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| ▲ "The Weight of a Patina of Time (2023)" by Gala Porras-Kim is shown in the image provided by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art on Oct. 19, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ The poster for the Korea Artist Prize 2023 is shown in this image provided by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art on Oct. 19, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
MMCA-artist prize
Finalists for MMCA's artist prize present experimental works on community history, identity
By Woo Jae-yeon
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- What look like three totally independent works of art were hung on a wall side by side. One was pitch-black, another showed an old ancient stone in nature, and still another looked like an abstract painting in gray, black and green.
The three-paneled drawing, titled "The Weight of a Patina of Time (2023)," is part of Gala Porras-Kim's artworks, set to go on display at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) on Friday.
Korean Colombian Porras-Kim, who lives and works in Los Angeles and London, "poses questions about the ways in which the original meaning of surviving cultural heritage and relics are forgotten or reinterpreted based on the contemporary classification systems of museums and art institutions," according to the MMCA.
"The first panel is the original dead person's point of view because it was used as a grave site. And the second one is the current day historical point of view because now it is a UNESCO site," Porras-Kim explained at a press conference. "The third one is the moss that's growing on the surface of the stone," she said.
Porras-Kim is one of the four finalists, along with Kwon Byung-jun, Lee Kang-seung and Jun So-jung, for this year's Korea Artist Prize, established in 2012 by the national museum and the SBS Culture Foundation, to recognize a promising, resourceful artist with sharp insight into society and art.
The 2023 edition is the first one since the museum, last year, made some changes to the award system, including a rise in the financial support to 50 million won (US$36,850) per artist from 40 million won, the exhibition of each artist's artworks from the past to deepen an understanding of them, and an overhaul of the final deliberation process to include open discussion sessions between artists and the jury.
Jun So-jung explores the lives of people and things that have been neglected in the midst of head-spinning industrialization and focuses on finding one's identity amid the fast changes.
"I've been paying attention to voices that have been left out or excluded in the middle of modernization," Jun said while introducing her new work, "Syncope (2023)."
The 29-minute single-channel video shows a journey of making music with a North Korea-born gayageum performer and a Korean adoptee musician living in France, among others, to raise the question as to "whether hope can be found in those living in a different speed of life," the artist said.
Lee Kang-seung, a multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles and Seoul, focuses on the exploration of queer culture, heritage and communities.
For the MMCA exhibition, he presents his new artwork, "Lazerus (2023)," connecting queer history to create new perspectives based on the fabric-based installation work of Brazilian artist Jose Leonilson and the choreography of Goh Choo San, a Singaporean dancer long-associated with the Washington Ballet.
Kwon Byung-jun, an artist who has been experimenting with sound works, launched into a theatric show played by machines to cast a new perspective on robots. His robots are far from useful, efficient workers that can replace humans.
"The emergence of robots that are allowed to be useless is a bitter reminder of the human workers whose labor has been devalued by the rise of robots," the MMCA said.
The exhibition will run from Friday through March 31. The winner of the Korea Artist Prize will be announced in February.
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