DAmour Exhibit Held at N Gallery
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
The works of French and Korean artists are shown together in the ``D'Amour'' (Love) exhibit at the N Gallery, Seohyeon, Bundang in Gyeonggi Province.
Love for France might as well be the theme for the exhibit, which hopes to introduce French contemporary art to Korea.
Pino Cho, senior manager at N Gallery, said the idea to come up with an exhibit of French and Korean artists came from the artist Jun Myung-ja, who studied in Paris for several years. Jun met many French artists, and helped the gallery invite some of her artist-friends to participate in the ``D'Amour'' exhibit.
The fourteen artists participating in the exhibit are from France and Korea, except for two artists from Israel, but all the artists have studied or are currently based in France.
Visitors can find the delicately detailed paintings of Jun, impressionist works of Paul Alexis, pointillism paintings of Dragutin Dedic, landscapes of Michel Jouenne and Park Yong-in, and sculptures of Iris Vargas at the spacious gallery. It is interesting to see how the artists see life in France and how they interpret it through their art.
Jun's works are characterized by soft hues of pinks, greens and blues, as well as famous landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. In one piece, she painted the Eiffel Tower on a violin.
Husband-and-wife artists Moreno and Nili Pincas, both originally from Israel and now based in Paris, are showing their paintings and sculptures. Moreno Pincas, who won first prize in the Biennale for Young Artists in Haifa, Israel, paints lively scenes of everyday French life in the market or beach. On the other hand, Nili Pincas creates clay pieces such as ``Detente,'' featuring a female figure with her legs in the air.
Park Yong-in, a well-known representational artist who studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, is known for his colorful landscapes and cityscapes.
Other participating artists include Michel King, Michel Henry, Jean-Marie Zacchi, Alain Bonnefoit, Nam Goong-won and Jung Kang-ja.
Unlike most galleries which open in the well-known art areas like Insa-dong and Cheongdam-dong in Seoul, N Gallery chose to establish itself in Bundang. It opened last January, but is steadily attracting attention as one of the biggest art galleries in the area.
``There are many people living in Bundang who also want to see art exhibits, but they have to go to Seoul. So we are bringing the art to the people here. We want to introduce new artists to Bundang, too,'' Cho said.
Recognizing the strong demand for Asian art, N Gallery hopes to open a gallery overseas, like New York, Beijing or Hong Kong in the future.
N Gallery is preparing for its next exhibit ``Circle and Square'' which opens July 11, and runs through Sept. 7. It will feature sculptures and paintings by 11 Korean artists.
Visit www.ngalleryart.com or call (070) 7430-3323.