[Gyeonggi Cultural Salon 5] Yangpyeong Art Museum celebrates its 5th anniversary with “The Heritage of Our Time” Exhibition
129 works will be exhibited until February 19

The Yangpyeong Art Museum is holding “The Heritage of Our Time” exhibition to celebrate its 5th anniversary.

December 16 of 2011 was a Friday, and on that day, the World Trade Organization (WTO) declared Russia to be its 154th member country. On the 15th, the day before, the United States declared the end of the war in Iraq, and on the following day, it was announced that Kim Jong-il had died.

That day, December 16 of 2011, was also the day when Yangpyeong, an area merely known as a vacation spot with a well-preserved natural environment and resorts, became an icon of culture and art through the Yangpyeong Art Museum, a museum specializing in contemporary art.

The museum established its existence with its opening exhibition, “The Land of Magic, Yangpyeong”, which was held from December 16, 2011, to February 19, 2012.

At the beginning of the New Year in 2017, a news crew visited the museum where “The Heritage of Our Time” exhibition is being held.

◇ The symbols of our time become heritage for future generations!

At the exhibition, children view “Crack-K-K”, the work of Charles Jang.

On the morning of May 5th, joyful laughter emanating from children was heard in the exhibition room of the Yangpyeong Art Museum. Two girls who appeared to be elementary school students laughed and tilted their heads sideways, viewing a painting on the wall. It was a picture of a woman wearing headphones looking in amazement at a red heart split down the middle, a work by Charles Jang entitled as “Crack-K-K” (130 x 130 cm, acrylic on canvas).

This is a scene from the exhibition “The Heritage of Our Time”, which is being held for the 5th anniversary of the Yangpyeong Art Museum until February 26.

The Yangpyeong Art Museum launched this exhibition on December 16 of last year, the anniversary of the past five years, to foster it as a richer source of culture and arts. On display are 129 works in various forms (three-dimensional, flat, media, and so on) which are part of its collection purchased from 2011 to 2015.

◇ The trends of contemporary art at a glance

Modern art is not easy to define. That is because we live in a “smart age” that changes each second. Diversity exists while similarities are repeatedly seen in trends occurring at regular intervals. The aesthetic views of artists moving toward these trends are fully reflected in their works.

The works on display in the exhibition rooms represent the culture and art of today, which will be heritage for future generations. The moment of this awareness adds a greater meaning to our time.

“A Four-Legged Animal for Cities 2016” by Cho Young-chul (polycarbonate stainless steel, 80×250×280 cm, 2016)

The first thing that catches the eyes of visitors is “A Four-Legged Animal for Cities 2016” (polycarbonate stainless steel, 80×250×280 cm, 2016), a work by invited artist Cho Young-chul.

The silhouette of a horse seemingly gazing at something. Jo’s sculptural work likely made his presence known to the world, among anonymous people living in cities. His work elicits images of wild animals in the minds of people living in cities, and the intersection where nature, wild animals, and humans coexist will be newly created wherever it goes. The emotional rapport created at these points was brilliant.

According to the curator, this work marks the diversification of contemporary art and shows how a work of art is given its symbolic meaning depending on the place where it is situated. It is also an impression that represents the theme of this exhibition, “The Heritage of Our Time”.

According to the curator, this work marks the diversification of contemporary art and shows how a work of art is given its symbolic meaning depending on the place where it is situated. It is also an impression that represents the theme of this exhibition, “The Heritage of Our Time”.

“W.S1401” by Lee Tae-jeong (oil painting, 162.2×112.1 cm, 2014)

“W.S1401” (oil painting, 162.2×112.1cm, 2014) is an expressionist work characterized by the depiction of the character’s mood using monochrome or moderate coloring. Dynamic brush strokes show the emotions of warmth and love between family members, represented by the scene of a father and daughter playing together.

Next, we visited the display for the works collected in 2011.

The curator introduced us to “The Refugees who Gathered at Sariwon Station” (oil painting, 132×162 cm, 2006) by Lee Dong-pyo. It is a work representing the yearning of Korean people displaced from their hometowns in North Korea, and is also a record of the life of the artist who was forced to leave his hometown during the Korean War.

“The Refugees who Gathered at Sariwon Station” by Lee Dong-pyo (oil painting, 132×162 cm, 2006)

The painting also features a symbolic expression of the artist’s mother who longs for unification. At the bottom right of the work, the artist wrote: “Dislocated refugees. Lee Dong-pyo. 2006.” He used cold and warm colors together on canvas with a background of a primary color depicting objects in thick lines, which imparts a firm and stable impression.

◇ Selected as the best art museum in Gyeonggi Province in 2014 and 2015 for its various exhibition spaces and programs

The Yangpyeong Art Museum features various types of exhibition spaces that are difficult to see in other museums, such as open-space, slope-shaped, and movable-wall types.

The museum was designed and renovated to complement the limits of a rigid and stagnant exhibition space in the shape of a cube so that the diversity of contemporary art can be fully expressed.

In this respect, this exhibition was also an opportunity to experience diversity.

A mother and her children view an exhibited work.

The museum was selected as the best museum and art museum in Gyeonggi Province in 2014 and 2015. Of particular note, the museum has contributed to the development of creative experience education through business agreements with various educational institutions including the Yangpyeong Office of Education.

The museum’s collection is today’s heritage that will be passed on to future generations. In consideration of this, the Yangpyeong Art Museum selects works with the assistance of the Citizens’ Committee for Work Collection, a group of approximately 10 experts, each year. The museum also endeavors to include the works of local residents in the collection as an art space for the Yangpyeong area.

This is another function of the local art museum, which preserves and shares the cultural values of the works of the artists living in the area. Local artists create their works and local institutions collect and introduce them to people; this is how the values of an area are created by sharing.

Lee Seung-geun, head of the Public Relations Team at the Yangpyeong Art Museum, said, “In the past, it was a small-scale art museum only for the residents of Yangpyeong. But I hope that it will become a museum that can attract major exhibitions such as global projects and visitors from all over the country. I wish that it will be a museum where everyone, regardless of social status, can have a pleasant time.”