Artist Oum Jeongsoon was announced as the winner of the inaugural Gwangju Biennale Park Seo-Bo Art Prize at the opening ceremony of the 14th Gwangju Biennale on April 6.
Artist Oum Jeongsoon was announced as the winner of the inaugural Gwangju Biennale Park Seo-Bo Art Prize at the opening ceremony of the 14th Gwangju Biennale on April 6.
The Gwangju Biennale Park Seo-Bo Art Prize aims to recognize an artist whose work reflects the founding spirit and values of the Gwangju Biennale. In line with the theme of the 14th edition of the Gwangju Biennale, soft and weak like water, the work should open new perspectives for the contemporary world.
The five judges, including Frances Morris, director of Tate Modern, noted “No one can see properly, no one can see the whole. We can only see part of the world. The pandemic has forced us to do a lot of things online. The artist sends a powerful message for the biennial in the post-pandemic era. This work, a reminder of our reality, holds great significance to all of us transcending nationality, gender, and era. It defines life through strong connections transcending genres, and traditions which have been passed down to this day.”
Oum retraced the journey of an elephant, which began in Indonesia, passed through Japan, and reached an island in the southern end of Korea, performing related projects with visually impaired students living in the cities en route. The installation titled Elephant without Trunk (2023) is an extension of Oum's earlier project. By presenting the senses in an enlarged form shaped like elephants, it offers a diverse and novel perspective on how we interpret the tactile world.
The jury comprised five judges: Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern; Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Director of Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea); Mami Kataoka, Director of the Mori Art Museum; Yun Bummo, Director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea; and Yoon Jae-gap, independent curator.
Image :Oum Jeongsoon, Elephant Without Trunk (2023), iron sheet, wool and fabric, 300 × 274 × 307cm. Courtesy the artist and Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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