Korean Contemporary "Now" vol.1

　Curated by  Younggi P. Tanaka

 

 Alpha Contemporary presents the series “Korean Contemporary Now & Next” to mark the gallery’s opening, introducing both the current and emerging Korean art scene.

 

 The series is divided into two parts: “Korean Contemporary Now” focuses on mid-career Korean artists active not only in Korea but also internationally, while “Korean Contemporary Next” highlights talented younger artists, primarily born in the 1980s, representing the next generation of the Korean art scene.

 

 The first exhibition in the series, “Between Memory and Forgetting,” invites visitors to experience the flow of imagination and memory inspired by literary thought.

 

 Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) often suggested in his writings and interviews that creativity emerges from the tension between memory and forgetting. In the spaces where memory falters, imagination takes shape, transforming absence into new realities.

 

 This exhibition presents the work of artist Woolim Lee, who places dreamlike figures and animals within realistic spaces such as forests, stairs, fields, and bodies of water. Employing a realist technique, Lee visualizes the delicate boundary between reality and the surreal. The arrangement of figures and objects—at once grounded and seemingly floating—draws visitors naturally into the world of the works, inviting them to expand their own imagination and interpretation.

 

 The exhibition goes beyond a purely visual experience, offering a space where literary inspiration and visual art intersect to generate new forms of thought. Through the works, visitors are able to reconstruct their own memories and imagination, experiencing an alternative reality.