April the Eternal Voyage

Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art presented April the Eternal Voyage, a memorial exhibition dedicated to the victims of the MV Sewol disaster, from April 16, 2016, the second anniversary day of the disaster, to June 26, 2016. Since the Government Joint Memorial set up at Hwarang Recreation Lake Park in Ansan, immediately after the accident, our museum, located in the same area, has been a public institution which has watched the various situations relating to the tragedy from the shortest distance. This naturally brought us to a couple of questions: “what is art in contemporary society?” and “what is the role and function of a museum in a community?” So we really want to see whether or not

a museum can put the social and artistic discourses regarding the ferry disaster out into the public sphere, by playing its role and function of a curator. And with these  questions and the effort to find answers, we hoped that we would be able to console not only the victims’ families, but also the neighbors and each other who are sharing the pain and grief caused by the disaster, and furthermore, to talk about our future. 

April the Eternal Voyage would never be possible without the help and support of 416 Sewol Families for Truth and A Safer Society and 416 Memory Archive. We are also really indebted to Ansan City for aiding the publication of this book. And most of all, our special thanks go to the participating artists, the curators and the staff of Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art who have dedicated their time and effort in the whole process from planning to realization of the exhibition. Finally, we pray that on this April, the exhibition will be able to widen the road on which all of us will go together, until we can pay a proper tribute to the memory of the victims who set out on the eternal voyage.  Eunju Choi Director of Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art

Born in Paju, Gyeonggi-do, 1988 and graduated from the Department of Contemporary Art Practice & Curating at Kaywon University of Art & Design, in 2015. Currently he studies in the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication at Sungkonghoe University and recently participated in the exhibitions such as Real DMZ Project (Art Sonje Center, Seoul, 2015), Think, Think (Artspace H, Seoul), etc.

Born in Shinan, Jeollanam-do, 1956 and graduated from the Department of Painting in 1987 and from the Graduate School at Hongik University in 1990. He had many solo exhibitions at various museums and galleries including Kumho Museum of Art (Seoul), Rodin galleries (Seoul), Goeun Photo Art Museum (Busan), etc., after having his first show at Sagak Galley (Seoul) in 1992. In 2015, he held a solo exhibition titled Underprint: a sparrow and jajangmyeon at One and J. Gallery (Seoul).

Born in Daegu, 1977 and graduated from the Department of Environmental Sculpture at University of Seoul in 2002. Recently he participated in the exhibitions such as RhythmScape (Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan, 2015) and Waterfall_Structure of Survival (Mullae Art Factory, Seoul, 2011).

Born in Seoul, 1971. He graduated from the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Konkuk University in 1995 and studied Photographic Design in the Graduate School at Hongik University until 2003. His recent solo exhibitions include Dance of Order (43 Inverness Street, London, 2016) and Really Good, Murder (Gallery Sugata, Kyoto, 2015). He received the “Korea Artist Prize” award by the National Museum of Contemporary Art in 2014.

Born in Gyeongsangnam-do, 1970 and graduated from the Department of Painting in 1999 and the Graduate School at Hongik University in 2006. He had many exhibitions since his first solo show Prosaic Landscape in Kwanhoon Gallery, 2005. His recent solo exhibitions include Zari (Gallery Soso, Heyri Art Valley, 2015) and Prosaic Landscape (Kukje Gallery, Seoul, 2013).

Born in Gangjin, Jeollanam-do, 1961 and graduated from the Department of Painting, Hongik University, in 1992. He had a solo exhibition Waiting People at Gwang Art Gallery, Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Seoul, in 2015 and participated in the group exhibition Resistance to Oblivion (Ansan Arts Center, Ansan, 2015).

Born in Ulsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, 1952 and graduated from the Department of Painting, Seoul National University, in 1976 and from the Department of Art Education, the Graduate School of Seoul National University. He has worked as a professor in the Department of Animation, Korean National University of Arts, since 2001. He participated in Memory, Sewol Ferry memorial animation exhibition, held at Seogu Culture Center gallery, Gwangju, in 2015. In 2009, he also received the 10th Korean National Assembly Award as the “Cartoonist of This Year.”

