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Kwon Mee-yoo

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

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.

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Arts & Theater

Jun Itami's name restored for 'Gyeongju Tower'

Yoo E-hwa, the eldest daughter of the late architect Jun Itami and director of ITM Yoo Ehwa Architects Co., speaks during a sign hanging ceremony Monday, recognizing her father as the official designer of the Gyeongju Tower in North Gyeongsang Province, Monday. YonhapBy Kwon Mee-yooJapan-born Korean architect Jun Itami (1937-2011) is now officially recognized as the official designer of the Gyeongju Tower at the Gyeongju World Culture Expo Park, North Gyeongsang Province, after 12 years of legal battles.Yoo E-hwa, Itami's eldest daughter and architect-director of ITM Yoo Ehwa Architects Co., said she was glad to finally have her father recognized for his design. "The legal wrangling over a decade was not easy, but I am happy to take part in this ceremony. I hope the Gyeongju Tower will be remembered as a structure that represents Itami's architectural philosophy," Yoo said.The shape of the nine-story wooden tower of the Hwangnyongsa Temple is embodied in the glass tower. It has been a landmark of the ancient capital city since completed in 2007, but there has been controversy over pl

Feb 18, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Jun Itami's name restored for 'Gyeongju Tower'
Arts & Theater

Art fair looks to online pitch amid coronavirus outbreak

Visitors take a look at artworks during the Korea Galleries Art Fair at COEX in southern Seoul in this 2017 file photo. This year's Korea Galleries Art Fair will also be available through online marketplace as people avoiding gatherings due to coronavirus concerns. Korea Times fileBy Kwon Mee-yooEstablish in 1979, the Korea Galleries Art Fair is the oldest event of its kind in Korea. With many avoiding areas of social gathering due to coronavirus concerns, this year's Korea Galleries Art Fair has been turning to online promotion in addition to traditional onsite events at COEX from Thursday through Sunday with a preview on Wednesday. The decision to postpone the 38th edition of the event came from 70 percent of the participating galleries, which are struggling to stimulate the local art market.The Galleries Association of Korea, which organizes the fair, held an emergency board meeting and collected opinions from various experts in the art world. The final decision was made by the participating galleries. This year, 110 galleries were to take part in the first art fair of the year, p

Feb 17, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Art fair looks to online pitch amid coronavirus outbreak
Travel & Food

From cacao bean to chocolate bar

Yoon Hyung-won, the owner and chocolate maker at Cacaodada, tests finished bean-to-bar chocolate liquor at the Cacaodada factory in Mangwon-dong, western Seoul, Jan. 22. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBean-to-bar chocolate By Kwon Mee-yooChocolate is one of everyone's favorite sweets with its unique and complex taste of sweet, bitter, nutty and even fruity flavors. Chocolate is made from cacao beans, but those who only encounter the final product often forget that the beans come from fruit pods. A new movement in the chocolate world is the rise of craft chocolate makers who make their delicious sweets from scratch. Yoon Hyung-won and Go Yu-rim are the husband-and-wife duo behind Cacaodada, one of the first bean-to-bar chocolate makers in Korea. Go said though the taste of a bean-to-bar chocolate bar might be unfamiliar at first, you won't be able to return to mass-produced chocolate bars once you acquire a taste for craft chocolate. "Chocolate is the best way to consume cacao beans ― an agricultural product," Go said.The two roast, grind and conch cacao beans to make chocolate ever

Feb 14, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
From cacao bean to chocolate bar
Arts & Theater

Yun Hyong-keun gets spotlight in New York

Yun Hyong-keun's "Burnt Umber & Ultramarine" (1991) / Courtesy of PKM Gallery By Kwon Mee-yooWorks of the late artist Yun Hyong-keun (1928-2007), one of the “dansaekhwa” ― Korean monochrome painting ― artists known for his use of colors representing heaven and earth, are drawing attention in New York. The David Zwirner gallery is hosting a solo show of Yun's work at its Chelsea location in New York, centering on the artist's later work, created between the late 1980s and '90s. This is the second time for David Zwirner, one of the most prestigious galleries in the world, to present Yun's work in New York. Yun created abstract compositions reflecting Korea's modern history including Japanese colonial rule, the Korean War (1950-53) and the post-war dictatorships. The artist worked strictly with two colors ― ultramarine and burnt umber, each representing heaven and earth, respectively ― in simple yet profound strokes on linen or hemp canvases.

Feb 11, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Yun Hyong-keun gets spotlight in New York
Arts & Theater

Chiharu Shiota explores uncertainty of life in Busan

Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota's “Uncertain Journey” is currently on view at the Busan Museum of Art through April 19. Courtesy of Busan Museum of ArtBy Kwon Mee-yooBUSAN ― Artist Chiharu Shiota is often compared to a "human spider" as the artist weaves webs around objects and bodies. Her life-size installations engulf the space and the viewer, stirring up sensations of both uneasiness as well as coziness.The 47-year-old Japanese artist unraveled her life's path ridden with pain and uncertainty at "Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles" at the Busan Museum of Art in Korea's southern port city.The exhibit, originally presented at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan last year, is one of the largest solo exhibitions of the artist to date. The Busan edition features four large installations as well as sculptures, drawings, photographs and videos of performances. Unfortunately, "Where Are We Going?," a cluster of boats suspended from the ceiling above the Mori Art Museum's iconic entrance, couldn't come to Busan, but still this marks the largest exhibition of the artist in Korea.

