‘Remember Me’ links memory to present

“258 Fake” (2011) by Ai Weiwei

Art exhibition “Remember Me” is at the Hyundai Gallery featuring six artists, showcasing a range of media and artistic styles. It will run until Oct. 14 at Hyundai’s four exhibit spaces in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.

The theme revolves around how memories relate to present realities, according to the exhibition’s pamphlet. However, most of the works tackle the idea broadly and indirectly, which allows visitors to take each artist on their own merit.

Visitors will see works by artists from China, Korea, Italy and Denmark. There is no uniform allocation of space. Danish artist Simon Dybbroe Moller has three floors within the main gallery and does not disappoint. Moller offers three installations that come off as stylish, curious and clever.

On the first floor, an overturned beer vending machine is enigmatically tied to a life-sized ceramic horse. The sound-video installation on the second floor features an argument between a loudspeaker and a young woman.

The beer theme returns on the third floor, where a series of colorfully kitschy photographs of the alcoholic beverage hang on the walls. They surround a cheap table with an ashtray and an empty pack of cigarettes.

Up the street at the new Hyundai Gallery, three artists share the three floors. On the first floor, Ai Weiwei of China presents a slideshow of over 7,500 of his photographs on a row of flat-panel screens. The photos are from his blog which was shut down by the Chinese government, and the works on display range from the controversial to the banal.

In the basement, Korean artist Chung Seo-young has scattered an array of objects such as a mirror, generic metallic office desks, a soccer ball and a block of melting concrete. On one of the walls is a piece titled “Dial the Phone,” in which Chung has written a series of instructions that reads like Dada poetry.

The large space on the second floor is devoted to the work of veteran conceptual artist Lee Seung-taek. A pioneer of Korean avant-garde and experimental art, Lee is represented by several sculptures that meld organic and sometimes sexual forms to traditional Korean images, as well as a series of photographs from past performances.

The works of China’s Liu Ding and Luca Buvoli of Italy are displayed at the Dugahun Gallery and 16 Bungee, respectively, two smaller spaces owned by Hyundai and located in the alleyways behind the main galleries.

The installations of Ding and Buvoli are worlds apart culturally but share a strong sense of nostalgia. Indeed, the works of all six participating artists does lucidly reflect the main theme of the “Remember Me” exhibition.

For more information, go to www.galleryhyundai.com or call (02) 2287-3500. <The Korea Times/Joon Soh>

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