Lifestyle - The Korea Times

FRIEZE 2025 Kim Tschang-yeul, the painter who made fleeting waterdrops eternal

A drop of water vanishes as soon as it appears — gliding down glass, sinking into earth, evaporating into air. Kim Tschang-yeul (1929-2021) seized these fleeting beads and made them eternal. For half a century, the artist returned to the glistening droplets with monastic devotion, painting them again and again like a solemn mantra. Sometimes, they perched weightlessly on his canvas, as if newly fallen; at other times, they seemed to slide downward, forever suspended in motion. Each work was more than simply a feat of photorealistic illusion. For Kim, the waterdrop was a symbol of the unspoken scars of war and displacement, carrying within its fragile curve both the ache of loss and the possibility of solace, erasure and transcendence. But as potent as the droplet may be, to dwell on it alone risks obscuring the man behind it and the long, circuitous path that led him to his signature motif. It is this winding journey he took across continents, navigating shifting artistic currents before arriving at his own visual language, that the landmark retrospective “Kim Tschang-yeul” at the

Aug 28, 2025By Park Han-sol

[FRIEZE 2025] Kim Tschang-yeul, the painter who made fleeting waterdrops eternal

FRIEZE 2025 Ru Kim presents force, fragility in shape-shifting performance

As Frieze Seoul returns next week, galleries and collectors are preparing to converge on the city for its fourth edition. While the fair’s main floor will spotlight collectible, physical artworks, Frieze Live — the platform for performance and experimental art launched last year — returns to broaden the conversation. Among this year’s participants is Ru Kim’s multidisciplinary piece "a fist is a fist is a fist — Ignition." Presented on Sept. 5 starting at 5 p.m. at Kukje Gallery K2 as part of a group exhibition curated by the Art Sonje Center team, the performance combines poetry, techno music and moving images into a work that feels at once intimate and expansive. Originally performed at CHOI & CHOI Gallery in 2023, the piece is reimagined for Frieze Seoul. For Kim, who grew up in Germany, Cyprus, Korea, Canada and Brazil, the path to this stage has been one of constant shifting — across mediums, disciplines and even identities as an artist. “I always knew that I wanted to be an artist, but the field would vary from period to period," Kim told The Korea Times. "I have w

Aug 27, 2025By Antonia Giordano

[FRIEZE 2025] Ru Kim presents force, fragility in shape-shifting performance

InterviewInside ‘Sleep No More’ Seoul: How Livi Vaughan turned former cinema into immersive theater

Entering the McKithan Hotel in Chungmuro, Seoul, feels like slipping into a fever dream. Behind its doors, reality fragments into a series of vignettes: A man scrubs blood from his hands in a porcelain basin; a glamorous ball hides secrets and betrayals; a woman in a red dress manipulates a haunting ritual; a maid offers a suspicious milky drink; and a nurse beckons a lone guest to her eerie hut. This is “Sleep No More,” British theater company Punchdrunk’s immersive experience that reimagines Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” through Alfred Hitchcock and film noir, which has finally arrived in Korea after years of anticipation. The show rewrites the rules of traditional theater, trading fixed seats and prosceniums for masked audiences who chart their own paths. “Immersive theater is not just a show, it’s a world, and we plunge the audience into the epicenter of that world,” said Felix Barrett, artistic director of Punchdrunk and creator of “Sleep No More.” “Once they’re in there, it’s a living, breathing environment where a narrative occurs around them and the audien

Aug 26, 2025By Kwon Mee-yoo

Inside ‘Sleep No More’ Seoul: How Livi Vaughan turned former cinema into immersive theater

FRIEZE 2025 Who am I? Constellations of self at ARKO Art Center

The very first work to greet visitors at the ARKO Art Center is a black-and-white photograph, an iconic still from Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 cult thriller “Reservoir Dogs.” At a glance, the image rings with familiarity. But a closer look reveals something uncanny: each of the five suited men bears the same face. In “Who am I 10,” Kang Hong-goo Photoshops his own likeness onto this band of thieves — figures nameless, materialistic and doomed to ruin. The gesture becomes both parody and confession. By inserting himself directly into their image, he transforms the cinematic frame into a kind of a mirror, reflecting both his own contradictions and his place as an artist. “There’s a certain cinematic fantasy we all carry — that petty, shallow desire to live as the hero of a film,” the 69-year-old told The Korea Times. “That temptation exists in everyone. I wanted to see how it takes shape in me.” It is in this spirit that Kang long ago departed from the rigid grammar of straight photography, a genre he calls “overly formulaic.” Instead, he stages deliberate interven

Aug 25, 2025By Park Han-sol

[FRIEZE 2025] Who am I? Constellations of self at ARKO Art Center

Colors, symbols and tradition: What to watch for in ‘One Dance’

As part of "Jongmyo Jerye," the the royal ancestral ritual of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty, “Ilmu” was performed at Jongmyo, the royal Confucian shrine for ancestors, with kings and aristocrats in attendance. One striking feature of the dance, which is now recognized on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, was its formation. Dancers assemble in rows, then shift into lines and circles before returning to their original positions. Meticulousness, restraint and union were its other defining characteristics. In 2022, the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre premiered “One Dance,” a modern reinterpretation of "Ilmu," helmed by designer and director Jung Ku-ho. The production showcased not only a reenactment of the ancient line dance but also a contemporary reimagining of it. Following a sold-out performance at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2023, the work became a sensation in the Korean dance scene. "One Dance" returns to Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul from Thursday through Sunday, with all tickets sold out for its four-day run well in advance. Encouraged by