Born in Seoul, 1955 and graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Seoul National University in 1977 and from Graduated Staatliche Akademie der Bildende Künste Stuttgart in 1995. He has worked as a professor at Korea National University of Arts, Seoul since 1997. He had many solo exhibitions in many museums and galleries such as Hakgojae Gallery (Seoul), Rodin Gallery (Seoul), Casa Encendida (Madrid), HITE Collection (Seoul), etc., since his first one at Gallery Space Saemteo (Seoul) in 1992. His 2015 solo show was Invisible Land of Love (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul).

Born in Geoje Island, 1967 and acquired his second M.F.A. in painting at Chelsea College of Arts, London. His recent solo exhibitions include







Red–Silly Dream (Mimesis Art Museum, Paju, 2015) and Plastic Garden (Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, 2012). In 2014, he received the 11th “Artist Award”(Hajonghyun Art Foundation, Seoul, 2008).

Born in Suwon, 1968 and graduated from the Department of Painting at University of Suwon. He had his first solo exhibition at Suwon Art Center in 2002 and his 10th, titled solo exhibition titled Stories of People’s Lives Seen Through Prints (Ulsan Labour History Museum, Ulsan, 1987). In 2012, he received the 2th “Gu Bonju Art Prize.”

Born in Seoul, 1979 and graduated from the Department of Sculpture and the Graduate School at Chung-Ang University. He is going to present his recent work Ipseokbugeun (Platform-L Contemporary Art Center, Seoul) in the coming September, and his recent exhibitions include Hidden Track (Space Willing N Dealing, Seoul, 2014) and The Moments (One and J. Gallery, Seoul, 2012). He was the winner of the 2014 Hermès Foundation Missulsang.

Born in Seoul, 1977 and graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Chung-Ang University in 2002 and from received his MFA in Photography at Université Paris VIII, Paris, in 2009. She had recently a solo exhibition titled Searching for the Photograph (Old House, CAN Foundation, Seoul, 2014) and a project exhibition titled A Certain Photograph (Seongbuk Creative Art Center, Seoul, 2015). She also participated in many group exhibitions including The Life and Change—Time Collector (Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan, 2015).

Born in Chungcheongnam-do, 1967. His recent solo exhibitions include The Mirage (Namu Gallery, Seoul, 2015) and participated in many group exhibitions such as Un-Romantic Memories (Lotus Gallery, Paju), International Residency Project Pink Factory (Hwachon-myeon Office, Hwacheon), and Resistance to Oblivion (Ansan Arts Center, Ansan).

Born in Seoul, 1971. She graduated from the Departmen of Painting at Dougduk University and received her M.F.A. (2003) and Ph.D (2010) degrees in Plastic Arts at University of Panthéon- Sorbonne, Paris. She had a solo exhibition titled Nine Ladders —Old House Project 9 (Old House, Seoul) and participated in many group exhibitions including Color Study (Savina Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul). In 2014, she took the 14th Songeun Art Award.

Born in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, 1960 and moved to New York in 1988. She graduated from the Department of Western Painting at Hongik University in 1985 and received her M.F.A degree from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, in 1991. Her recent solo exhibitions include Earth and Sky: Captured Movement (Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University, New York, 2015) and Walter Gropius Master Artists Project (Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, 2010) and participated in many group exhibitions including SeMA Gold 2014 Nobody (Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, 2014). She was the recipient of “Artist Award” (Hajonghyun Art Foundation, Seoul, 2008).

Born in 1965 and graduated from the Department of Painting at Hongik University. He has worked as a professor in the School of Creative Contents at Chungkang College of Cultural Industries since 2001. His recent solo exhibitions include Local Painter (Art + Rounge Dibang, Seoul, 2102) and participated in many group exhibitions such as Mountains, Rivers, and People: Eight Views and Nine-Bend Streams of Gyeonggi (Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan, 2015), Daily DMZ Drawing (Seongnam Art Center, Seongnam, 2015), Resistance to Oblivion (Ansan Arts Center, Ansan, 2015) and so on.

Born in 1959, Seoul and graduated from the Deprtment of Art Education at Pusan National University in 1983 and from École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1989. Since his first solo exhibition at Gallery Timothy, Atlanta, in 1989, he had many solo exhibitions in many museums and galleries such as Mimesis Art Museum(Paju), Savina Museum of Contemporary Art(Seoul), and Gallery Hyundai(Seoul). In 2016, he had a solo exhibition titled Mabini Feb 2016 (Mabini Gallery, Manila) and participated in a group exhibition titled Made in Seoul (Abbaye St-Andre Centre d'art contemporain, Meymac).