Jan 28, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Chiharu Shiota explores uncertainty of life in Busan
Arts & Theater

Creativity blooms late for 86-year-old artist Rose Wylie

"Conversation with Rose Wylie III" by Kwon Soon-hak / Courtesy of Choi & Lager GalleryBy Kwon Mee-yooRose Wylie, 86, is a relatively rookie artist compared to her age. In 2010, British news outlet The Guardian described Wylie as "Britain's hottest new artist" and she has shot to stardom by holding exhibitions at the Tate Britain in 2013 and the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in 2017.Wylie's childlike-looking paintings have arrived at Choi & Lager Gallery in Seoul. Titled "Clothes I Wore," the exhibit features some 22 prints, paintings and drawings of Wylie centering on her memories of her old dresses.In her “Girl Now meets Girl Then” series, Wylie brings out a variety of clothes she wore during different times in her life ― from a bathing suit with a pair of goggles as a child to a black frock bought with the money she earned by babysitting but never wore ― and revives them in her playful line drawing style. The drawings in her sketchbooks are enlarged and printed, then hand-colored and collaged by the artist.Jari Lager of Choi & Lager Gallery is one of the people

Jan 28, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Creativity blooms late for 86-year-old artist Rose Wylie
Arts & Theater

Must-see art exhibitions in 2020

"Sun & Sea (Marina)," the Golden Lion-winning installation by Rugile Barzdziukaite, Vaiva Grainyte and Lina Lapelyte from last year's Venice Biennale, will come to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul in July. Courtesy of MMCABy Kwon Mee-yooA variety of art exhibitions are lined up for the year 2020 as the nation commemorates the 70th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War. This year sees yet another biennale in Korea which is sure to generate diverse discourse on contemporary art and society.MMCA past-orientedMajor exhibitions to be held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) will relate to Korea's modern art history, reflecting the specialty of new museum director Youn Bum-mo who is well-versed in the topic of Korean art history.On the 70th the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, the MMCA will present "Unflattening" (working title) from June to September, featuring Korean and international artists including duo Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho, Park Kyung-kun, Hsu Chiawei and Chto Delat, the exhibit aims to examine the

Jan 23, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Must-see art exhibitions in 2020
Arts & Theater

Popular Impressionist works from Israel come to Seoul

A visitor takes a picture of Claude Monet's 1907 painting “Pond with Water Lilies” during a press preview of "Monet to Cezanne: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterworks from The Israel Museum, Jerusalem" at the Hangaram Art Museum in the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul, Thursday. YonhapBy Kwon Mee-yooImpressionist art pieces are popular with contemporary museumgoers, but the style was not always so popular. The first Impressionist exhibition was held in April 1874 at the studio of the photographer Nadar, when it was not conventional to present artwork outside of art galleries. "The Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc." included now household names such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissarro. However, their new style, shifting interest from traditional subject matters of high society to nature, was criticized for being amateurish and unfinished-looking."Monet to Cezanne: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterworks from The Israel Museum, Jerusalem" at the Hangaram Art Museum in the Seoul Arts Center in

Jan 21, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Popular Impressionist works from Israel come to Seoul
Arts & Theater

Lee Jung-jin captures poetic moments in 'hanji' photographs

Lee Jung-jin's “Voice 01” (2019) / Courtesy of the artist and PKM GalleryBy Kwon Mee-yooPhotographer Lee Jung-jin, also stylized as Jungjin Lee, compares her works to poetry. "I aim to capture the emotions of the moment I encounter nature, not any specific time or space. Please consider the subjects in my work as like a verse of an abstract poem even though they are in the solid shapes of rocks or trees," Lee said during a press preview of her exhibition "Voice" at PKM Gallery in Seoul, last Monday.The exhibit consists of 25 black and white photographs printed on hanji, or Korean mulberry paper, a method Lee has been developing and using for over three decades. Though Lee majored in ceramics at Hongik University, she soon found that photography was the right medium for her. "In terms of selecting the subject to photograph, I am not the type of artist who takes pictures based on a conceptual idea, but clicks the shutter when something strikes my mind. Formats and styles differ from series to series, but I think all my artwork shares the same spirit both 30 years ago and no

Jan 19, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Lee Jung-jin captures poetic moments in 'hanji' photographs
Arts & Theater

National Theater looks back on history for 70th anniversary

Kim Cheol-ho, CEO of the National Theater of Korea, right, speaks during a press conference announcing the programs celebrating the theater's 70th anniversary at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapBy Kwon Mee-yooThe National Theater of Korea (NTOK) has prepared a wide range of performances in celebration of its 70th anniversary with a nod to those who contributed to the development of the performing arts in Korea. The celebration, which will run from March through June, will feature three resident troupes of the NTOK as well as four other national companies which have a historical connection with the theater."We will hold 70th anniversary performances to commemorate both the artists who achieved rich cultural accomplishments and the public who loved the performing arts," NTOK CEO Kim Cheol-ho said during a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday.Yoo Chi-jin's “Wonsulrang” was staged as the inaugural performance of the National Theater of Korea on April 30, 1950. Courtesy of NTOKThe theater's 70-year history was concurrent with Korea's turbulent modern hist

Jan 15, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
National Theater looks back on history for 70th anniversary
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