Representative works by South Korean media artists Lee Yong-baek, Jung Yeon-doo, Kang Yi-yun, Kwon Ha-youn, and Kim Hee-cheon will be showcased alongside pieces by Paik Nam-june in an exhibition coinciding with the 2024 Paris Olympics. The special exhibition, titled “Decoding Korea,” will be held at the Grand Palais Immersif from July 26 to Aug. 25.
Organized by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts Management Service, the exhibition explores modern Korea through artistic, cultural, and historical lenses. It features works by 10 South Korean media artists alongside archival video works by Paik Nam-june, offering a philosophical, aesthetic, and cultural reinterpretation of the last 100 years in the Korean Peninsula. Key themes include memory, technology, and environment.
The exhibition will showcase 18 pieces from 11 artists, including:
- Lee Yong-baek’s “Angel-Soldier” from the 2011 Venice Biennale Korean Pavilion
- Kwon Ha-youn’s “489 Years”, which rediscovers the ecological value of the demilitarized zone
- Kang Yi-yun’s “Finite”, emphasizing the ecological interconnection of all elements on Earth
“We aimed to decode the complex meanings and structures hidden within Korean society through key themes such as memory, power, boundaries, technology, and environment,” said curator Lee Dae-hyung.
Lee Yong-baek’s “Angel-Soldier” captures soldiers in flower-patterned uniforms gradually moving through a forest covered in flowers. At first glance, it appears as a flower-covered landscape, but closer inspection reveals soldiers camouflaged by flowers, merging the elements of flower and soldier to blur the lines between good and evil, peace and war. Jung Yeon-doo’s “Crow’s Eye View,” inspired by a poem by Korean poet Lee Sang, depicts the industrial city of Ulsan from a crow’s perspective.
The exhibition also prominently features works by media art pioneer Paik Nam-june, including “Global Groove” (1973), which experimented with cultural fusion by blending traditional and contemporary, Eastern and Western, abstract and figurative elements, and “Wrap Around the World” (1988), an international satellite broadcast project involving more than 10 countries ahead of the Seoul Olympics.
“This exhibition will provide a new visual experience through cutting-edge technology and convey the philosophical concerns of contemporary South Korean artists,” said a representative from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. “It offers an opportunity for the global audience visiting Paris during the Olympics to gain a multifaceted understanding of Korea.”
