GALLERY HYUNDAI CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY

[Anchor Lead]

The nation's first commercial gallery, Gallery Hyundai, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its opening. As part of the celebrations, it will host an exhibition of Korean contemporary masterpieces, looking back on the nation's half-century art history. Next, we will bring you some scenes from the retrospective exhibition.

[Pkg]

Tens of thousands of dots drawn across a canvas. Kim Whan-ki's piece "Universe" was displayed at an exhibition for the first time since it was auctioned off for 13.2 billion won in Hong Kong last November - the largest amount for a Korean art piece. Lee Jung-seob is best known for his dynamic paintings of oxen, which symbolize the artist's plight and turbulent life. Park Su-geun, one of the most beloved artists in Korea, depicted heartwarming moments of ordinary people's simple lives in his work. These masterpieces represent Korea's modern and contemporary art. All of them debuted through exhibitions hosted by Gallery Hyundai, which opened in Insa-dong, Seoul, in 1970 as the nation's first commercial gallery.

[Soundbite] KIM JAE-SEOK(GALLERY HYUNDAI) : "The exhibition will offer very pleasant experiences if you take a close look at stories contained in each work and put them together like a puzzle."

Video artist Paik Nam-june held a special exhibition in memory of the late artists at Gallery Hyundai in 1990. This is why the gallery's retrospective exhibition features Paik's renowned work "Marco Polo," which won the top honor at the 1993 Venice Biennale. Nearly 70 exhibits from oriental paintings to western-style and abstract ones will be put on display at the upcoming exhibition. The artists and their works introduced via the 50-year-old gallery represent the history of the nation's modern and contemporary art.

[Soundbite] KIM SEONG-EUN(GALLERY HYUNDAI) : "We will introduce great artwork and communicate with viewers in the next 50 years, as we did during the past five decades."

The gallery will first reveal major exhibits online to help block the spread of the coronavirus. The offline exhibition will be open to the public starting May 12th.