Co-organised by the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) and Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF), Layered Medium: We Are in Open Circuits – Contemporary Art from Korea, 1960s to Today is a landmark group exhibition which presents an expansive survey of Korean contemporary art. It traces the evolution of art practices from the 1960s to the present through themes of materiality, technology, and cultural identity across generations. Curated by SeMA curator Kyung-hwan Yeo and ADMAF curator Maya El Khalil, the exhibition is on view at Manarat Al Saadiyat until 30 June 2025.
The exhibition brings together works by 28 acclaimed artists whose practices span a range of media, including painting, video, installation, photography, and performance. It captures the dynamic ways in which Korean artists have responded to decades of profound social and political change, embracing experimental techniques, conceptual frameworks, and collective approaches.
The title of the exhibition, drawing on video art pioneer Nam June Paik’s 1966 statement “We Are in Open Circuits”, reflects the interconnected and ever-evolving nature of contemporary Korean art. Within this framework, tradition meets innovation, analogue converges with digital, and local histories resonate within global contexts. The show foregrounds key movements such as Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting), the postwar avant-garde, and early media art. It also amplifies emerging voices that explore themes like migration, gender, ecology, and memory.
The exhibition is divided into four sections, offering multiple entry points into Korea’s artistic landscape. Open(ing) Circuits revisits the experimental energy of the 1960s and 70s. It highlights pioneering figures such as Nam June Paik, Lee Kang-So, and Park Hyunki, who introduced new media (video, photography, and performance) into Korean art as tools for transformation. The second section, Body as Medium, focuses on how artists explore the body as a site of sensory experience and perception, examining physical presence, vulnerability, and intimacy.
The third section, Society as Medium, delves into cultural memory and identity. Artworks displayed here interrogate how individuals and communities shape and are shaped by media, tradition, and ideology. The last section, Space as Medium, shifts from internal and subjective experience to external, shared environments, mapping connections between urban architecture, social structures, and digital networks.
Layered Medium is more than a historical survey; it is a reflection on how Korean artists navigate and reimagine complex systems: cultural, political, and technological. As the first exhibition of its kind in the Gulf region, it invites UAE audiences into a multifaceted dialogue with one of Asia’s most influential and continually evolving art scenes.
To get more information about Layered Medium: We Are in Open Circuits, please go to the official web page of the exhibition.
In addition, you might be interested in visiting CHROMATIC POP, a group exhibition at Oblong Contemporary.
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