Lifestyle

Renaissance aesthetics meets surreal fantasy in Park Min-joon's oil paintings

Park Min-joon's “Tower of Creed” (2021), left, and “Tower of Eternity” (2021), as well as his two “Statues of Ain” (2022) are on view at Gallery Hyundai in central Seoul as part of his solo exhibition “X.” Park's oeuvre contains a splash of magical realism as he adds a surreal touch to the works produced using classical oil painting techniques. Courtesy of Gallery HyundaiArtist builds circus-inspired universe through paintings, sculptures, novelsBy Park Han-solArtist Park Min-joon brings to life surreal scenes teeming with blind tightrope walkers, masked clowns and a wooden puppet-turned-boy through an unlikely medium ― oil paintings reminiscent of striking 15th-century Renaissance art. There's a splash of magical realism within his classically styled oeuvre that indeed warrants a second look ― and a third.The artist's ongoing solo exhibition, “X,” mounted at Gallery Hyundai in central Seoul, offers a chance to bask in this uncanny mix of Renaissance aesthetics and surreal fantasy through some 40 oil paintings, drawings and

'I was a stock investment addict': psychiatrist seeks to help addicted people through his book

Psychiatrist Park Jong-suk, who published the novel “Guro-dong Investment Club” based on his personal experience as a stock investment addict / Courtesy of Park Jong-sukDoctor uses his own experience to treat people addicted to investing in stocksBy Dong Sun-hwaKorea has seen a spike in the number of stock investors over the past couple of years, as commercial banks cut their interest rates on saving accounts to nearly zero percent while the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained momentum. According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, the total number of stock investors stood at 13.84 million in 2021.However, not everyone succeeded in hitting the jackpot, with many of them being pushed over the edge after losing a tremendous amount of money. Some of them became addicted to stock trading, thereby falling into depression and facing severe conflicts with their family and friends. In 2022, the Korea Problem Gambling Agency revealed that the number of addicted investors who sought counseling was 1,627 in 2021 ― almost a six-fold jump from 2017. At

INTERVIEW Partnerships with Korean companies help Delta Air Lines' post-pandemic recovery

Matteo Curcio, Delta Air Lines' vice president of Asia Pacific / Courtesy of Delta Air LinesBy Lee Hae-rinDelta Air Lines was able to stage a spectacular recovery with the number of its Korea-US flights reaching 110 percent of pre-pandemic levels, thanks to close partnerships with Korean carriers and airports, Delta's Vice President of Asia Pacific Matteo Curcio said.Delta, ranked at the top for the second consecutive year in the Wall Street Journal's 2023 Airline Scorecard, along with its Korean partners ― Korean Air and Incheon International Airport Corp (IIAC) were able to “learn from each other and improve safety standards in a timely manner” as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the travel industry hard, Curcio said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.Like any other airline in the travel and tourism industry, Delta was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it tried to maintain trust with its customers by leading social distancing on planes. It was the first U.S. airline to choose not to sell the middle seats in planes from April 2020 and the last to end the d

Yun Hyong-keun's hanji works come under spotlight in Paris for first time

Yun Hyong-keun's “Burnt Umber” (1980) / Courtesy of David Zwirner, PKM Gallery By Park Han-solLate “dansaekhwa” (monochrome painting) master Yun Hyong-keun has come under the spotlight at the heart of the French capital this month with his never-before-exhibited pieces unfurled on “hanji” (traditional Korean paper made with mulberry trees).Exhibition “Yun Hyong-keun” mounted at David Zwirner's Paris location ― his first solo show held in the city since 2006, a year before his passing ― presents the artist's oeuvre dating from 1979 to 1984.The period encompasses Yun's two-year-long stay in Paris, where he and his family found refuge in 1980 in pursuit of peace and freedom of expression amid political turbulence in his home country.The artist is best known for painting monolithic, dark columns on canvas in a concentrated mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine that best represented his tumultuous state of mind following his brush with the Korean War and South Korea's p

