The Busan Museum of Art (BMA) will take a step forward to become a 21st-century art museum that represents and supports Busan’s local art while keeping up with international art trends. The BMA, which has been preparing to remodel its building since 2018, has announced that it will hold seven exhibitions this year with the aim of “looking back on the museum’s history and value of the past 25 years and designing its next 25 years.”
One of the scheduled exhibitions that focuses on Korean contemporary art is Vision & Perspective 2023. Since 1999, the annual Vision & Perspective program has been supporting the activities of artists based in Busan City and Gyeongnam Province with the goal of discovering young artists through exhibitions. 

Vision & Perspective 2023, which is scheduled to take place from March 10 to August 6, 2023, will introduce the works of three artists: Deok Hee Kim, Minwook Oh, and Junghwan Cho. In the exhibition, the works of these three artists will provide an opportunity to see how they have interwoven contemporaneity and local conditions into their artistic practices.

Through experimental works, Deok Hee Kim explores the essence and existence of the world around us, such as matter, energy, time, and space. Minwook Oh explores urban space through film, documentary, and other art forms to reveal the dark side of Korea, and Junghwan Cho attempts to depict the desires reflected in high-rise apartment buildings and the underlying anxiety through painting.

There will also be a collection exhibition, which is scheduled to take place from May 4 to August 31, 2023. The exhibition will examine Korean art history, with a focus on the Busan area. Alongside the exhibition, the BMA’s collection catalog will be published before June 2023, providing an excellent opportunity to learn about the museum’s identity, history, and future directions.

In addition to exhibitions introducing Korean contemporary art, various other exhibitions are also scheduled this year. Takashi Murakami: Murakami Zombie was delayed but is now scheduled to open with free admission from January 26 through March 12, 2023. This exhibition will be a large-scale retrospective of Murakami, including his early works that have never been shown to the public, as well as sculptures, installations, and videos. The exhibition is part of the “Lee Ufan and His Friends” series, which showcases international artists responding to Lee Ufan’s artistic practices.

Prior to the renovation of the museum in 2024, the exhibition Renovation Project I, II will be held to examine the museum’s historical significance and determine its future role. At the Children’s Gallery, a solo exhibition by Gim Hong-sok will be held from May 4 to December 17. Space Lee Ufan will have two exhibitions by the artist Lee Ufan from January 2 to December 31 and a special exhibition from April 21 to December 31.

References

• 부산시립미술관 (Busan Museum of Art, BMA)