First established in 1989, Arario Gallery is dedicated to promoting Korean contemporary art abroad and introducing new and compelling international artworks to Korea and China through its exhibition spaces in Cheonan, Seoul, and Shanghai.
Read MoreArario Gallery represents some of the most significant Korean contemporary artists working today, among them Kim Byoungho, whose sonic and metallic installations offer immersive encounters with art; Kim Kulim, a foundational Korean avantgarde artist who worked with happenings, installation, mail art, experimental film, and land art in the 1960s, when the media were still new in Korea; and Huh Myoungwook, known for his use of lacquer in lieu of paint as a means of exploring temporality.
Between 2005 and 2012, Arario Gallery exhibited the work of artists from China, India, and Southeast Asia in its former location in Beijing. This drive for representing diversity has continued. On the gallery roster from China are artists such as Gao Lei, who often strips everyday objects of their functional properties to engage with the ideas of transformation and alienation in his paintings, photography, and installations; and Yan Heng, noted for his paintings that draw from personal experiences.
Arario Gallery also represents leading Japanese contemporary artists, such as Keiji Uematsu, who was a principal figure in the post-War Japanese art movement Mono-ha, with works in diverse media that explore the relationship between body and object; and Kohei Nawa, who famously covered his sculptures depicting animals and toys in glass bead cells in his pursuit of merging traditional sensibilities and contemporary technology. From India and Southeast Asia are Subodh Gupta, who incorporates found objects into sculptures and installations as a means of examining the rapid transformation of India; Nalini Malani, a pre-eminent Indian contemporary artist whose videos, paintings, and installation works address as wide-ranging topics as war, nationalism, and female empowerment; and Manila-born artist Leslie de Chavez, known for his figurative paintings and installations that similarly address the themes of history, imperialism, and religion in his homeland, among other locales.
In the early 2000s, Arario Gallery gained a reputation for organising then-rare solo exhibitions of international artists such as Keith Haring and Sigmar Polke in Korea. Group shows of note include Between the Lines: Korean Contemporary Art Since 1970 at its location in Cheonan in 2014, and Artists from Leipzig at its former address in Beijing in 2005.
The gallery participates in art fairs both based in Korea and abroad, including Art Busan; KIAF ART SEOUL; ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair; Art Basel in Hong Kong; ART STAGE Singapore; Frieze New York; and West Bund Art & Design, Shanghai.
Ocula Photolog ART021 Shanghai 2019 'As one of the most important contemporary art fairs in Asia, ART021 reinforces its ongoing commitment to leveraging local recourses with a global perspective, supporting contemporary Chinese art andcultivating new generations of domestic collectors. 111 world's leading galleries from 18 countries and 57 cities are selected to present contemporary...
Ocula Photolog West Bund Art & Design 2019 'The fair provides a platform for international exhibitors to showcase the finest quality of modern and contemporary art in Shanghai. With exhibitions and art events offered by museums and galleries in the city, West Bund has made November's Shanghai a permanent fixture on the global art calendar.' –West Bund Art & Design, Shanghai (7–10...
Ocula Report Art Jakarta Drops Anchor in a Stormy Southeast Asian Art Market By Sam Gaskin, Jakarta Jakarta may be sinking, prompting the announcement last month that Indonesia will create a new capital on the island of Borneo, but the city's longest-running art fair is on the rise. Founded by the license holder of Harper's Bazaar Indonesia, the fair began as Bazaar Art Jakarta in 2008. While it's still owned by the same holding company, MRA...
Ocula Conversation Zoe Butt on the Challenges and Rewards of Curating By Maria Nicolacopoulou, Sharjah Zoe Butt is the artistic director of The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, the first purpose-built space for contemporary art in Vietnam. Founded in March 2016, the Centre was designed by HTAP Architects in an old steel warehouse, with cargo shipping containers added to its structure. Initiated as a social enterprise...
Related Press OzAsia review: Vessel 28 October 2019, In Daily Known for his collaborative work with the likes of Thom Yorke, Anthony Gormley and Marina Abramovic, Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet has made a career of melding dance with other artforms. His latest project is his most conceptually ambitious yet.
Related Press The Shows to See in Seoul This Weekend 27 September 2019, Frieze A woman pulls an archer's bow at a dot painting. The arrow hits a white dot. She removes it before covering the dot with a square of white tissue paper. An action work by Soungui Kim, Ten thousand ugly ink dots (1982), is captured on video in the artist's first major retrospective in Seoul's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA).
Related Press See the Majestic Displays at India’s First Contemporary Sculpture Park 5 September 2019, Hyperallergic India's first-ever contemporary sculpture park has launched its second edition. The not-for-profit project, inaugurated in December 2017, transformed the Madhavendra Palace in Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur, into an expansive sculpture gallery. The sculptures are displayed throughout the majestic rooms and grand courtyards of the 18th-century fortress...
Related Press How technology distorts nature: Kohei Nawa’s art for the information age – so tactile you want to feel it 24 July 2019, South China Morning Post It takes some restraint not to reach out and touch the art when walking through a Kohei Nawa exhibition. From the stuffed animals covered in glass bubbles in his 'PixCell' series to the polished, futuristic blades of Throne, and the voluptuous objects coated in bedazzled grains from his "Particle" series, these sculptures have tactile...
Related Video & Audio ASIA NOW 2018 || Yuko Hasegawa (Curator) and Kohei Nawa (Artist) 22 November 2018, ASIA NOW Yuko Hasegawa, Artistic Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, and Kohei Nawa discuss the artist's recent sculptures and installations, including Throne, on view under the Louvre Pyramid until January 14, 2019.
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