Korea Artist Prize is back with updates and four new finalists

The Korea Artist Prize returned this year with updates. The award aims to support artists addressing contemporary social issues. Changes include increased prize money, showcasing both new and old works, and an open workshop for evaluation reforms.

The four finalists for the Korea Artist Prize 2023. From left are Jun So-jung, Lee Kang-seung, Gala Porras-Kim and Kwon Byung-jun. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

The Korea Artist Prize, one of Korea’s most recognized awards for contemporary artists, returned this year with some system updates.

Since 2012, the annual award has been co-organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and the SBS Foundation. A collective exhibition of the latest works of four nominees first takes place at the MMCA’s Seoul branch in central Seoul, and the final winner is announced after being evaluated by a team of judges in each edition.

The aim of the award is to support and promote artists that deal with contemporary social issues in their respective fields of artwork.

This year, artists Gala Porras-Kim, Jun So-jung, Lee Kang-seung and Kwon Byung-jun made the list as the 11th batch of finalists. Their exhibition starts Friday.

″The Weight of a Patina of Time″ by Gala Porras-Kim [SHIN MIN-HEE]

The award took a break last year to “reflect” on its system following some backlash from art critics and the media over the past decade, for things such as taking shortcuts on evaluations during the pandemic and failing to set criteria for developing active social discourse.

The museum, during a press conference on Thursday, proposed three improvements in acknowledgement of its past flaws. The prize money given to each shortlisted artists was increased to 50 million won ($36,800) from its original 40 million won. And while past editions only exhibited the latest works of each artist, it now displays both new and old works to provide a more comprehensive understanding of their artistic worlds.

″Syncope″ by Jun So-jung [MMCA]

Finally, in order to make reforms to its evaluation process, an “open workshop” will be held in February 2024 that will involve an “intense” discussion between the judges and each finalist regarding their artwork. Anyone is able to participate in the workshop and ask questions.

Porras-Kim is a Korean-Colombian artist who deals with universal topics, including death, religion and nature, and their related cultural heritages and relics. In her new work “The Weight of a Patina of Time,” a triptych of three different perspectives on a dolmen in Gochang, North Jeolla, Porras-Kim wanted to explore how the same place can be read distinctively in different states or contexts.

Jun, through her latest single-channel video “Syncope,” dives into the realms that are invisible to the eye, by using sound or speed, in an attempt to transcend modernization.

The piece features nonghyeon, a vibrato technique of the gayageum (traditional Korean 12-string zither), which is unable to be “structured” on a written score and is only mastered by personally hearing the sounds.

″Lazarus″ by Lee Kang-seung [MMCA]

Lee’s works allude to the history of minorities, especially queer artists and activists, by archiving the fragments they left behind after their deaths. They act as a commemoration, recording and remembering their lives and breaking social stigmas against them, as shown through single-channel video “Lazarus,” an intimate duet between two male dancers.

Kwon focuses on performances of robotic pieces, like “Robot Crossing a Single Line Bridge.” Other robots on view slowly walk around, and one robot even performs a traditional Korean fan dance.

All of them were programmed just with open-source software and 3-D printing techniques, Kwon said. During the five month-run of the exhibition, he plans to continue developing his robots’ hardware and software.

“Robot Crossing a Single Line Bridge″ by Kwon Byung-jun [MMCA]

The Korea Artist Prize 2023 exhibition will continue until March 31 next year. The final winner will be announced around the same time. MMCA Seoul is open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with hours extending to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Regular admission is 2,000 won.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]