Good Morning Korea, In the Land of the Morning Calm: the theme of the 17th exhibition of contemporary art held at the Maison Guerlain offers us a deep dive into the art of South Korea, via an intergenerational perspective gathering together multiple artists.
Art has a unique ability to bring memories, whether personal or collective, back to life and to communicate them to a wider audience. The works on display in this exhibition underline the deep-rooted ties that South Korean artists have with the natural world, technology and the issues faced by contemporary society, illustrating the diversity of South Korean society, how it has changed over time and its rich cultural heritage.
Beyond its national borders, Korea also plays the role of creative muse to the Western world, where its artistic output – cinematographic, literary and musical – breathe new life into our collective imagination, drawing us into a wonderful dance where tradition and innovation rub shoulders.
By bringing together artists from a range of generations and backgrounds, this exhibition takes an approach that’s unusual on the contemporary South Korean scene. It creates a fascinating exchange between the immaterial and the tangible, tradition and innovation by means of artworks of real vision.
Nam June Paik, a pioneer of video art, takes East and West and makes them one, taking our inward gaze and turning it into a never ending technological quest.
Lee Bul explores perfection and the twisted realities of modern identity with cyborgs combining feminine forms and robotic elements.
Dalle and Biole Park Chae have created a completely original work specifically for this exhibition, one which captures the transient beauty of perfume through fabric and bamboo, like a dream-like, feather-light memory. Lee Bae’s work from the Issu du feu (From Fire) series showcases the power the colour black and charcoal have to symbolize purity and energy, delving into things spiritual and existential.
Omyo Cho’s Barrel Eyes, invites us to consider a future where memories take on concrete form in a virtual space, thus redefining our perception of time and memory.
Anicka Yi uses algorithms to create holographic paintings, blending patterns from past work (her ‘visual DNA’) with motifs with roots in both the organic and the technological, posing questions about how art might evolve in the digital age. Heemin Chung has created a work in translucent gel drawing on 3D prints of digital landscapes.
Reinventing the still life genre, she drapes and sculpts her works to explore how virtual images can be turned into material forms, questioning where the divide between digital and real lies. This exhibition also showcases a number of other artists whose works contribute to this rich and varied overview of the creativity of South Korea’s contemporary arts scene.
The exhibition invites visitors to consider the theme of memory through a multi-sensory approach in the shape of an olfactory journey taking in several works and establishing a subtle link between visual memory and memory created by the sense of smell. Memory becomes more than just a simple recalling of past events, it is transformed into a key component which shapes present and future and underpins our collective identity.
Good Morning Korea, In the Land of the Morning Calm bids us to embark on a journey of discovery, that of the complexity and many-faceted variety of Korean society.
"From peaceful, mountain landscapes of lyrical beauty to the lightning-fast growth of its new tech sector, the land of the morning calm never ceases to amaze and always offers something new. Having an instinctive understanding of luxury, an innate sophistication and endless inventiveness, Korea is an inspiration for us, whilst maintaining an understated attachment to tradition.
At the House of Guerlain, heritage and innovation converge. This made Korea the obvious choice for its next Art Basel Paris exhibition. We wanted to pay tribute to the marriage made in heaven between Lee Ufan and the Art and Environment Prize - and celebrate our new artistic partnership with an incredible piece of art which will be unveiled during the event.
Boasting a rich cultural heritage that links ancient times with an extraordinarily diverse contemporary arts scene, South Korea now has a prominent place on the international stage. Guerlain has entrusted the curatorship of the artworks featuring in the exhibition to Hervé Mikaeloff, enabling us to discover for the first time or get better acquainted with a panoply of well-established artists and emerging talents. The painstakingly chosen selection encompasses a vast array of disciplines practised by several generations of artists: sculpture, video, textiles, installation art…
Some works have been specially created for this ambitious exhibition held at the Maison Guerlain on the Champs-Élysées. As you walk through the exhibition, a series of fragrances will enrich the experience and add another layer to how you perceive the works. The visit draws on multiple senses, not just the visual, creating a bond with Guerlain’s trademark scents and underlining the links between memory and imagination.
The natural world and technology, a wealth of art and beautiful things – all combine to produce an immersive dive into the exuberant vitality of a remarkably creative country that’s really going places."
— Ann Caroline Prazan, Art, Culture and Heritage Director, House of Guerlain.
