PKM Gallery announced its exhibition lineup for 2025, featuring five solo exhibitions focusing on the diverse trajectories of contemporary art. This year’s lineup highlights the unique creative visions of emerging and established artists across a variety of mediums, including illustration, craft, painting, and sculpture. These exhibitions will offer an opportunity to engage with evolving trends and possibilities within contemporary Korean art.

The 2025 program commence in April with a solo exhibition by illustrator SAMBYPEN (b. 1992), who reinterprets popular culture through humor and satire. SAMBYPEN has developed a unique visual language by deconstructing familiar imagery from consumer society and creating new characters. His works combine digital technology with handmade techniques, incorporating sharp critique and playful imagination to uncover hidden meanings beneath the surface of popular culture.

In June, Suh Seung-Won (b. 1941), a pioneering figure of geometric abstraction in Korean contemporary art, will present a solo exhibition. Over the past 60 years, he has pursued experimental approaches rooted in his concept of ‘simultaneity,’ which seeks to harmonize color, form, time, and space on the canvas. This exhibition will feature a collection of his small paintings, encapsulating his long and prolific career as a post Dansaekhwa artist.

Opening concurrently in June, Koo Hyunmo (b.1974) will showcase a solo exhibition exploring new directions in his artistic practice. Koo's works blur the boundaries of two seemingly dichotomous notions such as reality and fiction, principle and phenomenon, through everyday materials and natural objects to invite viewers into a multisensory artistic experience. This exhibition will feature new works in painting, ceramics, and installation that challenge conventional perceptions of time and space.

From August to September, overlapping with Frieze Seoul, the gallery will present a solo exhibition by Young In Hong (b.1972). Hong works with diverse mediums such as embroidery, stitching, and collective performance, to amplify voices often omitted from grand narratives. Her practice delves into themes of community and solidarity. Following her upcoming solo exhibition at Art Sonje Center this summer, Hong will present a vibrant selection of her latest works at PKM Gallery, continuing the trajectory of her dynamic artistic practice.

PKM Gallery will finish the year with a solo exhibition by sculptor Chung Hyun (b.1956). Chung recently received the 2nd Kim Bok-jin Art Award, recognizing his achievements and contributions to the advancement of Korean art. And his solo presentation at Art Basel in Miami Beach 2024 garnered widespread acclaim from the international art community.

Working with materials such as railway sleepers, metal, and coal tar, Chung emphasizes the raw physicality of materials to evoke themes of inner energy and historical memory. PKM Gallery will present a comprehensive survey exhibition in October, offering an in-depth exploration of his sculptural experiments and philosophical depth.

References

• PKM 갤러리 보도자료 (PKM Gallery Press Release)

Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.