Arts Council Korea.

Featuring a range of media from photography and video to installations, banners, posters and design, the Seoul-based artists and collectives challenge the fast-paced cultural, economic and political changes taking place in contemporary Korean society.

Artists include Bae Young Whan, flyingCity, JNP Production, Kim Gisoo, Sangdon Kim, Ko Hyun Joo, Minouk Lim, mixrice, Hein-kuhn Oh with exhibition design by Choi Jeong-hwa.

Curator Mercedes Vicente says the works in this exhibition represent a shift from the 1980s Minjung art (people's art) which was characterised by its political commentaries dealing with Korea's military dictatorship, the Cold War, and national division.

"Today, many artists are taking pro-active positions with artistic projects that raise awareness and bring about change around issues such as urban development, immigration and national identity, often working in collectives or directly with communities," she says.

Govett-Brewster Director Rhana Devenport says, "Activating Korea is a critically important exhibition for the Gallery in its expansion of our active engagement with the contemporary art of Asia. The exhibition has evolved through a dynamic process of dialogue amongst the Govett-Brewster, IAS and ARKO".

Acclaimed artist Choi Jeong-hwa will transform the Gallery's architecture and space with his high-impact exhibition design. Known for his use of vivid colours in large scale public sculptures and architecture interventions, at the Govett-Brewster Choi will convey the spirit of the political and artistic shift referenced in the exhibition by creating a new environment to enhance the viewer's experience.

Many of the artists are exhibiting in New Zealand for the first time and a number of new works have been commissioned for Activating Korea. These include mixrice's banner and poster project Where is Asia 2007 and a restaging of Bae Young-whan's Sideways - a project in which the artist devised brightly coloured children's helmets to promote road safety in rural Korea.

The collective flyingCity will lead a design workshop in New Plymouth in partnership with the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki and a number of local artists and designers. Known for their sharp criticism of Seoul's pervasive urban development, in this hands-on workshop, 100% unpure, flyingCity will critically contest representations of New Zealand in the '100% Pure' tourism marketing campaign. The resulting objects and models will feature in the exhibition

Some of the artists in Activating Korea have strategically chosen to work on the streets to reach out to communities outside the Gallery. They employ posters, banners and graffiti as the media of communication in projects such as Kim Sangdon's Anyonghaseyo (Hello) 2005/2007 and mixrice's Where is Asia 2007. The Govett-Brewster will also host a satellite of the IAS Archive containing Korean artists' portfolios, publications, catalogues, a video programme from the IAS media, and internet access to IAS performances and events in Seoul. Vicente says this educational tool will offer audiences an insight to a wider spectrum of contemporary Korean art and culture.

This exhibition is accompanied by a Korean film programme and a series of public talks. A forum will be held on the opening weekend with curator Beck Jee-sook, artists Park Chan-Kyong and flyingCity, and critic Young-Jun Lee, and moderated by Mercedes Vicente. A bilingual catalogue co-published with IAS is due in late 2007.

Also showing: Cuckoo: Occupation #21 9 September - 30 September 2007 Lisa Reihana: Digital marae 6 October - 2 December 2007

ENDS

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