Non-profit art spaces in Korean contemporary art began to emerge in the late 1990s. Spaces such as Alternative Space Loop (1999– ), Project Space Sarubia (1999- ), Art Space Pool (1999–Jan 2021), and Insa Art Space (2000–Jun 2025) functioned as platforms for experimental practices and emerging artists that were not accommodated within institutional art, forming a structure that explored new possibilities for artistic production both outside and within institutional frameworks.
2026.03.31The Damien Hirst exhibition held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art carries a meaning that goes beyond that of a typical exhibition of a famous overseas artist. It is an event that introduces a single artist, but at the same time it serves as an occasion to reconsider how the system of contemporary art operates today and what role a national museum should play within that structure
2026.03.17The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), in partnership with the SBS Foundation, has announced the shortlisted artists for the “Korea Artist Prize 2026”
2026.02.24The year 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of Nam June Paik (1932–2006). Long before the emergence of the World Wide Web, Paik envisioned a globally networked society. In 1974, he began conceptualizing Electronic Superhighway, anticipating the cultural and social transformations that digital networks would bring. As early as 1964, he introduced Robot K-456, bringing the relationship between humans and machines into the realm of artistic experimentation.
2026.01.27President Lee Jae-myung recently emphasized that “in the international society of the 21st century, culture is at the core of national prestige and national power,” adding that “even an additional supplementary budget should be arranged if necessary to restore and strengthen the foundations of culture and the arts.”
2026.01.20In recent years, Korean contemporary art has no longer remained on the periphery of the global art world. Korean artists are continuously invited to major biennials and international museums, and in terms of both form and subject matter, Korean contemporary art has increasingly demonstrated the ability to respond to global artistic standards.
2026.01.06The previous two essays examined the anachronism of Korean contemporary art. The first identified the problem of explaining the present through the languages of the past. The second examined the structure through which past models of success continue to be repeated as strategies for the future.
2026.06.30The anachronism of Korean contemporary art is not simply a matter of outdated institutions or obsolete sensibilities. The more fundamental problem lies in the way methods that once proved effective continue to be repeated today as strategies for the future. A failed past can be criticized relatively easily. A successful past, however, tends to survive for a long time. It becomes inertia within institutions, a standard within policy, an object of imitation within the market, and a source of justification within discourse.
2026.06.16Anachronism generally refers to a temporal dislocation. It describes a condition in which objects, languages, institutions, or sensibilities from different historical periods appear out of sync within the same moment. Yet under the post-contemporary condition, anachronism does not simply mean something old, outdated, or behind the times.
2026.06.02One of the most powerful languages in contemporary art today is “critique.” Exhibitions question society, institutions dismantle power, and the curatorial produces discourse that moves across boundaries. Museums and biennales function as platforms for interpreting politics and society, history and identity.
2026.05.19In contemporary art, the market determines the price of artworks. Galleries introduce artists, art fairs concentrate visibility and transactions, and auctions publicly confirm prices in the secondary market. As discussed in Part 7, these mechanisms together constitute the distribution system of today’s art market, revealing how prices are discovered, reiterated, and ultimately fixed.
2026.05.05In contemporary art, galleries, art fairs, and auctions are no longer merely channels of distribution. They are the structures through which works enter the market, gain visibility, acquire prices, and determine the position of artists. Under the conditions of the post-contemporary, the importance of these structures becomes even more pronounced.
2026.04.21