Korean contemporary art’s popularity continues its meteoric rise. New Korean artists appear in succession at major international art fairs, while leading exhibition institutions host solo shows by Korean artists, drawing unprecedented attention.

As the institution responsible for promoting Korean culture and arts in France, the Korean Cultural Center has closely tracked these trends and actively continued related programming. The exhibition “Colors of Korea (Couleurs de Corée),” running at the Center through Saturday, Aug. 29, stands as one such initiative.

In Korea, “color” has long served as a philosophical language for interpreting nature, humanity and the world. At its center lies obangsaek (five cardinal colors), reflecting the philosophy of the Five Elements. The five colors—blue-green, red, yellow, white and black—permeated every aspect of life from thought and ritual to food, clothing and shelter, exerting profound influence on Korean aesthetics.

This exhibition demonstrates how colors rooted in these traditional symbols have expanded into unique languages expressing contemporary artists’ memories, thoughts and identities. Through this, visitors perceive how “color” has been reinterpreted as a device connecting individuality with universality, nature with humanity and past with present.

The show presents works by 34 artists spanning generations—from masters representing Korean art like Kim Tschang-Yeul, Park Seo Bo, Lee Ungno, Yoo Youngkuk and Ha Chong Hyun to contemporary artists including Kim Yun Chul, Lee Sookyoung and Anicka Yi. The diversity of formats—painting, sculpture, photography, installation and media art—offers visitors distinctive engagement.

The exhibition comprises four sections. “Transforming Tradition” traces the flow connecting tradition and modernity in Korean art, while “Nature and Imagination—Mediation of Creation” explores relationships between nature, the body and imagination. “Korean Masters in Exchange with France” spotlights Korean masters who worked actively in France and on the world stage, and “Art and Technology: Between Perception and Matter” presents intersections where art meets technology.

Alongside this special exhibition, the Center presents Jean Meyerson’s immersive media mapping exhibition “Once in a Lifetime” through February 21. This work converts some 300 paintings the artist created over 25 years into data, feeds them to AI algorithms, and generates new visual outputs according to keywords like “love,” “loss,” “birth” and “death.”

This exhibition, where multiple generations and genres intersect, offers visitors broad opportunities to experience Korean identity and artistic depth.

Commemorating the 140th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic relations, the exhibition was organized through collaboration among approximately 15 art institutions and galleries from both countries, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea and the Pinault Collection. Since opening, it has drawn steady visitor numbers as of December 6 and was selected as an official program of “Biennale Nemo,” the Île-de-France digital art biennial.

In this way, the Korean Cultural Center in France actively introduces the multifaceted aspects of Korean contemporary art to the world through diverse perspectives. The exhibition promises an engaging journey for anyone interested in art, not just Korean culture enthusiasts.

Q — What aspect demanded most attention while preparing the event?
We focused on how to reintroduce “Korean art today” with a fresh perspective. Beyond simply “presenting art,” we devoted the greatest effort to illuminating Korean contemporary art’s identity, Korean aesthetics’ worldview, and the new sensibility and technicality that digital art demonstrates. We spent considerable time creating a structure where generations and genres cross paths in one space, reflecting each other’s colors.

Q — From a curator’s perspective, how would you recommend visitors best enjoy this event?
This exhibition is divided into four sections, each with different focal points. The first, “Transforming Tradition,” shows how contemporary artists utilize Korean traditional materials and gestures. Visitors will sense that Korean tradition isn’t merely a past legacy. In the second, “Nature and Imagination—Mediation of Creation,” it helps to recognize that nature in Korean art signifies “sensation, vitality and emotional foundation.” I’d recommend focusing on how artists visualize their attitude of “conversing” and “accompanying” nature rather than simply “depicting” it. The third, “Korean Masters in Exchange with France,” presents works by Korean masters active in France. Visitors can discover how their experiments in Paris connected with today’s Korean art. The fourth, “Art and Technology: Between Perception and Matter,” demonstrates that digital art isn’t mere technical experimentation but a new genre reinterpreting sensation. It’s best to see this as showing how new media expand the concept of “color.”

Through this, visitors can naturally experience that Korean “color” transcends simple visual elements to become a composite of identity, memory, sensation and worldview.

Q — What do you hope to achieve with this exhibition?
Opportunities to encounter Korean contemporary art with such breadth of generations and genres in one place remain rare even in France. Through this, I hope it approaches French audiences as a space to genuinely encounter Korean art, and becomes an occasion for Korean artists and institutions to step closer to the world.

Moreover, if visitors can discover how different worlds achieve harmony within Korean art, and if they can find joy in that, that would be wonderful. Korean color isn’t merely color seen with eyes, but the color of thought, the color of memory and color expanding toward the future. I hope visitors experience that multilayered sensation through this exhibition.