©SONGEUN Art and Cultural Foundation and the Artists. All rights reserved.Photo: CJY ART STUDIO.
SongEun Art Space presents “SIGG: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Sigg Collection,” an exhibition from the collection of Uli Sigg (b. 1946), one of the world’s most influential collectors, on view through May 20. This is the first exhibition of Uli Sigg’s collection in Korea and features 48 works by 35 of the next generation of artists who are emerging in the contemporary art world, including world-renowned artists, including painting, installation, video, and sculpture.
While the exhibition features only a small portion of Woolly Zig’s current collection, it is organized into various themes to showcase a variety of perspectives and sensibilities through a wide range of works. Organized into five themes, “Material Stories,” located on the first and third floors, showcases sculptures in various forms. On the second floor, “Pure Painting – Towards Abstraction” presents Chinese abstract paintings and a new installation by Han Mengyun (b. 1989).
The next three floors will present works organized around the themes of “Body – The Revenge of the Female” and “Nature – Acculturated”. Finally, the basement level, “Repressed and Released,” features an immersive video installation that incorporates words and sentences in English alongside life-size figures dressed in black and lying prostrate on the floor.
Uli Sigg is the world’s largest collector of Chinese contemporary art, having made waves in 2012 when he donated 1,510 works to Hong Kong’s M+ museum. He has said that his goal in collecting is not to “collect” but to “donation” and since his donation in 2012, he has continued to acquire works that reflect his life, history, interests, and tastes, and now owns more than 600 works.
