FUTURA SEOUL COLLECTION
Ugo Rondinone (Swiss, b. 1964)
sunrise. east. january
Cast bronze with silver auto paint and concrete plinth
190 × 120 × 110 cm
AP 1, edition of 1 + 2 APs
2005
Ugo Rondinone’s sunrise. east. series explores the fundamental yet poetic notion of the cyclical passage of time. This monumental two-meter-tall silver head, cast in bronze, evokes a wide range of visual languages—including ritual masks, ghosts, comics, and emoticons. Through its expressive features, the sculpture becomes a metaphor for the spectrum of human emotion, from joy to adversity. Titled from sunrise. east. january to sunrise. east. december, the twelve sculptures each correspond to a month of the year, inviting viewers to reflect on the shifting emotional states that accompany the passage of time.
Masks are a recurring motif in Rondinone’s practice. The sunrise. east. series recalls the totemic forms of early cultures, and when all twelve works are assembled, they evoke the circular presence of ancient sites such as Stonehenge. Rondinone’s distinctive approach—linking mythology with the everyday—resonates throughout this series. Employing traditional materials and techniques such as clay modeling and casting, he reinterprets cultural and art-historical lineages through a contemporary and meditative visual language. In doing so, Rondinone creates a dialogue between the artificial and the natural, the cultural and the social, the eternal and the transient, offering a contemplative inquiry into life and art.
Philippe Parreno (Born in Algeria; lives and works in Paris, France, b. 1964)
Marquee Studio 01
Opalescent plexiglass, 106 lightbulbs, 9 neons, satin trellis, satin brain box
100.1 × 130 × 70.1 cm
2022
Philippe Parreno’s Marquees series takes inspiration from the illuminated canopies that once adorned the entrances of movie theaters. Popularized across the United States during the early to mid-20th century—when Hollywood cinema was at its peak—these marquees announced film titles and star-studded casts. Parreno’s marquees, however, are stripped of all text, leaving behind only their gleaming shells. Their dazzling, flickering halogen lights assert a striking presence while withholding the information such structures traditionally conveyed.
For Parreno, the marquee functions as an element that intervenes in the exhibition space, introducing the potential for an “event.” Though it no longer advertises a film, the work continues to evoke the idea of cinema, transforming the gallery into a kind of ruin—an echo of Hollywood or Broadway streetscapes. Recast as an index, label, or naming device, the piece accrues meaning through its exhibition context and the viewer’s imagination, prompting contemplation of the space and time illuminated just beyond its lights.
Nam June Paik (Korea, 1932–2006)
Flicker
Mixed media
185 (H) × 109 × 46 cm
Executed in 1996
Nam June Paik’s Flicker is one of his experimental media art works that began in the 1960s, combining light, electronic devices, and bodily perception to create a new audiovisual experience. This work uses the flicker effect—the periodic blinking of light—to stimulate the viewer’s vision and perception.
Created as part of Paik’s exploration of the relationship between technology and the human being, this representative work uses analog televisions and lighting devices of the time to induce visual illusions or psychological responses through flickering light. The flicker effect interacts with brainwaves through blinking light at specific frequencies, allowing viewers to have a new sensory experience. This work demonstrates an important attempt to use media technology as an artistic tool and to show the possibility that technological devices can stimulate sensation and consciousness beyond simply delivering information.
Anicka Yi (Korea, b. 1971)
Wheel 1–3
UV print on silk screen mesh in cherry frame
148.6 × 118.1 cm
152.7 × 122.6 × 7.6 cm (frame size)
2022
Anicka Yi expanded her work by using machine learning to converse with multiple models simultaneously. In the early stages, she used her own paintings as parameters, but later combined images of birds, bacteria, fungi, tissues and cells, plants and animals, machines and electronics, and geological landscapes, allowing each model to evolve independently. The artist conceptualized this process as mixing her own visual patterns and motifs (“visual DNA”) with ecological beings, both biological and non-biological.
The machine-learning algorithms generated through this process function like layers of paint, producing unique hybrid images that reference real objects while taking on abstract forms, colors, and patterns. These images—formed through the fusion of opposing elements—create visual effects that appear to swell or rupture on the surface of the work, like cellular differentiation.
