Future Present: Contemporary Korean Art

This generously illustrated volume surveys the most talented artists to emerge from South Korea’s burgeoning art scene in the past decade. The 25 artists introduced in this book collectively foreground the facets of contemporary Korean culture that have enabled the country’s cultural exports to resonate so strongly worldwide. Comprising a representative cross-section of artists at the forefront of a generational shift in Korean art, this book brings readers up to speed on one of the most exciting and least understood segments of the art market today. Encompassing fields of painting, sculpture, installation, video and photography, this book spotlights the diversity of contemporary Korean art practices while offering manifold points of access for readers. Inside, expansive full-color presentations of each artist’s oeuvre are accompanied by concise and approachable texts situating their artworks amid the global contemporary art conversation. Two newly commissioned essays offer deeper analysis of the social and cultural changes experienced by these artists during their formative years.
Artists include: Hejum Bä, Jungki Beak, Haneyl Choi, Yun Choi, Heemin Chung, Soyoung Chung, Jongwan Jang, Hyunsun Jeon, Sojung Jun, Suki Seokyeong Kang, Ayoung Kim, Dew Kim, Heecheon Kim, Kyoungtae Kim, Seeun Kim, Sylbee Kim, Eunsae Lee, Eunsil Lee, Heejoon Lee, Kang Seung Lee, Woosung Lee, GaHee Park, Gwangsoo Park, Min Jung Song, Hyangro Yoon.
Andy St. Louis is a Seoul-based writer, editor, curator and consultant with more than a decade of experience in the field of contemporary Korean art.
Joowon Park is a curator at the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.
Hyo Gyoung Jeon is a curator at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul.