PRESS RELEASE
SOUTH KOREA Dec 7, 2015
Total pages: 10 (including this page)
Tel. +82-2-2188-6232
Media Contact: Syd Yi
e-mail. [email protected]
<William Kentridge:
Peripheral Thinking>
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
◇ Presents the artist’s representative works reflecting the trend of the artist’s deep, rich
thoughts that transcend boundaries between art, sociology, politics, philosophy, and
physics
- Showcases 108 artworks in various genres including video, drawing, installation, and etching,
which show his art world very well, from his early work, the <Drawings for Projection> series, to
his recent work, <More Sweetly, play the dance>, created in 2015
- Holds the exhibition in Galleries 2-4 and corridors of MMCA Seoul from December 01, 2015 to
March 27, 2016
◇ Invites visitors to an artistic, intellectual journey where society and humans experience
conflicts and reconciliations
- Offers various programs, such as art performances, lectures, and talk concert between
William Kentridge and Prof. Suh Kyungsik
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA, Acting Director: Kim Jeong-bae)
is holding <William Kentridge: Peripheral Thinking>, a Solo Exhibition that showcases works by
world-renowned South African artist William Kentridge (1955), from December 1, 2015 to March 27,
2016 in Galleries 2, 3, and 4 and corridors of MMCA Seoul.
William Kentridge began to receive attention from the international art arena in the early 1990s with
his charcoal drawing animation on the subject of racial discriminations and violence under Apartheid.
He was introduced to Korea through Gwangju Biennale in 2000, SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul in
2008, and Festival Bo:m. He studied politics and African studies at the University of the
Witwatersrand, art at the Johannesburg Art Foundation, and theater and mime at L'É cole
Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in France during the early 1980s. Working with a theater
group in Johannesburg from 1975 to 1991, he has been involved in various fields including as art
director for a TV video series during the 1980s.
Held for the first time in Korea, William Kentridge’s Solo Exhibition <William Kentridge: Peripheral
Thinking> is intended to show the artist’s artistic expressions and thoughts together with music,
history, art, and performance based on comprehension and knowledge in various fields by including
the artist’s early works as well as recent ones. “Peripheral Thinking” -- which is adopted from the title
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
of the artist’s lecture performance -- means the flow of thoughts that expand or which are freely
associated under a title.
Starting with the charcoal drawing animation <Thick Time: Soho and Felix> series containing the
scenery and social image of South Africa, large-scale video installation works such as <Black
Box/Chambre Noire>, which produces a miniature theater about the genocide incident in South Africa,
<I am not me, the horse is not mine>, <The Refusal of Time> presented at the dOCUMENTA (13)
exhibition in Kassel, and <Notes towards a model Opera>, which deals with Utopian Idealism by
using China’s Cultural Revolution as subject, show the feature of intermedia art, i.e., a dynamic mix
of music, sculpture, video, and drawings. The exhibition also presents drawings and objects -- which
are related to artworks -- together in order to aid in viewers’ understanding of each artwork. The
silhouette, which was used by the figures in the 8-channel video installation work <More Sweetly,
play the dance> created in 2015, is also exhibited in the corridors.
Artist William Kentridge presents the world of historical and cultural spectrum, ranging from the Age
of Enlightenment expressed in Mozart’s <The Magic Flute>, Nikolai Gogol’s <The Nose>, and Alban
Berg’s <Lulu>, aspiration for revolution and Utopian Idealism that appeared in Russian literature and
art during the early 20th century, shock waves about violent incidents in the Republic of South Africa,
Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, and South African traditional music to Western classical music.
In the world of his art, which penetrates into the major keywords of our life -- such as society and
individuals, violence and pain, memories and forgetfulness, art and politics, and life and death -visitors will be able to think about questions and doubts posed by the artist.
On the opening day at 2pm on December 1, a talk concert will be held by William Kentridge and Suh
Kyungsik, a professor at Tokyo Keizai University who has been introducing artists to Korea through
various media. In the morning of the same day, stage designer Sabine Thenuissen, who has been
collaborating with the artist in performances and exhibitions such as <The Magic Flute>, <The
Refusal of Time>, and <Lulu>, as well as exhibition designer Choi Yu-jin from MMCA will hold a
global network forum.
This exhibition is held jointly by MMCA and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing and is
sponsored by Asiana Airlines.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
For details, please visit the homepage of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
(http://www.mmca.go.kr).
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Attachment. Exhibition introduction and Biography
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
Exhibition introduction
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul is pleased to present William Kentridge:
Peripheral Thinking, the first large-scale solo exhibition in Korea by the South African artist William Kentridge.
Held from December 1st, 2015 to March 27th, 2016 in galleries 2, 3 and 4, and the corridor space in MMCA
Seoul, the exhibition presents Kentridge’s internationally-acclaimed drawing animation works that are reflective
of the history and society of South Africa. Born as the son of human rights attorney in Johannesburg in the
midst of racism and revolts in South Africa, Kentridge’s interdisciplinary art practice encompassing a wide
range of genres demonstrates his deep insight and rich awareness in a diversity of fields including philosophy,
music, film, physics, art and stage art. The exhibition title is taken from the title of his lecture performance
Peripheral Thinking, which not only refers to the logical expansion of thought from a central point, but the flow
of thoughts which might not necessarily have logical relations, but freely associate with each other and expand
from a subject. Like the multiple trajectories of tree branches, our thoughts on a subject do not expand in a
linear fashion, but in many angles from a certain point.