DAILY FORTUNE - JANUARY 26, 2023

Campaign launched to respect multicultural families, foreign nationals

Sunfull Foundation Chairman Dr. Min Byoung-chul, front row fifth from left, poses for the camera with other dignitaries at a meeting held to discuss preparations for the launch of a campaign encouraging respect for multicultural families and foreign residents at a hotel in Seoul, Jan. 17. From left are Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tung, Philippine Ambassador Maria Theresa Dizon-De Vega, Sunfull National Assembly Committee Co-Chairman Rep. Lee Che-ik, Dr. Min, Indonesian Ambassador Gandi Sulistiyanto and Turkish Ambassador Murat Tamer. Courtesy of Sunfull FoundationThe Sunfull Foundation plans to launch a campaign encouraging respect for multicultural families and foreign residents of Korea. Toward that end, the Sunfull Foundation, an anti-cyberbullying organization led by Min Byoung-chul, endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University, held a meeting to discuss preparing for the launch of the campaign at a hotel in southern Seoul on Jan. 17. The meeting was held in cooperation with the Sunfull National Assembly Committee co-headed by Rep. Lee Che-ik. The meeting was attended by D

Miguel Chevalier's psychedelic digital universe takes audience participation to next level

A visitor moves her arm in front of the generative and interactive virtual-reality installation, “Complex Meshes” (2023), produced by French artist Miguel Chevalier at his solo exhibition, “Digital Beauty 2023,” at the Ara Art Center in central Seoul, Jan. 17. Chevalier has been using digital technology as a central means of artistic expression for the last four decades. NewsisBy Park Han-solThe kaleidoscopic digital carpet twists and turns according to the viewer's footsteps. The virtual “action painting” swirls forcefully whenever a spectator takes a stroll in front of it. For French artist Miguel Chevalier, it is the viewers' physical interaction with the digital work that brings his psychedelic universe to life.Heralded as a pioneer of computer-generated virtual art since the late 1970s, when such an artistic practice was still in its infancy, he has transformed facades and ceilings of galleries and historic architecture ― like the Grand Palais and Saint-Eustache Church in Paris ― with projections on a monumental scale.This time, the artist's i

DAILY FORTUNE - JANUARY 25, 2023

Birthday party for 'Captain Rock' set for February in Hongdae

A poster for the 2023 Kyungrockjeol Mapo Renaissance, an annual festival in the Hongdae area of Seoul that started as a birthday party for punk band Crying Nut's bassist Han Kyung-rock / Screenshot from CaptainRock Company's InstagramIndie band Crying Nut's bassist hopes to bring renaissance to Hongdae's music sceneBy Kim RahnAn annual festival marking the birthday of one of Korea's leading indie musicians will be held in February, with a wide range of offline concerts and events planned around the Hongik University area, known as Hongdae, after three years of scaled-down editions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Han Kyung-rock, a member of the legendary 1995-formed punk rock band Crying Nut, will hold the 2023 Kyungrockjeol Mapo Renaissance at various venues around Hongdae and other places in Seoul's Mapo District from Feb. 8 to 12.Kyungrockjeol, literally meaning Kyung-rock Day, started as a small birthday party for Han, at a fried chicken restaurant on Feb. 11, 2005, after Han, nicknamed “Captain Rock,” returned from his mandatory military service. As most of the party pa

Publisher suspends supplying books by disgraced poet amid criticism

Poet Ko Un / Korea Times file A publisher on Friday apologized for releasing new books of poems by disgraced poet Ko Un and said it will suspend supplying the books to bookstores in consideration of public opinion against his return without any apology for his alleged past sexual misconduct.Silcheon Munhak has come under strong public criticism for opening the way for the disgraced poet to return to the literary scene by publishing the books without any explanation on or apology for the allegations of sexual misconduct.The books published last month were a collection of 129 poems by the renowned writer under a Korean title roughly translated as "Song of Nothingness" and "Conversations with Ko Un," a compilation of conversations between him and Iranian-Canadian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the poet's debut in 1958.Ko, who had long been listed as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, suspended his writing career in 201