[This Week’s Exhibitions] Kang Minsu Solo Exhibition 'Moon Jar', Special Exhibition 'Japanese Pop Trio II', and More

Editor's NoteThis week's exhibition guide features a curated selection of diverse and captivating exhibitions taking place across the country within the week.

Yutaka Shimomura's 'Re-touchers #4.' This work transfers digital images that are repeatedly reproduced and replicated on smartphones and social media into paintings, exploring the boundaries between screen and reality, virtual and material. Gallery 508

Special Exhibition: 'Japanese Pop Trio II'

While pop art may seem light-hearted, its surface conceals different ways of remembering for each generation. 'Japanese Pop Trio II' features three Japanese artists—Tsuzuki Mayumi, Shikata Haruna, and Yutaka Shimomura—demonstrating how each transforms images and memories into paintings as they pass through their respective eras. Tsuzuki translates the longing for American culture she experienced in the Tokyo suburbs during Japan's high-growth period into the scenery of 'American Nostalgia', while Shikata explores the process of emotions constantly being layered over memories through the concept of 'Overwrite'. Yutaka translates endlessly replicated characters and digital images from smartphones and social media into paintings, probing the boundaries between screen and reality.

"Midway Cafe" by Mayumi Tsuzuki. This work translates the longing for and memories of American culture permeating Japan during its period of rapid economic growth into neon-lit suburban scenery. Gallery 508

Their canvases connect nostalgia with overwriting and replication. In Tsuzuki's quiet suburban landscapes, reality subtly overlaps with fantasy. Shikata builds layers of memory by painting over photographs, text, drawings, and digital prints. Yutaka sometimes physically scratches the finished surface, once again bringing material quality to digital images. Rather than focusing on the familiar appearance of ‘Japanese pop’, this exhibition invites visitors to look into the experiences and desires of each generation that shaped those images. Until October 28, Gallery 508, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Jang Eungbok's 'Nanghwa Jiusan Chandelier'. A large lighting fixture utilizing the structure of a traditional Jiusan umbrella, it forms the center of the 'Tapdori' space where mountains, sea, sky, and stars circulate. Seoul Crafts Museum

Jang Eungbok Solo Exhibition: 'Equinox Autumnal Equinox_Spring Equinox'

Patterns may originate on a flat surface, but in the hands of Jang Eungbok, they become houses, furniture, and entire landscapes. The Seoul Museum of Craft Art presents the special contemporary craft donation exhibition, 'Equinox Autumnal Equinox_Spring Equinox', which spotlights Jang Eungbok's four decades of expanding patterns inspired by traditional Korean culture and nature into contemporary everyday life. Over 100 patterns created by the artist—ranging from the ten symbols of longevity, peonies, flower shoes, and fish, to mountains, water, and seasonal light—spread across hanji, textiles, furniture, and spaces. The exhibition is organized into three sections: 'Pattern House', 'House within a House', and 'Tapdori'.

Jang Eungbok’s "House-House." A variable installation artwork created by freely combining wooden frameworks with hanji paper, textiles, furniture, and everyday crafts so that different materials form a single house. Seoul Craft Museum

In 'Connecting Pieces—Wall', 72 wooden frames combine with silk, hanji, and glass to form a vast wall of diverse patterns; in the modular installation 'House-House', crafts and furniture come together as small houses and then disperse. In the final 'Tapdori' section, patterns envelop the entire space. Visitors become part of the artwork themselves as they walk beneath the chandelier inspired by indigo-blue mountains, sea, and the structure of a traditional Jiusan umbrella. True to the exhibition’s title, from the autumnal equinox to shortly before the spring equinox, craft is presented not as an object but as a way for nature and everyday life to circulate. Until March 7, 2027, Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Kang Minsu’s ‘202501-9’. A moon jar crafted by wheel-throwing Yanggu white soil and fired in a wood kiln, capturing the natural asymmetry and subtle white tones. Noh Gallery

Kang Minsu Solo Exhibition: 'Moon Jar'

The moon jar captivates because it is not a perfect circle. For over 20 years, Kang Minsu has fired white porcelain in a traditional climbing kiln built by his own hands, using pine wood. The traditional technique of wheel-throwing the upper and lower parts separately before joining them inherently carries slight asymmetry and movement. Rather than correcting these imperfections, the artist embraces them—drawing out the unique sense of negative space and warmth of Korean white porcelain from stable proportions and deep, subtle white tones.

'202604-4' by Minsu Kang. This piece reveals the neat proportions and space of Korean white porcelain through a traditional method of crafting the upper and lower bodies separately and joining them, and firing in a wood-fired kiln. Noh Gallery

This exhibition features newly completed moon jars brought to life through countless repetitions and firings. Rather than exaggerating the surface or adding decoration, the works follow the points where form, color, and texture subtly differ. Even the variables of the wood-fired kiln—whose flame, clay, and logs cannot be perfectly controlled—are accepted, so each jar displays a unique expression within the same white hue. Instead of strictly restoring tradition, this exhibition questions what today's moon jar can be through years of training and the tactile sensibility of the hand. Until October 8, Noh Gallery, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.