Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea, 1960s–1970s

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA; acting director Park Jongdal) presents the exhibition Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea, 1960s–1970s at MMCA Seoul from May 26 to July 16. This exhibition focuses on the avant-garde experimental art practices of young artists during a remarkable era of modernization and industrialization in South Korean history.

Co-organized by the MMCA and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, this exhibition is the result of an international collaboration and joint research since 2018. It is especially a significant occasion for introducing leading practitioners of Korean Experimental art (silheom misul), their work, and related archival materials to audiences in Korea and beyond. The exhibition was co-curated by Kang Soojung, Senior curator at MMCA, and Kyung An, Associate Curator, Asian Art at the Guggenheim Museum and is grounded in in-depth research including artist interviews, examinations of artwork, and ongoing collaboration with scholars. Following its presentation in Seoul, the exhibition opens at the Guggenheim Museum in New York this fall on 1 September, 2023 and at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on 11 February, 2024.

Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea, 1960s–1970s examines the history of Korean experimental art and its significance within the context of a globalizing art history. The 1960s and 1970s witnessed unprecedented social changes ignited by the protests of 1968 around the world, the antiwar movement, and the fight for women’s and civil rights. South Korea confronted rapid transformations associated with accelerated modernization and industrialization, seeking to rebuild the country in the wake of the Korean War. Material abundance that emerged from economic development as well as forces of political and social repression served as artistic foundation for young artists, who explored the meaning of art in everyday life. Proponents of experimental art advocated for communication between art and society while protesting the existing art establishment’s conservative tendencies. Working in groups and as individuals, experimental artists reflected on the dynamic social developments as they shifted away from established genres of painting and sculpture to embrace new artistic media under the rubric of avant-garde art, such as objects/three-dimensional art, happenings/events, and film/video.

The exhibition introduces Korean Experimental art and its artists, whose radical approach to materials and process produced some of the most significant avant-garde practices of the twentieth century.

The exhibition catalogue is available in both Korean and English, and will include articles, artist manifestos and other primary sources from the time. The Korean version is published by the MMCA and the English volume by the Guggenheim Museum.