서울

SEOUL: UNTIL NOW! focuses on developments of a particular city, as a scene and as a site. It follows the art scene in Seoul from the early 90′s but focuses on the present, at the same time it allows the city itself to be mirrored through the art.

Seoul is one of the world’s largest cities. It is fast, vast and confusing, and full of contradictory impressions. It is not exactly a beautiful city. In fact, many times it often acts as the opposite. It takes some time to uncover the unique qualities of Seoul. It is a maze with many detours and short cuts, where conformity is interrupted around every corner. The same could be said about the contemporary art scene in Seoul. Just like the city itself, its development has been rapid. Most of the contemporary art scene only started to evolve after the process of democratization had started in the late 1980′s. From the early 90′s and onwards, Korean artists were already emerging on the international scene. The exchange with the art world outside of Seoul has been in a constant flux in recent years, making the city probably the most dynamic art scene in East Asia today.

‘SEOUL: UNTIL NOW!’ covers layers not easily seen in the city, through projects made by artists. History, architecture, city planning, youth culture, social aspects as well as gender and identity issues are present, while urban realities are used and examined from various approaches. Documentary methods and materials are used and twisted in highly personal ways, while the city and its contemporary realities have passed through a number of spatial, formal and metaphorical considerations.