MMCA Seoul Asks, What Is Conceptual Art?

Hot on the heels of Damien Hirst’s solo show at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, MMCA presents an ambitious survey of South Korean artists who also embraced conceptualism and gave it a unique twist.

Around 140 works will be on show by nearly 30 artists, including Lee Kunyong, Kim Kulim, Kim Beom, and US-based Cody Choi.

The show begins with Korea’s pioneering experimental artists of the 1960s and ’70s, including those who created works using physical actions, language, and logic, such as artists affiliated with the group Space & Time (1969–81).

The exhibition also aims to place the movement in its international context, showing how conceptual art was enthusiastically taken up by artists far beyond North America and Europe.

Titled This is (Not) Conceptual Art, the show opens June 19 at MMCA’s Seoul branch and runs until the fall, while Hirst’s blockbuster show is due to end June 28.