Aug 21, 2025By Kim Se-jeong

Colors, symbols and tradition: What to watch for in ‘One Dance’

National Museum on track to see record visitors this year

The National Museum of Korea has already surpassed 4 million visitors this year, setting the stage for a historic milestone in annual attendance, according to data released by the museum Thursday. The museum said it welcomed 4,073,006 visitors from January to Aug. 20, a figure 1.7 times higher than the 2.33 million recorded during the same period last year. "This shows that public interest, both at home and abroad, in traditional Korean culture is greater than ever before," a museum official said on condition of anonymity. It marks only the second time that the museum's annual attendance has exceeded 4 million. In 2023, it welcomed 4.18 million visitors, ranking sixth worldwide among museums and galleries in a survey conducted by the British art publication The Art Newspaper. Officials noted this is the highest figure since the museum's founding in 1945 and predicted, if the current trend continues, the museum will break its own record by the end of the year.

Aug 21, 2025By Yonhap

National Museum on track to see record visitors this year

InterviewSkin-crawling eroticism of TZUSOO's art

We live in a world where reproduction is no longer seen as a universal imperative — that ancient, once-inescapable facet of human life. Yet bodies continue to seek one another, not for the grand duty of propagation, but for the fleeting intoxication of pleasure. This surge of sexual energy, now freer than ever from the burden of creation, stirred a question for artist TZUSOO: what becomes of that sudden burst at the peak of ecstasy if it does not culminate in new life? Does it simply dissolve into nothing? Not quite, says the 33-year-old, gesturing toward a bizarre life form of her own making: a moist, fleshy mass the size of a cantaloupe. Evocative of both a half-formed embryo and a phallus, it is as grotesque as it is strangely tender — a tension echoed in its very name, “Agarmon,” a fusion of “agar” (phonetically “baby” in Korean) and “monster.” The “agar” also refers to the gelatinous organic material that makes up its moss-covered body, giving the creature an otherworldly resemblance to a newborn. In fact, its life can only be sustained in a carefully calibra

Aug 21, 2025By Park Han-sol

FRIEZE 2025 Frieze, Kiaf Seoul to return amid fluctuating art market

Amid a lingering slump in the art market and a world in disorder, Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul once again return to the Korean capital this September. Their comeback carries both weight and promise: the daunting challenge of sluggish sales alongside a creative landscape yearning for revitalization. As the two art fairs step into the fourth year of their five-year partnership, the events also face a pivotal question — whether their collaboration will continue beyond its original term. Their alliance has stood as a rare instance of an international art fair joining forces with a local counterpart in a bid to anchor itself in a new city. “While an extension has not yet been decided, conversations remain positive, with details still under careful review,” said Lee Sung-hoon, president of the Galleries Association of Korea, which organizes Kiaf Seoul, at a joint press conference in Seoul Tuesday. “Kiaf has a long history in Seoul, and obviously, we are beneficiaries of that. I think the relationship has been very positive, symbiotic,” added Frieze Seoul Director Patrick Lee. “Look

Aug 19, 2025By Park Han-sol

[FRIEZE 2025] Frieze, Kiaf Seoul to return amid fluctuating art market

‘The Great Gatsby’ musical finds new resonance in Seoul with feminist twist

In a city where musicals are almost always sung in Korean, "The Great Gatsby" is a rarity — a full-scale, English-language production where a Korean producer, a Broadway dream team and an American classic converge on the Seoul stage. The creative team, including book writer Kait Kerrigan, traveled to Seoul for the show’s glittering premiere on Aug. 8. “The Great Gatsby” may not be as ingrained in Korean culture as in English-speaking countries, but audiences have a well-known appetite for theatrical spectacles. During her brief trip for the Seoul opening, Kerrigan sampled some Korean dishes like tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and left wanting to spend more time in the country. The novel’s enduring legacy, from numerous stage adaptations to Baz Luhrmann’s star-studded film, inspired Shin Chun-soo of OD Company to craft his own interpretation. Seeking to preserve the subtlety of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original, Shin enlisted an American creative team with a profound understanding of the source material. Composer Jason Howland, then collaborating with Nathan Tysen on “Paradis

Aug 17, 2025By Antonia Giordano

‘The Great Gatsby’ musical finds new resonance in Seoul with feminist twist

Unexpected encounters with art on Jeju Island

Art may not be the first thing that comes to mind when planning a trip to Jeju, Korea's lush southern island. Yet scattered across its shores and hills are sanctuaries where art and nature breathe as one. Here are four museums that may be worth adding to your next itinerary. Podo Museum Podo Museum, in the southwestern part of the island, invites visitors to slow down, offering just one exhibition each year — a full 12 months to absorb its ideas and atmosphere. A relative newcomer to Jeju’s art scene, it opened in 2021 under the operation of SK Group, yet has quickly become a must-visit spot for art enthusiasts. Led by executive director Chloe Kim, its curated exhibitions have delved into timely social themes — from hate speech and diaspora to aging — with a lens that is as probing as it is empathetic. Its latest show, “We, Such Fragile Beings,” reflects on our shared human fragility and imperfection against the vast scale of the cosmos, seeking in that recognition new possibilities for connection. Thirteen artists, including Mona Hatoum, Jenny Holzer, Liza Lou and Lee Wan, trac

Aug 16, 2025By Park Han-sol

Arts & Theater