“Path of Contact” Installation view at ARKO Art Center, Gallery 1 ©ARKO Art Center
ARKO Art Center of the Arts Council Korea presents “Path of Contact” to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of its opening through March 10. This exhibition consists of an art exhibition with 22 artists’ new and unpublished artworks, and an archive section.
“Path of Contact” adopted ‘networking’, one of the functions of museums today, as an intrinsic element. In order that, the Center relinquished the power of initiatives in the selection of artists, and established its position as a nod in a constellation of expanding its collaboration with people from different fields. To this end, and to remind the former members of the Steering Committee and the internal and external curators of their interest in the Center, they were asked about “artists they would like to revisit at ARKO” or “artists whose current work they are curious about”. And on the basis of the result, the list of artists to be invited was compiled from those who had participated in the major exhibitions, and then updated by receiving their recommendations of artists of different generations with whom they would like to collaborate. As a result, about 80 percent of the artists are participating in ARKO Art Center’s exhibition for the first time, and the exhibition becomes an opportunity to expand the Center’s human network by inviting artists not only from the Seoul metropolitan area, but also from other places such as Daejeon and Mokpo. This exhibition is the result of the participating artists’ collaboration as such, exploring issues of the contemporary art scene, arising from the encounter between artists of different generations, the point of differentiation between works that end up being either collaborative or individual, and ways of interacting and contacting.
In addition, the exhibition presents the results of the participating artists’ exchanges, as well as the remains and unpublished artworks of three of the deceased artists (KONG Sunghun, Tchah Sup Kim, and CHO Sungmook) who have made significant contributions to the museum’s exhibition history, providing a more three-dimensional view of the artists’ work.
The archive section features approximately 200 self-curated archival materials, including brochures, pamphlets, photos, and videos that document the Center’s history. In addition, ARKO Art Center is preparing to display video clips documenting significant periods of change and their distinctive characteristics with interviews with officials inside and outside of the Center, and a chronology of its past exhibitions, providing insights into the footsteps of the past and helping to envision its future direction.
Programs connected to the exhibition will continue through March, starting with the relay talk program with participating artists in last December, followed by a special 50th anniversary symposium and more programs including in-depth discussions about the museum’s future direction and role, and performances using archives.
The participating artists are Kiwon Park × Jinhyung Lee, SUH Yongsun × YEO Songjoo × KIM Minwoo, SHIN Hak Chul × Kira Kim, Yongbaek Lee × Kijong Zin, JUNG Jung Yeob × Jang Pa, Sook Jin Jo × Heejoon Lee, CHE Wo Seung × CHOE Sooryeon, CHOI Gene Uk × PARK Yumi, HONG Myung Seop × KIM Hee Ra, KONG Sunghun (1965–2021), Tchah Sup Kim (1942–2022), and CHO Sungmook(1940–2016).