The mesh material used in the Mesh Paintings series takes advantage of qualities such as light reflection, distortion, transparency, and layering, creating hologram-like visual effects that change depending on the viewer’s perspective. Through these algorithm-based painting experiments, Yi challenges the painter’s authorship and its accompanying myth. Is a painting possible without the physical presence of the painter? How might machine intelligence influence the evolution of painting? Can the subjective and embodied aspects of painting be carried out by a machine? How might a machine supplement the entire process of making a painting—from setting the theme to physical realization, titling, and installation? And ultimately, could humans one day understand painting not as the product of an individual, but as an ecosystem in which materials, bodies, microbes, and machines all participate in creation and production?
Lee Ufan (Korea, b. 1936)
Dialogue
Oil on canvas
162 × 130 cm
2020
Lee Ufan’s Dialogue series reflects the core characteristics of his artistic practice, guiding a deep communication between the viewer and the work through space and interaction. The work reveals the boundary between presence and absence through the use of emptiness and spatial composition, where the brushstrokes stand out against the expansive blank areas. The concise strokes and marks express depth within simplicity; although repetitive, each line and dot conveys philosophical meaning through accumulated energy and tension.
In addition, the organic brushwork—evoking harmony with nature—and the gradual accumulation that reflects elements of time and repetition naturally embed the passage of time into the work. Through these aspects, viewers encounter a meditative contemplation on time and existence. Central to the series is the concept of relationship and interaction: Dialogue creates a space of exchange where the viewer and the work engage through gazing and responding. This interaction offers a participatory, empathetic experience, exploring the relationships among humans, nature, and time, and providing a meditative and reflective encounter that goes beyond visual beauty.
Richard Tuttle (American, b. 1941)
Fluidity
Work on paper
Screenprint printed on recto and verso with colored enamel and water-based inks on handmade paper in a white printed wooden frame; in a Foamcore box with cloth taping including wall-mounting hardware; issued with colophon on top and with packing foam attached to deckle
38.1 × 38.7 × 5.4 cm
Edition AP 6 of 11 (Edition of 30 + 4 Printer’s Proofs, 11 Artist Proofs, 1 Bon À Tirer)
2008
Richard Tuttle is an American contemporary artist known for his distinctive work that moves between minimalism and conceptual art. He explores the relationship between space and material through delicate and simple forms, producing works that often break the boundaries of traditional painting and sculpture. Tuttle frequently uses everyday materials—such as canvas, fabric, paper, and wood—emphasizing the inherent qualities of the materials and their subtle aesthetics.
His art is generally modest and simple in scale, yet it carries significant emotional resonance and philosophical depth. Through visual simplicity and material imperfection, Tuttle investigates the beauty of form and the sense of presence within space, attempting to create a sensory interaction with the viewer. His works often retain a handmade quality and are closely connected to the context of the space through precise installation and placement. Working with form, color, and line, he poses questions to the viewer, inviting them to participate in creating meaning within the work. Rather than following traditional artistic rules, he focuses on experimenting with aesthetic boundaries and rediscovering the beauty of humble materials, leaving impressions that are subtle yet deeply lingering.
Alex Katz (American, b. 1927)
Vivien x 5
Silkscreen
106.6 × 243.8 cm
Edition 14/60
2018
Vivien x 5 is one of Alex Katz’s representative works, showcasing his distinctive portrait style and minimalist aesthetics. The piece portrays the same figure, Vivien, repeated five times, capturing different expressions from various moments. In this work, Katz visualizes the passage of time and shifts in gaze through the sequential arrangement of the repeated figure. Using flat forms and bright, vivid colors, he depicts multiple aspects of the model, as if arranging a series of snapshots in succession. This composition highlights the different facets of the subject, giving the impression that the viewer is observing multiple versions of the same person simultaneously.
