PKM Gallery presents Time in Space: The Life Style, a special exhibition that would mark the end of the year 2020 and usher in the start of a new year.
Quarantine and contactless living have become a 'new normal' in the post-COVID era. The exhibition aims to provide an insight into the value and definition of one's residential space in these unprecedented times when individuals need to stay at home for prolonged periods. Amidst the changing lifestyles, residential space expanded its function as a space for working, resting, and social gathering; it has become a socio-cultural location that now has a greater impact on our lives compared to the times before the coronavirus pandemic.
Time in Space: The Life Style showcases paintings, sculptures, furniture, and design objects, which are the products from the far past to the present time. They are not only decorative elements within the residential space but they coexist and resonate with one another as they are linked across time. Thus, the occupied space becomes a significant site for storytelling that widens the visitors' scope of thinking and allows reflections on a humanistic approach and aesthetic pleasure.
The exhibition takes place at PKM+, which previously was a residence built in 1969 by a renowned Korean architect Kim Chung Up. The building was renovated a few years ago but continues to embody the qualities of living space in terms of its scale and ambiance.
The ground floor of the exhibition is comprised of a true-view landscape by a Korean master painter Gyeomjae Jeong seon, modern and contemporary paintings of Yun Hyong-keun; Suh Seung-won, Bek Hyunjin, and Young Do Jeong; a moon jar by Kwon Dae Sup; a sculptural shelving unit by American artist Andrea Zittel; a daybed by Danish designer Poul Kjærholm; traditional Korean wooden furniture; European vintage lamps from the 1960s; vintage speakers; and an amplifier from the 1940s. In all, the room turns into a modern and elegant space with a classical touch.
The basement floor, with a home bar at its centre, is decorated with fancy rococo-style wallpaper. It showcases a chester sofa that became popular in the Victorian era and came into vogue in the early 20th century, known to be used by Sigmund Freud for his psychoanalytic treatments. Additionally, a bar table and a shelf newly designed by Smallstudiosemi; a bar stool designed by French designer Pierre Jeanneret; a drawing by Kwon Jin Kyu, the pioneer of modern sculpture in Korea; a mirrored work by Darren Almond; a relief by Wonwoo Lee' character paintings by Sambypen; T - shirts with social commentaries by Moon hwan Parkare on display together with letters written by Sang chon Shin Heum and Misuoo Heo Mok who are scholars from the mid-Joseon period, and a manual of the game of Go from the late-Joseon period. The dignity of classical works that have endured the long passage of time and the 'hip and trendy' aspect o f the younger generation boldly correspond and harmonise with one another in side the space.
There are restrictions on physical traveling in the post-COVID era. However, virtual tours through the new media have become more affluent. For instance, the fads for the 1980s and 1990s retro style in today's pop music and fashion started with the younger generation revisiting and appreciating the traces of the past found on social media like YouTube. Such phenomenon occurred because people nowadays could reconnect with the past through the new media.
This exhibition presents artworks and design pieces created in different region s and at various points in time—from hundreds o f years ago to the unstable present of post-COVID era. Energised with works of art and design, the exhibition space gives consolation, inspiration , and a vision of the living space of our times.
Traditional Korean Art
Gyeomjae Jeong seon, Woobong Jo Hui-ryong, Sang chon Shin Heum, Misoo Heo Mok, Unknown Artists
Modern & Contemporary Art
Kwon Jin Kyu, Yun Hyong-keun, Suh Seung-won, Bek Hyunjin, Wonwoo Lee, Young Do Jeong, Sambypen, Moon hwan Park, Darren Almond, Andrea Zittel
Contemporary Ceramics
Kwon Dae Sup, Han Jeong Yong
Design Furniture & Objects
Pierre Jeanneret, Jean Prouvé, Le Corbusier, Verner Panton, Gino Vistosi, Wilhelm Braun-Feldweg, Helena Tynell, Kai Kristiansen, Poul Kjærholm, Anders Pehrson, Kajsa & Nils Nisse Strinning, Peter Hvidt, Smallstudiosemi
PKM Gallery was established in 2001 in Seoul by Park Kyung-mee—an art historian and the commissioner of the Korean Pavilion at the 49th Venice Biennale—with a mission to promote Korean art abroad and to foster conversation between Korean and international contemporary art. With previous locations in Hwa-dong and Cheongdam-dong, the gallery moved to its current space in Samcheong-dong—an artistic and cultural hub in the heart of Seoul—in 2015.
