Abstract
MMCA’s special exhibition for 2022—Paik Nam June Effect—examines the situation of Korean art in the 1990s in a new light, based on themes previously addressed by historical exhibitions organized by Nam June Paik and the MMCA, such as Nam June Paik, Video Time, Video Space (2022), and the Whitney Biennale Seoul (1993). Following his return to Korea in 1984, after more than 30 years overseas, Paik made strategic moves, as a planner and translator of cultures, to connect Korea with the world during the 1980s and 90s. In particular, he took advantage of the specific circumstances of the 1986 Asian Games, the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and the 1993 Daejeon Expo to engage in a broad scope of activities based on his connections across political and business circles. Producing remarkable outcomes from his organizing of numerous exhibitions, events and advertisements while mobilizing his international network to help establish the Gwangju Biennale in 1995 and the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Paik rose as a national star, transcending the boundaries of art. His unprecedented global method of activity, introduction of new media, and efforts to discover and promote the charm of Korean identity throughout the world, while emphasizing global Korea, had great influence not only on the Korean art scene of the 1990s—a time when post-modernism and post-colonialism were on the rise amidst globalization and development of modern science and technology—but also on contemporary art today.
Presenters
Sooyoun LeeCurator, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea, South Korea
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2024 Special Focus—-Art for Sustenance
KEYWORDS
Nam June Paik, MMCA, Korean art