This exhibition presents approximately 108 works which span 25 years of Kentridge’s life and career. The
exhibition is a complete arts phenomenon with large video installation works, music, sculpture, video and
drawing, including the charcoal drawing animation Soho and Felix series which portrays the social landscape of
South Africa during and following the apartheid period, the miniature theater Black Box which delves into a
massacre in Southwest Africa, I am not me, the Horse is not Mine, an MMCA collection, The Refusal of Time
which was shown at Kassel Documenta, and Notes Towards A Model Opera which focuses on the Chinese
Cultural Revolution and deals with the ideal utopianism. In addition, drawings and sculpture works produced
during the long time of preparing for the works are also being shown in order to give a thorough understanding
of each work, as well as the silhouettes of figures used in the 8-channel video installation More Sweetly Play the
Dance produced in 2015, installed in the corridor. For Kentridge, ‘drawing’ is not simply preliminary work for
video or sculpture, but the most direct and main form of expression which can quickly capture the artist’s
thoughts. Kentridge employs drawing in depicting not only things that he sees and knows, but also things with
indecipherable meaning.
Kentridge opens up an expansive world of historical and cultural spectrum, from Mozart’s Magic Flute to the
Enlightenment, desires for revolution and utopianism reflected in Russian literature and art in the early 20th
century, violence and chaos in South Africa, Mao Tse-tong and the Cultural Revolution, and traditional music of
South Africa as well as Western classical music.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
Casspirs Full of Love, 1989, Drypoint etching, 167x94cm, Edition of 30, Private collection
Felix in Exile, 1994, Charcoal and pastel on paper, Private collection
Drawing for ‘Other Faces’ (Monument), 2011, Charcoal and coloured pencil on paper, 57 x 78.5 cm,
Private collection.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
Black Box Chambre Noire, 2005, Mixed media installation with video
The Refusal of Time, 2012, Five channel video instllation with sound, pneumatic wooden sculpture, digital
backup archive and installation specifications
Notes towards a model Opera, 2014-15, 3 channel video projection, color, sound, 11-14'
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
I am not me, the horse is not mine, 2008, Installation of 8 film fragments, DVcam and DHV transferred to
DVD
Second-Hand Reading, 2013, HD video, color, sound. 7min 1sec
Cut-outs for More Sweetly, play the dance
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
Biography
William Kentridge’s work has been seen in museums and galleries around the world since the 1990s, including
Documenta in Kassel, Germany (1997, 2003, 2012), the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1998, 2010), the
Albertina Museum in Vienna (2010), Jeu de Paume in Paris (2010), and the Musée du Louvre in Paris (2010),
where he presented Carnets d’Egypte, a project conceived especially for the Egyptian Room. Kentridge’s
production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute was presented at Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Festival d’Aix,
and in 2011 at La Scala in Milan, and his production of Shostakovich’s The Nose was seen at The New York
Metropolitan Opera in 2010 and again in 2013, traveling to Festival d’Aix and to Lyon in 2011. The 5-channel
video and sound installation The Refusal of Time was made for Documenta (13) in Kassel, Germany, in 2012;
since then it has been seen at MAXXI in Rome, the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and other cities including
Boston, Perth, Kyoto, Helsinki and Wellington. A substantial survey exhibition of Kentridge’s work opened in
Rio de Janeiro in 2012, going on in following years to Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Bogota, Medellin, and Mexico
City. In the summer of 2014 Kentridge’s production of Schubert’s Winterreise opened at the Vienna festival,
Festival d’Aix, and Holland Festival. In the fall it opened at the Lincoln Center in New York. Paper Music, a
concert of projections with live music by Philip Miller, opened in Florence in September 2014, and was
presented at Carnegie Hall in New York in late October 2014, and will continue to be performed in different
cities. Both the installation The Refusal of Time and its companion performance piece Refuse the Hour were
presented in Cape Town in February 2015.
In 2010, Kentridge received the prestigious Kyoto Prize in recognition of his contributions in the field of arts
and philosophy. In 2011, he was elected as an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters,
and received the degree of Doctor of Literature honoris causa from the University of London. In 2012,
Kentridge presented the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard University and was elected member of the
American Philosophical Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Also in that year, he was
awarded the Dan David Prize by Tel Aviv University, and was named as Commandeur des Arts et Lettres by the
French Ministry of Culture and Communication. In 2013, William Kentridge was awarded an Honorary
Doctorate in Fine Arts by Yale University and in 2014 received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of
Cape Town.
Kentridge has directed the Metropolitan Opera in New York (November 2015), and the English National
Opera in London in October 2016 to coincide with a new exhibition at the White chapel Gallery. Other
continuing projects in the studio include work on two new multi-channel projection installations. Danse
Macabre is conceived as an 8-channel video projection of figures in procession. It was shown first in an
installation at the EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam in April 2015, and will was part of a projection biennale in
Germany in September. A large new survey exhibition which opened in Beijing in June 2015 will travel to
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea
PRESS RELEASE
Seoul and other cities in the East Asian countries. For the 2015 Istanbul biennale, Kentridge worked on a new
site-specific installation of sound and video. Work continues on Triumphs & Laments, an approximately 500 m
frieze of figures to be power-washed from the accumulated pollution on the walls of the Tiber River in Rome –
triumphs and laments in the history of Rome – though the project is contingent on permission from the city of
Rome.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
313 Gwangmyeong-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do 427-701 South Korea