GWACHEON.- Young Korean Artists is an annual exhibition organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), and is the longest-running platform supporting emerging artists in the country. First launched in 1981 under the title The Korean Young Artists Biennale, the exhibition has since explored the experimental and ambitious practices of new generations, offering critical insight into the tendencies and potential of contemporary Korean art. Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now marks the 22nd edition of the series and presents a dynamic view of the practices and landscape of Korea’s emerging art scene today.

Here and now

Young Korean Artists 2025 features up-and-coming Korean artists who are actively engaging in creative practices and gaining critical attention. The participating artists recreate the senses and concerns of their time, both as individuals and as members of a contemporary generation, as they unfold a range of narratives that begin from “I” and expand toward “we.” The artists reflect on the underside of the digital technology era and propose new ways of relating to various non-human entities that coexist with humanity. They also embrace others in their multiplicity of identities and bring their artistic practices into the life of “here and now,” in the hope of fostering a means of reflecting on and enacting care and hospitality within our society as a whole.

The artists participating in this exhibition engage in formative experiments across a variety of media, including painting and sculpture, as well as video, sound, games, and performance. They also collaborate with fellow artists in the contemporary art scene or form fluid collectives to pursue a shared creative process and present the results of their work. These practices expand the boundaries of the medium and suggest new alternatives for artistic production. In addition to their conceptual and formal experimentation, along with their expanded possibilities of creative process, the artists seek to build solidarity through art with others and with the marginalized communities in society.

Young Korean Artists 2025 aims to serve as a platform for exploring the reality we face and the possibilities it holds, through the visual language being shaped by today’s emerging artists. The exhibition affirms that art can act as both a sensory language and a form of social practice in response to the world, and that at its core lie the aesthetic insights and conceptual reflections of a new generation.

Young Korean Artists 2025 presents a comprehensive view of the practices of emerging artists who share a contemporary sensibility and critical awareness. The exhibition is organized thematically, allowing each artist’s work to stand individually while also forming an organic whole. Gallery1 includes two sections, Beyond Technology and Building Relationships, featuring works that reinterpret and reflect on our ecological and technological environments surrounding us, from digital and internet-based landscape to non-human entities such as plants and animals. Gallery2 comprises the sections To the Other as an Other and Being Together, showcasing works that explore solidarity, care, communication, and sustained artistic practice. Addressing issues related to Asia, minorities, and younger generations, these works seek possibilities for coexistence with diverse others, moving beyond fixed or categorical perspectives. The Main Hall features a work by eobchae and a section including an archive dedicated to the participating artists.

Artists: Kang Nayoung, Gwon Donghyun×Kwon Seajung, Kim Uljiro, Kim Jinhee, dianalab, Mooni Perry, SANGHEE, Song Yehwan, Yagwang, eobchae, Lee Eunhee, Chang Hanna, Jeong Juwon, Cho Hanna, Jo Hanna.