Donna Huanca Stirs the Senses at Space K Seoul

Designed by Korean architect Minsuk Cho, Space K Seoul in the city's new Magok-dong district is a work of art in itself.

Alongside Space K Seoul, Cho is responsible for designing Pace Gallery's Seoul space (2021) and curating the Korean Pavilion exhibition for the 2014 Venice Biennale of Architecture—for which he won a Golden Lion Award.

The Bolivian-American artist Donna Huanca takes advantage of the building's economical form and sweeping concrete plains for her solo exhibition, BLISS POOL (9 March–8 June 2023) at the Seoul art museum.

Turning the space into an immersive and multi-sensory experience, Huanca has developed a series of sculptures and paintings which have been produced in response to viewers' memories, senses, and emotions.

Taking centre stage is a large reflective surface, or pool, which plays host to a series of Huanca's sculptures which in turn have similar reflective qualities—their surfaces turning the viewer into performers participating in the exhibition.

Flanking the installation are two monumental paintings—a mixture of digital print (collages of her performances and sculptures), sand, and paint thickly applied with her hands.

The subtle fragrance of semi-dried oil paint mixes with a hand-crafted Palo Santo wood and burnt hair-infused scent diffused throughout the exhibition in an attempt to trigger memories as part of the viewing experience.

Space K Seoul will host a solo exhibition by the Korean-Canadian visual artist, Zadie Xa, opening in July 2023 and continuing during Kiaf Seoul (7–10 September 2023) and Seoul's second edition of Frieze (6–9 September 2023).

Main image: Exhibition view: Donna Huanca, BLISS POOL, Space K Seoul (9 March–8 June 2023). Courtesy Space K Seoul.