Collection, Scenes of an Era

The history of the ARKO Art Center collection and its acquisition process is closely connected to the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation (now Arts Council Korea, or ARKO), an organization established in 1973 to implement the Korean government’s culture and arts promotion policies, and to the exhibition history of the Misulhoegwan (now ARKO Art Center), which has been operated by the council. When the Misulhoegwan first opened in 1974, during a period when Korea was lacking in cultural infrastructure, it offered exhibition space for rent at a relatively low cost, supporting the activities of experimental young and emerging artists as well as various groups. As times changed, the early rental-centered approach to exhibition spaces gave way to a museum system centered around independent exhibition planning, while the center’s original functions of supporting experimental art and discovering artists have remained central to its role. The center’s process for acquiring artworks has also shifted with its management approach. A large portion of the entire collection of 423 works was acquired during the roughly 20-year period following the Misulhoegwan’s opening, with purchases and donations accounting for similar proportions. By the 2000s, as the center increased its special exhibition activities and established more systematic acquisition policies, numerous exhibited works entered the collection and began to reflect the center’s direction directly.

The ARKO Art Center collection is the result of institutional choices made by a public art museum operated by ARKO amid changes in culture and arts policies, art history, and the history of exhibitions. The plural “scenes” in the exhibition title represents the different strata of Korean contemporary art revealed through the collection and the artistic practices and achievements of artists who looked at their times from varied perspectives. Focusing on the relationship between art history and exhibition history, the exhibition uses the collection to describe diverse scenes of Korean contemporary art and provide an occasion to reconsider the artists and their works. By weaving together the ARKO Art Center’s exhibition history and collection to offer a three-dimensional look at the diversity of Korean contemporary art since the 1970s, it endeavors to provide another critical impetus for future research in contemporary art history.

The exhibition presents a selection of 70 works by 60 artists who took part in the ARKO Art Center’s exhibitions, drawn from works produced between the 1970s and the 2000s, which account for the majority of the collection. It provides an occasion to rediscover the value of individual artworks and examine the changing face of Korean contemporary art alongside the center’s history. To this end, the exhibition has been organized chronologically into sections by year of creation, focusing on decade-long periods between the 1970s and 2000s. Each section includes artworks, archival materials on the artists’ association activities and exhibition histories, and a chronology of exhibitions from the period, allowing individual works to be understood within a broader historical context. In addition, a separate archive section presents the outcomes of research centered on the collection. It shares visual materials, including archival photographs documenting the artists’ diverse activities and exhibition histories, together with the research findings of six research fellows invited to take part in the exhibition.

The participating artists are Kang Kyung Kyu, Kang Dong-Suk, Kang Seunghee, Kang Airan, Kwon Youngwoo, Kim Kulim, Kim Subeom, Kim Youngjoo, Kim Eull, Kim Chongha, Kim Hodeuk, Min Bokjin, Min Joungki, Park Ki-won, Park Kiho, Park Saengkwang, Park Suk-Won, Park Sookhee, Park Seungkyu, Park Youngha, Park Il Yong, Park Hyesung, Bae Jong Heon, Sung Neungkyung, Song Sanghee, Shin Bumseung, Shin Jangsik, Shin Hakchul, Yang Mankee, Yang Juhae, Um Taijung, Yoo Young-Yul, Yun Suknam, Lee Kun-Yong, Rhee Kibong, Lee Mansoo, Lee Shinja, Lee Jungja, Lee Hangsung, Lim Geunwoo, Rim Dongsik, Lim Minouk, Leem Jongdoo, Lim Chulsoon, Chon Naesik, Chon Byunghyun, Chung Suejin, Jung Jungyeob, Cho Hwan, Cha Daeyoung, Choi Minhwa, Choi Youngrim, Choi Jongtae, Choi Gene Uk, Han Bongduk, Ham Yangah, Hong Myung-seop, Hong Soonjoo, Hong Jongmyoung, and Hwang Yongyop.