Located in Tribeca, New York, Space ZeroOne is a non-profit exhibition space established by the Hanwha Foundation of Culture. The institution positions itself as a global platform for emerging Korean artists seeking to engage with the international stage, with the long-term aim of connecting experimental practices in Korean contemporary art to the broader global art ecosystem.

The inaugural exhibition,《Contours of Zero: Emerging Korean Artists in New York》, which opened on November 7, 2025, features eight Korean artists: Baek Junggi, Hong Giha, Kim Jihee, Oh Gayoung, Park Junghae, Seo Jinho, Song Minjung, and Yoo Jiyoung. Spanning painting, sculpture, installation, and digital imagery, the exhibition explores modes of identity and relationality shaped within contemporary technological environments. Fragmentary elements of everyday life—smartphone screens, household appliances, urban infrastructure, and transient digital images—are materialized to capture subtle shifts within contemporary culture.

Approximately 15 to 20 works are presented in the exhibition, the majority of which were produced within the past three years. Many are being shown in New York for the first time, while several were newly commissioned in response to the architectural conditions and spatial context of Space ZeroOne. This underscores the institution’s intention to position the exhibition space not merely as a site for displaying completed works, but as a generative condition where artistic production and experimentation can emerge.
 
 
 
“Zero” as a Point of Departure
 
The “Zero” in Space ZeroOne does not signify absence or void. Rather, it refers to a state prior to the formation of relations and forms—a condensed point of potential—and is presented as a field situated in a continual state of “becoming”.
 
For Korea’s millennial generation, whose modes of thinking and identity formation have been shaped by digital structures ranging from early computer interfaces to smartphone screens, “zero” already functions as a perceptual condition through which the world is understood. Space ZeroOne reactivates this notion of zero not as a pre-technological abstraction, but as a lived condition of contemporary experience.
 
While referencing the concept of zero proposed by the postwar German ZERO group as a site of regeneration, as well as Roland Barthes’s notion of neutrality, Space ZeroOne repositions these ideas within today’s technological environment and conditions of cultural mobility. Here, zero operates not as a historical aesthetic declaration, but as an ongoing and dynamic condition.
 
 
 
Space ZeroOne as a Platform
 
Space ZeroOne aspires to function beyond the scope of short-term exhibitions, positioning itself as a long-term platform that supports emerging and under-recognized artists through exhibitions, commissions, and public programs. Rather than unilaterally “introducing” Korean artists, the institution emphasizes intersections among Korea-based practitioners, Korean diaspora artists active in New York, and international emerging artists.
 
This approach frames Korean contemporary art not as a fixed national identity, but as a multilayered network of practices. It resists reducing Korean art to a specific style or regional characteristic, instead situating it as an active participant within the international currents of contemporary art.
 
 
 
Precedents and Continuities
 
To more clearly understand the significance of Space ZeroOne, it is necessary to consider its precedents.
 
The Yonkang Foundation, operated by the DOOSAN Group, ran DOOSAN Gallery New York for over a decade, from 2009 to 2021, consistently introducing Korean contemporary artists to the New York art scene. It was the first Korean non-profit art institution officially registered in New York City and combined gallery exhibitions with the DOOSAN Residency New York program, which supported young Korean artists through long-term stays and studio-based practice.

Beyond solo exhibitions, the program provided Korean artists with direct access to the New York art scene through studio visits by curators from major institutions such as MoMA and the Guggenheim Museum. By sustaining an integrated model of exhibitions and residencies for over a decade, DOOSAN Gallery New York established an important precedent for structurally testing Korean artists’ entry into international institutional frameworks.
 
Building upon this accumulated experience, Space ZeroOne begins anew. The critical question is not who came first, but how the next phase is carried forward after such precedents have been established. If the late 2000s marked a period focused on entry into international institutions, Space ZeroOne in the mid-2020s operates at a stage concerned with sustaining experimentation and discourse amid growing global interest.
 
 
 
Conclusion | Beginning from an Ongoing Position
 
Space ZeroOne is less an object of evaluation than a space that must now accumulate time. It does not seek to summarize or represent the achievements of Korean contemporary art. Instead, it deliberately positions itself at a “zero point”—a state in which what it will become remains undecided.
 
If DOOSAN Gallery New York left behind a model through its long-term integration of exhibitions and residencies, Space ZeroOne will experiment with another mode of possibility within the city of New York. Its value will not be proven quickly, nor does it need to be. What matters is not the number of exhibitions held, but whether sustained experimentation can take place and whether artists and discourses are allowed to accumulate over time.
 
One may hope that Space ZeroOne will become another stable point of connection between Korean contemporary art and the world. When such initiatives in New York continue without interruption, Korean contemporary art may move beyond momentary attention toward a more sustainable and enduring structure of global engagement
 

 
Space ZeroOne New York: 371 Broadway, New York, NY 10013, USA
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 12–6 PM
Contact:
T +1 212 226 6701
Instagram @zeroone.space
E info@zeroone.space