SeMA Nanji Residency Open Studios 2015

Seoul, November 20 – 22, 2015, http://semananji.seoul.go.kr

Kim Eun Hyung 김은형, Noh Sangbo 노상호, Rohwa Jeong 로와정, Park Yeojoo 박여주, Park Chungki 박정기, Park Cheonwook 박천욱, Seo Jung Hee Biann 서정희, Son Hyemin 손혜민, Song Soo-young 송수영, Sim Raejung 심래정, Jungju An 안정주, U Juju 유쥬쥬, Lee Boram 이보람, Lee Woosung 이우성, Yi Yunyi 이윤이, Jang Minseung 장민승, Taewon Jang 장태원, Sojung Jun 전소정, Chung Munkyung 정문경, Cho Jaiyoung 조재영, Ju Sekyun 주세균, Wong Morgan, Maria Lepisto, Richard Whitby, Xin Cheng

Nanji Residency is a rather large residency program run by the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), comparable to that run by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) in their Changdong and Goyang studios. The main focus is on nurturing a new generation of Korean artists.

In the huge amount of studios, it was a bit hard to keep an overview of everything. For some reason, I was so overwhelmed, that I did not take almost any photos. It may be also because the studios itself were quite small and often crammed with work, which made it a hard to take photos comfortably.

Artists that stood out for me personally were Yi Yunyi 이윤이 and Lee Woosung 이우성.

Yi Yunyi has been the discovery of the open studio visit for me. She creates very poetic video-poems, as well as artists books. She processes her personal experience and encounters and weaves them into surreal stories that may not make sense yet they transmit strong feelings. In her studio, she also managed to create an atmosphere conductive to approaching these works in an intimate way: A miniature cinema screening her videos and an intimately lit table with artist books neatly arranged next to each other.

Lee Woosung is a very prolific painter, taking inspiration from everyday life as well as news events, which he depicts in a cartoon-like style. He uses unstretched canvases which loosely hang on the wall, adjusting themselves to the wall as well as to air flows that pass by them. This approach makes the painting more approachable and less ‘serious’ – they look a bit related to curtains or carpets which gives them a warm and friendly feeling.

Other artists worth to mention would be rising Korean video art star Jungju An 안정주 as well as his wife Sojung Jun 전소정, or Song Soo-young 송수영 who impressed me with her miniature sculptures from every day materials in the Summer Love Pt. 1 show at SongEun art centre already. There was of course much more, but just too much to take in all at once.

Two images from Richard Whitby’s open studio was the only thing I found in my phone, but please check out at least Yi Yuni‘s and Lee Woosung‘s websites.