Hastings exhibition shows the sheer power of art

Such is the sense of calm that it exudes, a baby in a pram was heard to coo as it was pushed into the Yun Hyong-keun exhibition which is currently drawing hugely positive feedback at Hastings Contemporary (running until October 1).

The show is the UK’s first-ever public gallery exhibition of works by Yun (1928-2007), one of the leading figures of Korean art.

Director Liz Gilmore is delighted at the response so far: “It was 2019 when I and one of the trustees of Hastings contemporary were in Venice at Venice Biennale and we saw these incredibly imposing works, 60 of them, by him and it was such a beautiful show that was aligned with the Biennale activities. When you first view them you think you're walking into a South Korean version of Rothko but on closer inspection and reflection you realise that there are very different kinds of things happening. The response behind it is culturally very different. Yun takes inspiration from his own cultural context.

“He is a God in Korea with a huge following and what has been really brilliant has been to really open up a dialogue globally by bringing art of such calibre to Hastings. But this is actually the first UK exhibition in a public gallery of his work.

“We start around 1971 with the smallest piece in the show and then end up with the largest pieces that were made in the year of his death. We see this incredible playing out in the gates of heaven and the gates of earth, a subject matter that he returns to in so many ways. He uses two subtle tones to represent the gates of heaven and the gates of earth. It's a great dose of reverie and it's something that will appeal to everyone. It really draws you in and the way we've done it is very chapel-like. At the weekend one of my volunteers was telling me that a father pushed his baby in in a pram and the baby started cooing in response, and that is lovely. It's that juxtaposition of the umber and ultramarine. We aim to appeal to everyone from babies right up, everyone from nought to 99 and beyond and the feedback that we've had has just been incredible. We've had people travelling internationally to see it. Over the opening weekend there were many people that came from Korea to see the show. The demographic of the gallery has profoundly changed because of it. What we're trying to do is bring the very best of art to Hastings and this really is a show for everyone. It's a beautiful immersive exhibition.

“It can be enjoyed on so many different levels. It certainly enhances your enjoyment if you understand something about him but what we're trying to do is to encourage people to walk into the space and to have the confidence to do so. It's process of slow looking. We want people to feel empowered to come in without worrying about what they should or shouldn’t know. Yun would be the first person to say that he didn't want to dictate what people should feel or be thinking. And the lovely thing is this incredible feeling of calm.

“It has taken a few years to come together. Certainly the pandemic threw all galleries into chaos and delayed things. It was not possible to have intercultural exchange of any kind but it does always take time to put exhibitions into place and we couldn't have done it without the great help of so many individuals and also the government. All things have to happen with due diligence and we know that the work champions issues around the environment as we do too at the gallery, and obviously we wanted to bring the works over here in a way that was as environmentally as friendly as possible.”