Exhibition Information

Asger Jorn
국립현대미술관 제공

Asger Jorn
국립현대미술관 제공

Asger Jorn

Asger Jorn Exhibition view

			The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (director Yoon Beom-mo) will hold an alternative language - Asger Yune, an artist exhibition as a social activist - from April 12 to September 8 at the 5th exhibition room of MMCA Seoul and Seoul Box.

The exhibition is the first solo exhibition in Asia by Danish artist Asger Yon (1914-1973), who led social-participatory art movements such as "CoBrA" and "Situationist International" in the 1970s. In cooperation with Denmark's Silkborg Yon Museum of Art, the museum will showcase some 90 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, publications, ceramics, weaving and archives. 

The exhibition's name "An alternative language" means that it proposes to write an alternative art history that deviates from Western European-oriented art history. The artist's lifelong pursuit of artistic experimentation, political participation and social movement as an "alternative language" has not been well-lit in the history of mainstream art. The history of art, which centers on the United States and Western Europe, has focused only on Asger Yon's conversational expressions. 

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, 2017 When Art became Freedom: Egyptian Surrealists (1938-1965) Uzbekistov Bodyzko: Organization, Monument, Project.Nas Mecas: From "Challna," "Hilk" and "Looking Back," to "Akram Zatari: Resisting Photography" in 2018, he has worked hard to introduce more diverse perspectives of contemporary art to Korea from the bias of Western mainstream art history. The exhibition also proposes to rewrite art history with an alternative perspective based on "regional epic," not mainstream. 

The exhibition consists of three themes: "Experimental Spirit, New Material and Form," "Political Commitment, Challenges to Structure," and "An Alternative World View, Nordic Traditions." 

The first topic looks at Asger Yune's early work (1930s and 40s) that breaks the framework of classical art language. John saw that art cannot be defined as one and needs constant change. To that end, Yune will present a variety of paintings, trying to "change" that expresses works of Picasso or maze in his own way. 

The second topic will be "CoBrA" and "Situationist International," which will showcase Asger Yon's social and political moves. The cobra, formed in 1948, is a name taken from the preceding letters of Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam, where Yune wanted to experiment with alternative cultures based on community activities, solidarity and creativity. Formed in 1957, the SI criticized the commercialization of art, criticized consumer capitalism, and sought to incorporate artistic creativity into everyday life. 

The third topic looks at Asger Yune's study of exploring alternative images from Northern European traditions. John left SI and founded the Scandinavian Institute for Comparative Vandalism (SICV) in 1961. SICV wanted to show through Scandinavian medieval art research that Northern European culture could be an alternative to a new look at the history of art. 

Meanwhile, the exhibition will feature an audience-participating piece called "Sam-myeon Football." Three-sided Soccer is a game invented by Asger Yune, where three teams play at the same time, winning the game with the fewest runs. Unlike a one-on-one game in which the winner and the loser are determined by goal loss, <Sam-myeon Football> requires three teams of offense and defense to be balanced to win. This work illustrates what an alternative world view Asger Yon sought to find through art, breaking away from the Cold War-era logic of power between the U.S. and small countries. 

"Through the world of Asger Yon's works, which have communicated with the community and agonized over the role of artists as social activists, we will provide an opportunity for local audiences to reason and experience the relationship between life and art," said Yoon Beom-mo, director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.