Paik Nam-june’s retrospective opens in the Netherlands

Paik Nam-june’s 50 years of artworks will be on display in the Netherlands, following the exhibition in the United Kingdom. The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam announced that it will hold Paik’s retrospective entitled “The Future is Now” from Saturday.

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, which is built in 1895 by the support of the local government and sponsors, exhibits modern art and design. Located at the “museum square,” the museum is visited by about 600,000 people every year. “The Future is Now” is Paik’s biggest individual exhibition so far.

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam stresses that its relationship with the Korean artist goes way back. It explained that it held Paik’s individual exhibition in 1977, and his “TV-Buddha” was owned by the museum one year after the exhibition. “TV-Buddha has become the foundation for our collection of time-based media artworks,” the museum said.

“The Future is Now” was also held at Tate Modern in London from Oct. 17, 2019 until Feb. 9, 2020. Paik’s works will be displayed in 16 different rooms of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, which comprises multiple small rooms. The exhibition will last until August 23 before travelling to Singapore and the United States for the next two years.


Min Kim kimmin@donga.com