“Zero-Point” Installation view at Busan Museum of Art ©Busan Museum of Art

The Busan Museum of Art will hold the collection exhibition Zero-Point from June 16 to August 27. This exhibition is organized to commemorate the publication of the first 『Collection Anthology』 since the museum’s opening and aim to examine the identity of Busan art through 150 works accumulated over the past 25 years.

The exhibition is organized into eight themes that aim to examine the history of modern and contemporary art in Korea. There are ‘Artists of Modern Busan’ and ‘Reflections of Turbulent History and Reality,’ which shed light on the period from modern times to the post-liberation period; ‘From Concept to Abstract,’ which explores the influx of abstract art into Busan in the 1960s; and ‘Expanded Artistic Boundaries,’ which shows Korean experimental art in the 1970s, which embraced a wide range of Western contemporary art.

Next, ‘Plane as Spirit,’ a period when monochromatic painting, which deepened the exploration of the plane and emphasized performativity and materiality, gradually gained prominence; ‘Toward New Forms,’ the early 1980s, when figurative art became a leading trend in Busan; The Age of Diversity,’ the 1990s, when the discourse of postmodernism appeared in the realm of art and pluralistic experimentation took place; and ‘Embracing Asia,’ a showcase of collections from Asian countries that the museum has been collecting to play a central role in the study of Asian art and the formation of discourse.

The exhibition examines the path the Busan Museum of Art has taken since its inception and the way forward. The exhibition shows the direction the museum has maintained and aims to establish the identity of Busan art through the works it has collected since its opening. It also seeks to examine whether the museum has been fulfilling its role of discovering and researching Busan art.