Installation view ©MMCA

For artists, creative activity is both an artistic practice that reveals themselves to the audience and an act of projecting their identity into their works in various ways. In this process, they encounter social, political, economic, and cultural ideologies or reveal embedded sensibilities, and the resulting works serve as mediators for communication between artists and viewers. Yet art is often understood or interpreted regardless of the creator’s intent or perspective, and it is by no means a guaranteed field of reward. This is why the activity artists love most — creation — can also bring them pain and frustration.

Today, the Korean art scene is undergoing a period of transition, marked by overseas fairs, institutional expansion, and galleries entering global stages. Within this, some artists experience success and joy, while others lose the sense of fulfillment or reason for creation, wandering in search of it. Nonetheless, in the uncertainty and value of contemporary art, artists continue to engage fiercely with the world through their work. At times, the persistence of their courage and challenges alone moves us deeply.


Installation view ©MMCA

In a British novel, when a middle-aged protagonist — who had enjoyed a successful career and wealth — suddenly declared that he would abandon everything to become an artist, he explained his reason for painting as follows: “For a drowning man, whether he swims well or poorly is not the question; what matters is getting out of the water. Otherwise, he will drown.” (W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence). Perhaps, for artists, creation is not a matter of choice.

Depending on the subject of experience, an artwork may feel kind or uncomfortable, or even come across as confusing. Yet artists ceaselessly reach out to us in their own ways. Thus, even in a world shaken by global tragedies and inundated by the secular currents of popular culture, we cannot help but be moved by the artistic ecstasy they offer, listen to their voices, and support their passion and profound exploration of art.

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