Established in 2016 in Seoul’s central art district, Barakat Contemporary is devoted to contemporary art, presenting exhibitions in which artworks are selected through an extensive research-based curatorial practice. Originating from Barakat Gallery, the international antiquities gallery, Barakat Contemporary takes a step further in realising its vision of integrating ancient with contemporary and the East with the West.
Read MoreIn conducting its exhibitions, Barakat Contemporary carefully selects pieces that present humanistic reflections on human civilisation, both past and present. Beyond the gallery’s roster of exhibitions, Barakat Contemporary also holds seminars and other arts-related programs, leading the Korean art scene in creating a forum for knowledge and discourse.
Barakat Contemporary Artists
Barakat Contemporary introduces the most significant international artists of diverse origins to Korea and international audiences, featuring the unique aesthetics and variety of experimental media present in their work. Among the artists showcased at Barakat Contemporary is Nigerian-based El Anatsui, whose sculptures are made by stringing together thousands of the metal bottle caps consumed in Nigeria. Wael Shawky, Shezad Dawood, and Nicky Nodjoumi examine and reflect on the most pressing issues of our era. The work of international Korean artist Yunchul Kim, a recipient of the COLLIDE International award, focuses on the material world. Peles Empire experiments with historical and cultural hybrids in their work through the process of endless copying and repetition.
Exhibition view: Hassan Hajjaj, A Taste of Things to Come, Barakat Contemporary, Seoul (5 August–27 September 2020). Courtesy Barakat Contemporary
Ocula Report 58th Venice Biennale: May You Live In Interesting Times By Mohammad Salemy, Venice The 58th Venice Biennale, May You Live In Interesting Times (11 May–24 November 2019), certainly benefitted from low expectations, given the lacklustre curatorial of the previous edition, when different segments of the show were conceptually framed with titles like 'Pavilion of Joys and Fears' and 'Pavilion of Colours'. Add to this the...
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Related Press Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell: The Art of Marriage 28 November 2019, The Brooklyn Rail The cover photograph for the informative catalogue that accompanies this dazzling show was taken by Hans Namuth and catches Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler at their wedding lunch on April 6, 1958. Her look is all love; Motherwell, averting his gaze from Namuth, has a vacant, slightly ironic expression. Was it because he'd already been...
Related Press What to look for at Frieze London 2 October 2019, The Guardian Modernist architecture is still a big focus for artists – as long as its Eurocentric and male-dominated history can be rewritten while its buildings are celebrated. Frieze Live is one of the fair's main curated sections, and this year it features British artist Shezad Dawood's performance piece. Dawood's work draws on the work of Bangladeshi...
Related Press The Art Newspaper's pick of the 2019 Venice Biennale 30 April 2019, The Art Newspaper There are hundreds of exhibitions in Venice during the Biennale. Alongside the main exhibition in the Giardini and Arsenale, there are 90 national presentations, many in nearby pavilions in the Giardini and in spaces around the Arsenale, but also dotted throughout Venice. Then there are the official collateral exhibitions in museums and galleries...
Related Video & Audio El Anatsui: ‘The golden rule is, there are no rules’ 7 June 2019, Art Basel El Anatsui has carved a name for himself with his monumental hanging sculptures made with recycled metal scraps. As imposing and spectacular as they are fragile and portable, these works have been exhibited in some of the world's most prestigious institutions, most recently at Munich's Haus der Kunst and in the Venice Biennale's first Ghana...
Related Video & Audio El Anatsui: Language & Symbols 1 April 2016, ART21 In this video, Ghana's best-known contemporary artist, El Anatsui, speaks about the role that language and symbols play in his work. He describes how the abstract nature of West African "adinkra" symbols and the flexibility of meaning in the words of his native language of Ewe resonate with the concept of non-fixity and indeterminateness...
