“A Comedy for Mortals: Inferno” Installation View, Photo by OnArt StudioLehmann Maupin Seoul presents “A Comedy for Mortals: Inferno” by Tammy Nguyen (b. 1984) on view through May 6. This exhibition is the artist’s first exhibition at Lehmann Maupin since joining the organization in 2022 and her first solo exhibition in Korea. It is based on Dante’s Divine Comedy and consists of a trilogy.
Starting with “A Comedy for Mortals: Inferno” in Seoul, it will be followed by “A Comedy for Mortals: Purgatorio” at Lehmann Maupin London in 2024, and finally “A Comedy for Mortals: Paradisio” at Lehmann Maupin New York in 2025.
The exhibition will feature more than 20 new works in a variety of media (paintings, works on paper, artist books, etc.). The artist’s work takes a predominantly narrative approach, with an ongoing interest in Southeast Asia and the diaspora. She also explores the intersections between these relatively unrecognized histories and utilizes a variety of materials and techniques in her work, including watercolor, vinyl paint, screen printing, stamping, gilding, intaglio, and glow-in-the-dark inks.
Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American artist, created an artist book for the exhibition, which she describes as the ‘heart and soul’ of this exhibition. The book unfolds into various shapes, including a spaceship, and consists of nine volumes. Five of them are available at Lehmann Maupin and four at Sojeonseolim in Gangnam, Seoul.
