Three artists, each from Korea, China and Japan, have come together in Seoul, inviting audiences into their own world of art.

The Subtle Triangle exhibition that kicked off on March 10 at the Seoul Museum of Art features more than 30 works of art made by Tangachi, Xu Zhen and Koizumi Meiro -- each from Korea, China and Japan, respectively -- whether it be installation art or visual art.

The exhibition aims at spotlighting the past, present and future of the three countries by means of art. For example, the Japanese artist turned memories and events from the past, dating back to the period of imperialism, into video pieces.

The Chinese artist focused on the present day in mainland China, a country that experienced rapid economic development over the past few years. In contrast to this, the Korean artist unraveled a possible future for his own country which is growing under the shadow of modernization.



In one of the visual works by Koizumi Meiro, “Oral History,” a series of Japanese people was asked the same question: “Do you know what happened between 1900 and 1945?” Most of the respondents said that they had no idea or gave answers that were wide of the mark.



“I realized how the Japanese people do not know much about their past,” said the artist. “I wanted to break the typical image of such ignorance among the people.”

The artist studied in Canada and has been actively working in Amsterdam and Paris. “As I’ve lived out of Japan for a long time, I can look at the past and at the Japanese people from the perspective of a third person. Through this exhibition, I had time to deeply reflect on the history involving Korea and Japan, and I feel responsible for what happened,” he said during the opening ceremony of the exhibition on March 10.



Another artist in the trio, Xu Zhen, recreated a supermarket that exists in Shanghai, exactly as it is, showing the wide range of products on sale. Each of the products, however, is nothing but an empty bag with nothing inside. The work of art reflects the artist’s satirical take on the current art market, which he believes is one full of emptiness.

A similar satire can be found in the artist’s other works, too, including a vase with a crooked neck and a stone statue whose neck was cut off and replaced with an upside down Greek statue. In each of his works, the artist tries to bring to light modern-day China in which moral value and order are distorted due to rapid modernization.




Finally, Korean artist Yangachi has brought to this exhibition his interest in an imaginary world and in space as an escape or a safe haven from reality. His “The Sea Salt Theater” presents such imaginings through visual images shown on a group of monitors.



“We launched this exhibition with the goal of untangling the long-existing subtle, complicated triangle between Korea, China and Japan by means of art,” said Director Kim Hong-hee of the Seoul Museum of Art.

The exhibit is part of the “Korea-China-Japan Culture Shuttle” program, a project launched by the Korea Foundation in 2007 to reinforce cooperative and friendly relations among the three countries through artistic and cultural exchanges. The exhibit continues until May 10.



By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Wi Tack-whan, the Seoul Museum of Art
jiae5853@korea.kr