MMCA unveils 2023 exhibition lineup, vows to improve after special audit

Lee Cheol-joo's "Sejong-ro Landscape" (1979) will be on view this year at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), as part of the donated art collection of Dongsanbang Gallery's founder Park Joo-hwan / Courtesy of MMCA

Series of overseas exhibitions planned to promote Korean art

By Park Han-sol

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) has unveiled its plan to "accelerate the promotion of Korean art" in 2023 through its strengthened partnerships with art institutions in the United States, Mexico, Australia and China.

A select number of joint and touring exhibitions await the museum this year. Trailblazing experimental artists of Korea who were active in the tumultuous decades following the 1950-53 Korean War will come into the limelight at the Guggenheim in New York in September, following the show's Seoul iteration in May.

"We Proclaim: Experimental Art in South Korea 1960s-1970s" is the first North American showcase of first-generation avant-garde players like Lee Seung-taek, Lee Kang-so, Kim Ku-lim and Sung Neung-kyung. After its New York run, the exhibition is set to travel to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in February 2024.

Among the featured creators, Kim Ku-lim is getting an additional spotlight in Seoul through his solo exhibition set for August, which will "coincide with the second edition of Frieze Seoul," according to MMCA Director Youn Bum-mo.

"Prayer for Life," which revisited the underappreciated history of Korean polychrome paintings at the state-run museum's Gwacheon branch last year, will be brought to the San Diego Museum of Art in October.

An extensive survey of 20th-century Korean art kicking off at the National Art Museum of China in November is expected to be another highlight of 2023.

In the last two years, MMCA became the recipient of two historic art collections amassed by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee and Dongsanbang Gallery's founder Park Joo-hwan.

While the museum is set to publish a catalog detailing Lee's collection by the end of this year, it will also host the first show dedicated to Park's art trove in May at its Gwacheon branch.

Park's donated collection of 209 pieces has been relatively eclipsed in comparison to Lee's, but its significance has been duly noted in the domestic art world. The exhibition is a chance to witness the history of Korean modern and contemporary art from the 1920s to the 2000s that was seen through the eyes of the country's first-generation gallerist.

MMCA director Youn Bum-mo listens to reporters' questions during a press conference held on Jan. 10 at the national museum in central Seoul. He announced the museum's exhibition lineup for 2023 and clarified its position concerning the audit report released by the culture ministry the day before. Yonhap

Culture ministry's audit report

Meanwhile, MMCA's announcement of its exhibition lineup at its Jan. 10 press conference took place a day after the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism unprecedentedly released an audit report on the national art institution.

The report, based on the special audit conducted last year from Oct. 24 to Dec. 1, stated it had found 16 instances of illegal or unfair practices under its watch.

The cases include the arbitrary spending of the MMCA Foundation's funds worth 32 million won ($25,750) as incentives to employees. Any amount of earnings reported by the museum and the foundation that exceeds expenditures must be turned over to the state, the ministry noted.

The museum also failed to comply with the designated procedures for purchasing artworks ― evidenced by its decision to drastically reduce the number of external advisory specialists from 50 to 11 and to share the information about auctions to a limited number of seven or eight curators using a private messenger app.

Cutting the number of outside experts was done to "promote administrative efficiency," according to director Youn.

"During the pandemic, the museum whittled down the size of the advisory panel so that only the specialists who are actively involved in the consultation and purchase of artworks would remain," he said.

In addition, the report stated that MMCA arbitrarily adjusted the final purchase prices of 26 pieces from 2020 to 2022, thus disregarding the amount initially recommended by the appraisal committee.

In the case of Teresita Fernandez's "Dark Earth (Cosmos)" and six others, the museum re-adjusted the price up to 50 million won higher than the amount recommended by the experts, the ministry noted. Youn clarified that the museum did not purchase Fernandez's work in the end.

To this, the director explained that the appraisal committee often sets those prices in a quite conservative way, sometimes making the discrepancy between the offers made by the seller and the museum too large and thus impossible to negotiate.

"The news of the special audit is unfortunate. However, we will use this opportunity to further reform and improve the operation of the museum," he said.