Anish Kapoor, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

Anish Kapoor
October 25, 2012–January 27, 2013

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art
747-18 Hannam-Dong, Yongsan-Gu
Seoul, Korea 140-893
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday: 10:30–6pm
T +82 2 2014 6900
leeum.samsungfoundation.org

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art is delighted to present a major
exhibition of Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor’s works from 25
October 2012 to 27 January 2013. As the first large-scale exhibition of
Anish Kapoor in eastern Asia including South Korea, this impressive
retrospective features the whole spectrum of Kapoor’s essential and
significant works: from his early pigment works to those that
constitutes the core of his art—the ‘Void’ series and the
‘Auto-generation’ series and up to his recent large-scale stainless
steel sculptures. His large-scale sculptures breathe together with the
architectural space of Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art to allow visitors to
be immersed in the panoramic experience of Kapoor’s creative journey.

Born in Bombay and studied art in Britain, Kapoor has been nurtured
by both Eastern and Western thoughts and cultures and cultivated his own
universal artistic concepts and sentiments, which have been embodied in
his mesmerizing and contemplative works. Kapoor represented Britain at
the Venice Biennale in 1990 and won the Turner Prize in 1991. His
incomparable career as an artist has been established through a large
number of his successful projects and exhibitions: He produced Marsyas for the Unilever Series of commissions at Tate Modern in 2002; his Cloud Gates
was installed at the Millennium Park in Chicago in 2006; in 2009 he was
the first living artist who was invited to have his solo show at the
Royal Academy in London. Recently, Kapoor’s unparalleled artistic
creativity was reconfirmed when he was chosen to create the monument
titled Orbit to mark the London Olympic Games.

Among the artworks exhibited at this grand exhibition of Anish Kapoor
at Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art to be held for the first time in
Eastern Asia are included To Reflect an Intimate Part of the Red (1981) through which Kapoor made his first major breakthrough in the international art scene, Grey Landscape Mirror (2007) and My Body Your Body (1999) from his ‘Void’ series that redefined the inner empty space of a sculpture, and My Red Homeland (2003) and Stack (2007) from his recent red wax series that concerns with the idea of spontaneous generation.

Also, some of the artist’s massive works are to be organically
incorporated into the architecture of Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art. The Earth (1991)
from his ‘Void’ series that involves the actual digging of the floor is
to be shown again after its first display over twenty years ago. Also
on view are Tall Tree & the Eye (2009), which was
introduced only at the Royal Academy and the Guggenheim in Bilbao in
2009, and one of his most recent works made of corten steel in 2012.

For the first time since the opening of Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art
in 2004, the exhibition dynamically engages itself with the entire
architectural space of Leeum. And this will help one to understand and
appreciate the overall aspects of Anish Kapoor’s creativity in which the
universal and primal is pursued while nullifying the polarity between
East and West.

Curated by Hyunsun Tae, Chief Senior Curator, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art.
Sponsored by Samsung Electronics, co. Ltd.

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art opened
in central Seoul in 2004 and provides a unique environment to house the
comprehensive collections of traditional and contemporary art in Korea.
Three buildings make up the composite complex. MUSEUM 1 is devoted to
the exhibition of traditional Korean artwork. MUSEUM 2 showcases modern
and contemporary works by both Korean and foreign artists. Finally, the
Samsung Child Education & Culture Center supplements the two Museums
by contributing to the cultural education of our future leaders. This
cultural complex was designed by three internationally acclaimed
architects: Mario Botta, Jean Nouvel and Rem Koolhaas. The three
buildings exist in harmony with each other, though each piece has its
own uniqueness. These architectural works are designed to accommodate
the past, present, and future of art and culture.
The museum is committed to establishing and preserving a new
interpretation and perspective of traditional Korean art, encouraging
and presenting new trends in Korean modern art, and displaying
international contemporary art that reflects the preeminent values of
our time

Photo: Anish Kapoor, “My Red Homeland,” 2003. Wax and oil-based
paint, steel arm and motor, D1200cm. ©Anish Kapoor. Courtesy the artist
and Lisson Gallery

Referrence: http://www.modernism.ro/2012/10/29/anish-kapoor-leeum-samsung-museum-of-art/