September 2001 started out as an auspicious time for the Korean-born artist Young-Il Ahn. Having moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1960s, he’d settled in there, and established his practice as a painter, managing to get by on selling his ethereal abstractions, and have time to pursue his other passions, like playing the clarinet. He was in his mid-60s, and comfortable. On September 9, he got married. Then came the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

  

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron make their South Korean debut with a monolithic new office building and cultural space in Seoul that boasts a majestic triangular silhouette. The 11-storey structure sits at the crest of a broad avenue in Seoul’s bustling Gangnam district, surrounded by an array of high-end fashion boutiques and flagships, including Louis Vuitton (designed by Frank Gehry), Dolce & Gabbana (Jean Nouvel) and Dior (Christian de Portzamparc). Housing the corporate HQ of ST International, a Korean energy and mining conglomerate, and its constituent SongEun Art & Cultural Foundation, which operates a nonprofit art space, this striking edifice is set to become a contemporary architectural landmark amid the Korean capital’s architecture and dense urban fabric.

  

Do Ho Suh: Works on Paper at STPI is a survey of the Seoul-born, London-based artist’s extraordinary body of work created during his multiple residencies with STPI since 2009. The A3-sized book contains over 200 highly detailed illustrations, two illuminating essays by Allegra Pesenti and Sarah Suzuki, as well as an intimate reflection by Suh himself in conversation with Martin Coomer.

  

This article aims to re-examining the 40th anniversary of Young Korean Artists. Young Korean Artists, which started with Youth Artists Exhibition in 1981, is a program to discover emerging artists by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA). About 400 young artists were introduced over 20 exhibitions. This year fifteen artists were selected: Kang Ho-yeon, Kim San, Kim Jung-heon, Nam Jin-woo, Noh Ki-hoon, Park A-ram, Bae He-yum, Shin Jeong-gyun, Yohan Han, Woo Jung-soo, Yoon Ji-young, Lee Yoon-hee, Choi Yoon, Hyun Woo-min, and Hyun Jung-yoon. It encompasses a variety of diverse genres, such as painting, sculpture, video, installation, photography, pottery, and performance, and includes artists working locally and abroad. This article pays attention to the symbolic meaning of Young Korean Artists in the Korean art world. I argue that the exhibition should adopt active planning to capture the space of the new generation and encourages people to focus on the dynamics of “young” art in Korea.

  

In 1928, North Korean poet Palyang Park’s (1905?88) “Port of Incheon” appeared in the periodical Joseon Jigwang. Summoning the old name of the port, Chemulpo, the verse begins: “Situated in the west of Chosen, pier Chemulpo . . . a cosmopolitan navigating the world.” Opening Korea to the outside world, the historic port is described as a dynamic center of exchange, where boats to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Yokohoma gather. About a century since the poem was written, the city of Incheon still bears the vitality of a coastal city. Yet being at the frontline of Korea’s industrialization has inevitably led the city to become host to many environmental issues.

  

It is a testament to Lee Bae’s ingenuity and artistic prowess that despite a singular focus on charcoal as a medium since 1989, he has unceasingly created uniquely spellbinding works. From imposing older canvases composed of carbon blocks to recent paintings rendered in dissolved charcoal powder, the works on view at “Paradigm of Charcoal,” Lee’s fourth solo show at Perrotin, were as visually arresting as ever, illustrating the breadth of material possibilities in his practice.