Katz is known for depicting figures using simplified forms and clear, bold colors—an approach connected to pop-art sensibilities. Vivien x 5 follows this stylistic direction, omitting unnecessary detail and conveying the vitality and presence of the figure through a purely visual image. Katz also places great importance on creating a connection with the viewer through the subject’s gaze; in this work, the model’s gaze is arranged in various directions, encouraging a sense of psychological interaction between viewer and subject.
Kim Taek Sang (Korea, b. 1958)
Breathing light–Red in red–23-1
Water, acrylic on canvas
182.5 × 123.5 cm
2023
Kim Taeksang, recognized as a major figure in Korea’s post-Dansaekhwa movement, creates works that form their own autonomous environments. His Breathing Light series is inspired by the reflective qualities of water and the characteristics of light that follow. Kim’s translucent paintings fill the surface with various gradations of color instead of relying on traditional pictorial elements such as form, depiction, or narrative. The artist perceives his work as a spatial structure built through natural elements—water, light, and time—based on both strong intentionality and one-time chance. In this sense, Kim’s practice can be understood as a process of imitating and generating tension between accident and intention.
The artist pours a diluted acrylic pigment solution onto the canvas, allowing the particles to gradually settle on its surface over time. After a single layer of color has formed on the pigment-saturated canvas, he drains the remaining water and dries the surface. Kim repeats this process dozens or even hundreds of times until the canvas reaches a stage in which “light is breathing.” Through this repetition, the accumulated layers reveal and obscure one another simultaneously. Although Kim intervenes in the work, he also leaves open the possibilities that arise from natural processes acting on the canvas. In Breathing light–Red in red–23-1 (2023), the densely layered red tones give the surface a sense of texture and tactility. The subtle shifts along the edges evoke the gentle flow of water holding pigment, adding vitality and depth to the work.
Ken Gun Min (Korea, b. 1976)
2022–1988
Oil, Korean pigment, silk embroidery thread, beads, crystals
203.2 × 162.6 cm
2023
Ken Gun Min poetically expresses sorrow, joy, and longing through vivid and dynamic paintings. Born in Seoul and later working in San Francisco, Zurich, Berlin, and Los Angeles, he has drawn on his experiences as an immigrant and his multicultural perspective to delve into subjects that tend to be overlooked or marginalized beneath the surface. He combines relatively unnoticed historical narratives with images from the Bible and ancient mythology, weaving cross-cultural landscapes by mixing oil paint with traditional Korean pigments and embroidery. In this exhibition work, the artist addresses personal childhood experiences from the late 1980s while expressing them through culturally unbound, fantastical imagery.
2022–1988 speaks about personal and social relationships through two tiger-related episodes from 1988 and 2022. In the sweltering summer of 1988, the artist was mobilized for mass-game training for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Seoul Olympics. As a developing nation striving for advancement, adults spread propaganda that children needed to contribute, leaving him no room to question what was happening while his educational and personal freedoms were taken away. For the young artist, “Hodori,” the mascot of the Seoul Olympics, became an image stained with forced personal sacrifice. The episode from 2022 relates to the death of P-22, the mountain lion that roamed the affluent Los Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles. Citizens devoted great care to the wild animal that had come down from the mountains and become a local legend; after his death, discussions arose about animal rights, urban planning, and more. Reminded of his uncomfortable childhood trauma by this incident in Los Angeles, the artist begins to look into the stories within himself, opening the belly of the tiger and filling it with jewels and embroidery.
Julian Opie (British, b. 1958)
People. 33.
LED Wall Mounted (Square)
160 × 160 × 11.7 cm / 63" × 63" × 4 5/16"
140 kg / 308 lbs
Unique
2018
Julian Opie’s LED works are characterized by their vivid depiction of “walking figures” through simplified lines and forms. By using LEDs to render images in bright, crisp light, he conveys the dynamic movements of anonymous figures—based on real models—in a concise visual language. Opie minimizes individual characteristics to construct an intuitive and symbolic vocabulary reminiscent of urban signage, advertisements, and brand logos, extending his LED light boxes and large-scale screens into public spaces as experiential artworks. These LED pieces stand out for visually capturing the fleeting presence of people in contemporary environments through repeated forms and the dynamism of light.
