As the Sharp Narrative Fades, A Revealing Map Emerges (Part 1): International Exchange Exhibition Celebrating the 20th Anniversay of of gallerychosun

The exhibition marks the 20th anniversay of gallerychosun and the 50th anniversary of its predecessor, Chosun Art Gallery, which held its first international exhibition with a French gallery in 1983 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. This return to cultural exchange with a French institution over 40 nyears later highlights gallerychosun's enduring influence in the Korean and international art market. It also signifies its future trajectories through new partnerships with organisations like Le Wonder. 

In close collarboation, the project rethinks established cultural programming by examining institutions, artists, works and networks through an episodic, socially engaged approach. Spanning two continents over multiple yaers, gallerychosun will host two group exhibitions of Korean and French artists in 2024 (Part 1 and 2), culminating in a combined exhibition of all eighteen participants at Le Wonder in 2026 (Part 3). 

‘Part 1’ presents Korean artists Ahn Sanghoon, Min Sunghong, Park Bona, and Woo Minjung, and French artists Araks Sahakyan, Collectif Grapain, Wendie Zahibo, Pablo Réol, and Yan Tomaszewski.

‘Part 2’ will feature Korean artists Jeong Jeongju, Yohan Hàn, and Choe Sooryun along with Chinese artist Axl Le (based in Shanghai, represented by Gallery Chosun), and French artists Antonin Hako, Martha-Maria Le Bars, Pierre Pierre Gaignard, Elias Gama, and François Dufeil.

'Part 3' plans to feature all 18 artists from Part 1 and 2 in France. 

Founded in 2004, gallerychosun quickly became a key supporter of experimental contemporary art in Seoul. Located downtown among major galleries, it champions innovative and under-recognised Korean artists, staging influential exhibitions that contribute to Seoul's growing cultural prominence. 

In 2019, the gallery expanded to two floors, enabling larger, more diverse exhibitions, and modernised its distinctive interior to support complex installations. The current exchange exhibition reflects this ambition and marks the start of international initiatives, fostering stronger links between French and Korean contemporary art.

Le Wonder is an independent, artist-run non-profit space in northeast Paris, offering affordable studios, workshops, and exhibitions since 2011. Embracing Paris's tradition of self-organised cultural spaces, it functions more like a professional art centre, with a dedicated administration and collective, democratic decision-making. 

Today, Le Wonder functions as a vibrant community of 70 artists in a 6,000m² former factory between Bobigy and Noisy-Le-Sec. It maintains its core values as a free space for experimental art, political thought, shared facilities, large-scale exhibitions fostering interdisciplinary collaborations, and programs including residencies, seminars, lectures, and performances, making it a leadig force in the Paris art scene. 

Over the years, gallerychosun and Le Wonder have each mapped their own distinctive character as exhibition spaces. The artists in this exhibition have also built their own creative territories through diverse working methods and ideas that they’ve steadily refined. 

The many parts that come together to form an exhibition – curation, design, communication, photography, publicity, and distribution, interact closely to shape its final form. Through this exchange between different areas of culture and art, the exhibition offers a way to observe how these artists influence and understand one another. 

Over the next two years, this project will produce exhibitions, texts, and videos that together trace a shifting map of these constantly changing elements.