LAYERED MEDIUM: WE ARE IN OPEN CIRCUITS EXHIBITION
Contempory Art From Korea 1960's - Today
16 May - 30 June 2025
Curated by KYUNG-HWAN YEO and MAYA EL KHALIL
This landmark exhibition, showcasing works from the Seoul Museum of Art’s collection, tells the story of the radical Korean contemporary art scene and its legacy of material and conceptual combination, exchange, hybridity, and innovation. Building upon the exhibition SeMA Omnibus: At the End of the World Split Endlessly, a new contextual framing creates dynamic circuits across generations of artists, and between Seoul and Abu Dhabi. Moving through layered, intersecting mediums, the works shift from the intimate to the global, with perspectives on the past, present and future.
The exhibition begins with the immediate sensory experiences of the body, intersecting with social constructs of gender, nationality, and identity. From there it connects to cultural narratives of history and tradition before engaging with contemporary spatial realities of rapid urbanisation and precarious ecologies. Through juxtapositions and layering of media as both matter and atmosphere, the exhibition traverses the fluid boundaries of our existence in what Nam June Paik described as ‘open circuits’, where consciousness, technology and art create flows of connection and meaning.
16 May - 30 June 2025
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Public Program "Layered Dialogues"
Location: Multipurpose space within the exhibition area, Gallery S, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi
Friday May 16th
5pm - 6pm
Curatorial discussion: Layered Medium: We Are in Open Circuits
Kyunghwan Yeo, Co-curator
Maya El Khalil, Co-curator
Byungjun Kwon, artist
Choi Goen, artist
6.15pm - 7.15pm
Exhibition design as a medium
Exhibition designers Formafantasma’s Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin in conversation with co-curators Kyunghwan Yeo & Maya El Khalil
Saturday May 17th
5.30-7.30pm
Film screening: Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV, 2023
Featuring a captivating showcase of his work, this documentary profiles the career of Nam June Paik and his pioneering contributions to video art. Directed by Amanda Kim.
Thursday May 29th
Body as a medium
To be announced
Thursday, June 12th
Identity as a medium
To be announced
Friday June 20th
Space as a medium
To be announced