Koo Bohnchang: Look of Things

National Asian Culture Center(ACC, President, Lee Kanghyun) under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism holds the 2024 ACC Focus Koo Bohnchang: Look of Things at Creative Space 3‧4 from November 22 to March 30 of next year.

ACC Focus
ACC’s representative special exhibition series begins anew in solo exhibitions introducing world-class Asian contemporary art masters who have changed the framework of human culture and art. As a start, ACC invites photographer Koo Bohnchang, a pioneer in Korean contemporary photography. The exhibition examines the macro-narrative and micro-narrative of the objects the artist selected through his major series and focuses on the Korean character and Asian sentiment that exist within them.

Part 1: Breathing Life into Historical Objects presents series of artifacts with historical background, such as Korean War artifacts, white porcelain from the Joseon Dynasty, and Gold Crowns from the Silla Dynasty, transformed into video and installation. The Vessel series consists of works that capture the White Porcelains leaked overseas, creating a dramatic appearance at the 10-meter high exhibition space of ACC. The sight of the White Porcelain hanging from the ceiling like a scroll reminds us of a scene where the soul seems to have returned to its homeland. The Gold series is installed in large light boxes(187x148x59cm) lying down one the exhibition space floor. The Gold Crowns from the Silla Dynasty inside the luminous light boxes seem to bring back the crowns that must have shined brilliantly before being buried in the ground.

Part 2: Discovering Trivial Objects in Everyday Life introduces series of everyday objects discovered by the artist. It consists of various series, including Collections, which is photographs of the artist’s collection, Chasse-Roue, which captures an installation from the 15th century French architecture, Interiors and Object, which focus on empty boxes or spaces, and Soap which photographs an everyday object. In particular, a scent artist Han Seohyoung reinterprets Soap to add fragrances to the presentment of the exhibition. The artist’s unreleased video work, Korea Fantasy (2017) is also released for the first time. The work provides a glimpse into the artist’s deep interest in Korean traditional culture through a video variation of dancheong, one of the motifs of Korean traditional culture.

Part 3: Encountering the Gaze of Koo Bohnchang displays a variety of archival materials that will add interest to understanding the theme of the exhibition and the artist’s oeuvre, including his collections that were the subject of his works and collaborative works with mass media. In addition, selected portrait works of artists such as a novelist Han Kang, actors Ahn Sung Ki and Kim Jihun which Koo has photographed so far are introduced. For the exhibition, a short documentary showing interviews with the artist himself, a graphic designer Yamaguchi Nobuhiro, a creative director Suh Younghee, an art historian Lee Phil, and a photographer Kim Sookang is also presented. The documentary which will serve as a guide to understand and appreciate the exhibition will be screened during the exhibition period.

ACC is preparing related events to lower barriers to cultural needs and increase comprehension of the exhibition. As part of “Enhancement of Exhibition Accessibility” project, the catalogue for the exhibition will also be published in Brailles books. The Brailles book will be placed within the exhibition space. In addition, the catalogues in Brailles will be distributed to major Braille libraries across the country so that visually impaired could view the exhibition without having to visit ACC in person. In addition, “Conversation with Artist,” where one can hear directly from the artist Koo Bohnchang about his oeuvre and episodes about the exhibition, will be held at ACC Archive & Research Theater 3 in February and March.

Lee Kanghyun, the president of ACC, said “I hope visitors to find the stories of objects that the artist conveys through his works and add their own stories on top of them.”