Art Class: Ólafur Elíasson ~Models of Coexistence~ @PKM Gallery

I'm not sure if Ólafur Elíasson loves Korea or Korea loves him. He has already done multiple exhibitions in Seoul, the most prominent being his work at the Samsung's Leeum Museum of art which I covered a few months back. His work is a mixture of being incredibly aesthetically pleasing and generally quite mesmerising, through his heavy use of 3-D shapes and geometric patterns and cleverly installed lighting. 

According to PKM gallery's press release this is one of many exhibitions he has done with them and they do have an incredible gallery. PKM gallery is actually quite a spectacular building. It is a very new building and certainly is very bright and airy with lots of chic marble and angular architecure. It has a rooftop which uses solar energy to power some of the piece's kinetic movements and lights. It also has loads of places to explore. You have to go out between buildings, up through random staircases - it all feels as though you are quite literally exploring the art. 

Eliasson's work is pretty distinctive, One piece in particular, Pebbles on the beach reminded me of a few pieces I saw a the Parliament of Possibilities exhibition late last year. His work with structure and form carries a very European aesthetic particularly with the tiling with different kinds of wood, and each of the tiles are supposed to represent different forms simultaneously, hence the theme of coexistence. 

One of the main attraction's was his asymmetrical polyhedron sculpture, The Exploration of the Centre of the Sun which quite literally glitters. It filters light through different coloured panelled glass and in turn the lights bounce of the surrounding walls which is as beautiful as it is scientific. It is one of the first images you see on Instagram and all social media advertising this exhibition. I liked this piece because it is suspended in the centre of the room and therefore allows visitors to admire it from every angle and the set up means that each angle looks slightly different depending on the reflecting lights. 

Another piece that caught my eye was the visual meditation which you can spot as soon as you enter the gallery. It's piece which plays with illusions and mirroring. It is a circular arrangement of glass spheres mounted on the wall which gives of multiple reflections from every angle once again further highlighting the them of simultaneous viewing and coexistence. 

There were other pieces, I won't mention them all but the exhibition closes in around two weeks. Olafur Eliasson's pieces are thought provoking and full of that Scandinavian cool that features heavily in the Korean art scene at the moment. 

I really enjoy Olafur Eliasson's work and I can't wait to check out his work at the Venice Biennial later this year which will be my next art stop.  He has brought a green light workshop to the heart of Italy to tackle issues of immigration and displacement. Catch more information here.