CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that a different MMCA representative led a press tour for the Hammer Museum's new exhibition. The article has been updated. (Feb. 19, 2024)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — In capable hands, art has the power to push boundaries. And now, this sort of avant-garde work has descended on the Hammer Museum at UCLA.
“Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea, 1960s–1970s” is the first exhibition in North America to explore the groundbreaking shifts made by a generation of artists in the decades following the Korean War in the 1950s. The display will be available to the public starting Sunday, and Spectrum News was on-hand to learn more during Friday’s press preview at the museum.
What You Need To Know
- The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with UCLA, is known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions
- "Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea, 1960s-1970s" will be available for public viewing starting Sunday
- Hammer Museum curator Pablo José Ramirez shared details about the traveling exhibition with Spectrum News
- Kang Soojung, curator of South Korea’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, led a press tour on Friday through the exhibition
As Hammer Museum curator Pablo José Ramirez explained during Friday’s tour, the artists’ radical approach to materials and process produced some of the most significant avant-garde practices in the 20th century.
“Having this show for the first time on the West Coast is an unprecedented opportunity,” Ramirez told Spectrum News. “We are eager to share with local audiences the rich artistic history of Korean culture. Important to say that Los Angeles has the largest concentration of the Korean community in the United States and having this exhibition here makes so much sense.”
The traveling exhibition features approximately 80 works across various mediums, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, installation and film.
One highlight that Kang Soojung, curator of South Korea’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, detailed during Friday’s tour was the “Kiss Me” sculpture by Jung Kangja, which comments “on the flight of modern-day women from the duties of motherhood, sexual fidelity and family loyalty,” according to the artwork’s official description displayed in the Hammer Museum.
With the help of a detailed timeline displayed within the exhibition, “Only the Young” offers visitors an unprecedented opportunity to experience the creativity and breadth of a particular generation of Korean artists.
“We are particularly excited about the chronology of performance art in Korea between 1967 and 1981 presented in the exhibition,” Ramirez said. “The extensive timeline shows a comprehensive history of performance art, including archival material, video documentation, original documents and art.”
Beyond this new exhibition, the Hammer Museum has other highlights to offer at the moment.
“We have on view a great exhibition of the artist Stanley Brown featuring a body of work commonly associated with Conceptual Art, and a Hammer Projects exhibition of Vamba Bility with vibrant paintings and sculptures that you cannot miss,” Ramirez said.
The Hammer Museum’s presentation will be on view starting Sunday through May 12, 2024. For more information, visit here.
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