Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Gwangju Biennale president, Kukje Gallery chairwoman listed in art Power 100
Kim Sun-jung, Gwangju Biennale Foundation president / Korea Times file
By Kwon Mee-yoo
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Kim Sun-jung, president of Gwangju Biennale Foundation, and Lee Hyun-sook, founder and chairwoman of Kukje Gallery, were named in ArtReview's 2020 Power 100 list.
Kim was ranked 72nd, up seven steps from last year. She has been listed in the international contemporary art magazine's Power 100 since 2013.
The 13th Gwangju Biennale, which was slated for a September opening, is pushed back to February 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In lieu of the biennale, Kim organized a special exhibition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Gwangju Democratic Movement, a crucial moment in Korea's modern history.
Kim is also known for the Real DMZ Project, which has been presenting artworks in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea since 2012.
Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala, co-artistic directors of the 13th Gwangju Biennale, are also listed in 77th, for their curation of the biennale featuring Cecilia Vicuna, Korakrit Arunanondchai and Buddhist monk and chef Jeong Kwan.
Lee Hyun-sook, Kukje Gallery founder and chairwoman / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery
Kukje Gallery's Lee was ranked 83rd, after first entering the list in 2015.
ArtReview described her gallery as "a stalwart of the Seoul art scene" despite the COVID-19 lockdown. The gallery also renovated and opened its main space K1 this year, which includes a restaurant and Wellness Center.
Kukje's artists also have been active in Korea and abroad. Yang Hae-gue holds a major exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul "O2 & H2O," and Kim Soo-ja presented a site-specific exhibition at Wanas Konst, Sweden.
Han Byung-chul, placed 62nd on the list, is a Korean-born, Swiss-German philosopher. He was a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts.
Han is recognized for merging "Eastern and Western philosophical traditions to trace the pathologies of the hyperactive, hyperconnected present, often with reference to the Western world's disconnection from its past and reality in general."
He published an article in March, explaining the relative success of East Asian countries in combating the coronavirus' spread in the perspective of cultural differences between the East and West.
Presented by London-based publication ArtReview, the annual Power 100 list acknowledges artists, gallerists, curators, collectors and academics who contributed in shaping the contemporary art scene of the year.
This year, Black Lives Matter topped the ranking, for the first time as an activist movement. Indonesia-based art collective ruangrupa was second, followed by scholars Felwine Sarr and Benedicte Savoy and the #MeToo movement.
“In a period of social and cultural upheaval, the social justice movement's unprecedented influence is signaled not only by its overarching position on the list ― and this is the first time a movement rather than an individual has been at the top of the Power 100 ― but also in the shaping of this list,” ArtReview said in a statement.
Kwon Mee-yoo