MMCA Gwacheon Permanent Exhibition «Korean Modern and Contemporary Art II»

About the Exhibition

This permanent exhibition introduces about 120 major works from the late 20th century held in the MMCA's collection. The MMCA opened in 1969 at a museum inside Gyeongbokgung Palace with the 18th National Art Exhibition of Korea as its inaugural show, and has collected works since 1971, now holding some 11,800 pieces. This exhibition, featuring works from the late 1950s through the late 1990s, traces the currents of modern and contemporary Korean art — figuration and abstraction, tradition and modernity, the established and the avant-garde, purity and social engagement. Through themes such as 'Government Establishment and Art' and 'Modernist Women Artists,' it re-illuminates artists and currents not sufficiently covered in existing art-historical narratives, and also includes sections devoted to individual artists such as Kim Whanki and Yun Hyong-keun. Newly unveiled on April 22, 2026, Korean Modern and Contemporary Art II presents works including Park Re-hyun's Work, Jeong Jeong-hui's Power, and Lee Ki-sun's Yugoslavian Beach, alongside newly featured works by Oh Yoon, Jung Jung-yeob, Yun Suknam, and Ko Younghoon, extensively covering the currents of Minjung art, feminist art, and hyperrealism.