Doosan Gallery

I stopped in to get a coffee on the way to Doosan Gallery. Even though I ordered a small I got completely wired on caffeine (barista: first day on the job). So I'm wired and listening to girl talk on the way to Doosan Gallery. All I know about Doosan is that they build buildings and have a gallery in New York. The outside is a bit deceiving because its also a concert hall...well mostly concert hall. They have two nice spaces and one wasn't open. They had photographs by Heeseung Chung. People mostly sad looking some laughing and crying. There was a writing about the devil and laughter that I couldn't quite connect to the exhibit. I did like the black space surrounding the people in the photo. That was nice. I will say this the photos worked well together in a group. The looked like huge Polaroids. I'm looking forward to seeing more from Doosan.

Sang Sang Ma Dang

I was on the bus and heard a song by Rick Springfield called "Jesse's Girl". Hearing this song in Korea was a surprise. It took me back to 1982. Anyone can appreciate this song. Which is how I feel about Sang Sang Ma Dang (pronounced Song Song Ma Dong). One half gift shop one half art gallery, Sang Sang Ma Dang is located in the heart of Hongdae. Now for those of you that don't know Hongdae is the mecca of young college Seoul Korea. Which is saying a lot considering there are about 40 Universities in this city. It's the part on town that always has people roaming the streets. Sang Sang Ma Dang is the frozen pizza of Korean art. It ain't super bad and it ain't super good. When I go there I know what I'm getting. This time around they had some nice graphic design pieces and upstairs photography. I got some picts of the graphic design. The photography was of...you guessed it, sad people within the space of city/nature/home. "Dear korean photographers, I get it. People are sad." I was with a friend and the exhibit was so sad we started to laugh at it. But you know the quality of the print was something. The printer (or computer) did one hell of a job printing. So Mr. Printer...props.

New works from Alt Space Loop

Alt Space Loop is located in the area of Hongdae, Seoul Korea. Like most places in Seoul its impossible to find, but hey that's half the fun (Unless its -5 degrees outside). ALt space loop is a non profit organization or it has that not profit org feel to it. The building itself is really cool looking so you'll feel smart taking your friends there. There are two floors dedicated to art, one floor for the cafe and library and a fourth floor that they are fixing up for something new (Jan 2011). You'll never be let down by Alt Space Loop they always have something hot there. A lot of the art is by younger artists so it makes it fun. Having said that Korean contemporary art has been impressive. Seoul has become something of a hot bed for new painters. There's a lot of pop and realism. However a wave of outsider art has made it's way to Korea also. The pictures I posted here are from the latest Exhibit (Jan 2011). On the day I took these pictures there some people there. However many times I go there nobody's there which is interesting because go to Sang Sang Ma Dang on any given saturday and the place is packed. Sang Sang is located in the heart of Hongdae so I'm sure that has something to do with it. Not that you shouldn't check out Sang Sang Ma Dang it's always worth a check.