Christine Sun Kim (American, b. 1980)
Echo on Repeat
Charcoal on paper
132.5 × 132.5 cm
2022
Kim Christine Sun, an artist from California now based in Berlin, has explored sound, language, and the ways they operate within society through drawing, performance, video, and large-scale murals. Drawing from her experience as a deaf artist, she visually interprets the complex processes of communication—such as the politics of sound, the social roles of spoken language and American Sign Language (ASL), and the strategic use of the body and humor—gaining international recognition along the way.
The artist investigates the concept of the “echo” as a multilayered metaphor. She experiences natural delays and distortions when her messages are conveyed from ASL to English through interpreters. The work captures the recurring situation in which she must repeatedly explain to others how she communicates best. It visually expresses sound bouncing off surfaces while symbolizing the ASL sign for “echo,” in which one hand flicks away from the palm of the other. In this way, her work visualizes sound, language, and the repeated processes of communication, delicately revealing the complexity of communication as a deaf person and the transformations of meaning embedded within it.
Hand Palm (‘Echo Trap’ series)
Charcoal on paper
133 × 133 cm
2021
The “Echo” drawing series visualizes the artist’s linguistic experiences as a deaf American living in Germany. She explains, “My life is full of echoes,” meaning that her messages, when shifting from German to English to ASL, are delayed and sometimes distorted as if reverberating off a surface. This experience extends into the idea of a social “echo chamber.” The deaf community often functions as a relatively small and close-knit network—an enclosed space where ideas and information bounce around and repeat. In each “Echo Trap” work, the artist uses charcoal to graphically depict the ASL sign for “echo” (one hand striking the palm of the other and flicking outward). Her work not only visualizes the repetition of sound but also reveals how information is transmitted and transformed, exposing the complexities of communication and the inherent imperfections of translation.
Echo chamber: an environment or situation in which one repeatedly hears only similar thoughts and opinions.
Points Being Made
Charcoal on paper
150 × 150 cm
2022
This work addresses the experience of ASL interpreters translating for large audiences. Interpreters point to multiple speakers in succession while conveying their words in sign language, yet deaf audiences often struggle to clearly identify the connection between the interpreted message and the actual speaker. The artist likens the way messages bounce off interpreters (or text apps, paper notes, etc.) to echoes—sound reflecting off surfaces—and visually exposes the delays and distortions that can arise in the process of communication.
Elmgreen & Dragset
Boy With Drone (Black Bronze)
Bronze, patina
151 × 43.7 × 80.2 cm
59 1/2 × 17 1/4 × 31 5/8 in
Unique
Elmgreen & Dragset, a Nordic artist duo, have collaborated on all their projects since establishing their partnership in Berlin in 1995. Their practice spans realistic sculpture, performance, design, architecture, and theater, presenting works in which humor and philosophy coexist. Their collaboration stems from a shared awareness—and suspicion—that the spaces, structures, and assigned functions we perceive as neutral are, in fact, sites where various meanings and hierarchies emerge. They weave into their narratives the soft forms of resistance and the resulting sense of powerlessness experienced by contemporary individuals living within these social structures, continually questioning and exposing the fixed ideas embedded in the world they encounter.
In their sculptural works, Elmgreen & Dragset often depict children or adolescents to evoke feelings of nostalgia, fragility, and transformation. Their sculptures frequently portray ordinary scenes—a child standing at the edge of a diving board, a boy drawing—yet by rendering these everyday moments in classical or monumental materials, the artists suggest that the experiences of childhood, though seemingly ordinary, are formative and deserve commemoration as much as historical events.
The first version of the boy holding a drone was unveiled in L'Addition (2024), Elmgreen & Dragset’s exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay. The boy’s gesture—with his arm extended forward—mimics that of Anacreon (1851), a marble sculpture by Eugène Guillaume included in the museum’s permanent sculpture collection. However, while Anacreon holds a cup on which a bird perches, the boy in Elmgreen & Dragset’s work holds a drone, as if preparing to send it out into the world. The drone functions as both an extension of his body and an expansion of the self.