MMCA Overseas Masterpieces: Water Lilies and Chandeliers

About this event

Collections are an important asset of a museum that reveals the flow of art and history of an era. Exhibiting and sharing acquired collections is an important role of the contemporary museum and is closely related to its essential function. Considered the origin of museums, the "Cabinet of Curiosities" in 16th-century Europe was a space that provided visitors with new experiences and intellectual exploration by exhibiting rare and exotic collections. With the formation of the modern nation-state and the expansion of public accessibility, art pieces that were once private property were opened to the public and gradually developed into modern museums. This exhibition is a permanent exhibition introducing about 40 carefully selected works among the international art collections acquired by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, allowing visitors to have new experiences and intellectual explorations like a "Cabinet of Curiosities." In particular, visitors can examine not only 19th-century European art acquired through the donation of the Lee Kun-hee Collection in 2021, but also various overseas art works that have expanded the boundaries of contemporary art. "Water Lilies and Chandeliers," used as the title of the exhibition, is a combination of the titles of Claude Monet's work «Water Lily Pond» (1917-1920), a representative light painter of 19th-century Impressionism, and Ai Weiwei's work «Black Chandelier» (2017-2021), a world-renowned artist actively working in the same era. By using the conjunctive particle "and" between "Water Lilies," which signifies nature, and "Chandeliers," an artificial object, it contains the meaning of creating another possibility of connection beyond eras and boundaries. As you listen to various scenes of overseas art placed within the 100-year time gap between the production of the two works and imagine their relationships, you will soon reach a new time of experience full of curiosity.

Location

Gwacheon-si National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon (MMCA Gwacheon)

Weather

• Sep 1(Tue)🌧️Rain · 22° ~ 27° · 60% chance of rain
• Sep 2(Wed)☁️Cloudy · 22° ~ 29° · 30% chance of rain

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