With Monsoon Melody on view at WIELS, Brussels, her largest solo exhibition to date, Thao Nguyen Phan discusses her transition to film to explore colonial legacies and ecological destruction in Vietnam.

Los Angeles' art scene has a lot to offer during Frieze Los Angeles, with galleries, non-profits, and museums gearing up for the fair's second edition between 14 and 17 February 2020. In this Ocula Lowdown, Tessa Moldan lists a selection of the city's must-see shows.

Ack Ro' , Jaki Irvine's reflection on the fragility of life at Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, is an 'ambitious, holistic installation' staged like a 'wild disarray of interconnected yet fragmented pieces'.

About Gallery Baton

Since opening its doors in 2011, Gallery Baton has emerged as one of Korea’s most influential contemporary art galleries. Representing Korean and international contemporary artists, the gallery is dedicated to fostering a supportive environment for experimental art and emerging talents.

As non-profit programs, Chapter II and Chapter II Yard (2020 Spring), provide studio spaces, curatorial support and exhibition opportunities to young artists while the Observation Deck—the other of these spaces—serves as a venue for video and new media art and installation projects.

Artists represented by Gallery Baton

Gallery Baton represents diverse practices from all around the world. Established Korean artists on the roster include Koh San Keum, who converts texts consumed as social symbols into material objects as artificial pearls are placed according to the number of letters and spaces in between the letters in a fixed and minimal arrangement; and Kim Sang Gyun, renowned for his grout sculptures that deconstruct and reconfigure period architecture. Among the international artists are Liam Gillick, who has been examining the constructed world through his ever-expanding practice of sculpture, installation, filmmaking, and writing; Tatuso Miyajima, a Japanese artist recognised for his minimalistic installations and use of LED lights; Belgian artist Rinus Van de Velde, whose charcoal drawings often derive from settings constructed out of cardboard; New Zealand artist Peter Stichbury, known for his portraits featuring big-eyed individuals with inscrutable expressions; and Marcin Maciejowski, who hails from Poland and presents candid observations of the everyday in his photographic paintings.

Also on Gallery Baton’s roster are Jinnie Seo, who explores the aesthetics of time and space in her often monumental and sculptural installations; Yoon Suk One, who creates blurred paintings that appear as if photographed in motion, embodying impressions of the artist’s subjective experience; Bin Woo Hyuk, who primarily works with charcoal and paint to create part-monochrome landscape paintings; and Hugh Scott-Douglas, who engages with photography and painting to consider varied themes such as the value systems of objects and global economics.

Events

Actively involved in encouraging regional conversations around art and culture, Gallery Baton collaborates with galleries and institutions in East Asia to present group exhibitions. Notable examples include Array: EACA 2019, curated by ARTMIA Foundation and showcasing works of eight emerging artists; and The Ubiquity of Borders: Japanese Contemporary (2018), which was co-organised with Japanese galleries SCAI The Bathhouse, Taka Ishii Gallery, Take Ninagawa, and TARO NASU.

Gallery Baton is equally devoted to promoting Korean contemporary art abroad and exhibits at prestigious international art fairs, among them Art Basel in Hong Kong, Art Brussels, Frieze London, ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, and KIAF ART SEOUL.