SeMA-artist exhibition
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| ▲ Artist Koo Bohn-chang speaks at a media event at the Seoul Museum of Art in Seoul on Dec. 13, 2023, one day before his retrospective "Koo Bohn-chang's Voyage" opens. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ A visitor looks at artist Koo Bohn-chang's "Moon Rising III" at a media event at the Seoul Museum of Art on Dec. 13, 2023. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ "One Minute Monologue" by Koo Bohn-chang is shown in this image provided by the Seoul Museum of Art in Seoul on Dec. 13, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SeMA-artist exhibition
Koo Bohn-chang's lifelong voyage of artistic discovery shown in massive retrospective at SeMA
By Woo Jae-yeon
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- At first glance, it is hard to believe that the vast diversity of photographic works on display at the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) belongs to just one artist.
The subject matters range from still objects and people to places and artifacts, all of which are delicately -- and arduously -- expressed in various mediums like painting, photomontage, print and collage.
The public art museum in Seoul named this extensive show -- its biggest exhibition for any solo artist -- as "Koo Bohn-chang's Voyage" to mark his lifelong aspirations for new things and ceaseless drive to express them through art.
The massive retrospective displays Koo's most representative works that span the course of nearly five decades -- some 500 works from the 43 series of his.
"I tell a story about my subject matters, a story that I capture from them in my own ways," he said at a media event at SeMA on Wednesday. "It is really an amusing job to read a story from them and express it through my photos."
Koo, 70, has played a significant role in the country's photography as a tenacious and multifaceted artist who blazed a trail that lighted the way for many young Korean photographers.
While studying at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg in Germany in 1984, he sought a piece of advice from Andre Gelpke, an artist Koo admired at the time.
Gelpke told him to work on "photographs not with a European mind but with that of a Korean overseas student," an encounter that Koo recalled completely changed his artistic perspective on photography. Since then, Koo has emphasized the expression of his own story.
Upon the advice, he changed his graduation project to "One Minute Monologue" with four B-Cut photos that captured the sense of alienation and loss he felt as a foreigner in Germany.
It was the first time for the artist to truly reflect his identity through art, marking an important turning point in his career that set the direction for his artistic endeavors down the road.
Back in Korea, Koo opened what was considered to be a sensational exhibition in 1988: "The New Wave of Photography." The exhibition introduced a new concept of photography as an art form, shifting from its traditional role of documentation to a medium for expressing ideas and feelings.
In "Portraits of Time" (1998-2001), he delved into the subject of time based on his experience of observing layers of dust on the outer walls of a temple. By capturing empty, gray walls that bore traces of time, he realized he didn't have to go into every detail to explain his subjects.
Also on display is "Moon Rising III" (2004-2006), a photography series of 12 moon jars made of white porcelain and stored at various museums around the world. The photo series, set in black and white tones, shows the natural wonder of the moon rising and setting, capturing the passage of time.
"I've always been interested in one's traces, be it of people or of objects. In hindsight, I am the accumulation of who I was and what I experienced of the past," Koo said.
"I think about how to express these traces, like how to capture just one facial expression that can show his or her entire life."
The exhibition opens Thursday and runs through March 10.
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