Bae BIEN-U

Presentation

Artist represented by Galerie RX.

Bae Bien-U has practiced the art of photography for the past 40 years. Today, he has become incontestably the biggest photographer from Korea. Recognized around the world, his work above all reflects in a universal language the preoccupation of the Korean people to live in harmony with nature.

Bae Bien-U panoramic photographs show nature in perpetual movement. His emblematic series of sacred trees, the ocean and the Orums – volcanic hills on a Korean island – encourages the spectator to pause to better escape to and meditate on the landscape.

Video

Biography

Born in 1950, in Yeosu, South Korea; Lives and works in Seoul, South Korea

1981 – Present      
Professor of Photography, Seoul Institute of the Arts, Seoul, South Korea

1988 – 1989                           
Research Faculty, Photography & Design Department, University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

1978                                      
MFA, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea

1974                                      
BFA, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selection)

2021
- Moving Forest, Matmut for the arts, Pierre de Varengeville, France.
Works 1995-2015, Slag Gallery, New York, United States.

2020
- Orum, Galerie RX, Paris, France.

2019
- Orum, Chaumont-sur-Loire Domain, France.

2018
-Cycle, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium.

2016
L’esprit du lieu, Museum of the Sea, Cannes, France.
- PART :MEET, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Hong Kong, China.

2015
- Museum of modern and contemporary art, Métropole, Saint Etienne, France.
- Between Island and Forest, Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea.
- Bae Bien-U, Chambord National Domain, France.

2014                      
- Bae Bien-U: Pins de Gyeon Gju, Chaumont sur Loire Domain, France.
- Conterbalance, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium.
- Residence within the framework of Korea in France, Chambord Castle, France.

2013      
- Chaumont sur Loire, France.
Windscape, Gana Art Center, Seoul, Korea.

2012                       
- Windscape, Galerie RX, Paris, France.
- Sailing the seas, GS Yeulmaru, Yeosu, South Korea.
- Windscape, Aando Fine Art, Berlin, Germany.
- Windscape, Christophe Guye Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland.

2011                       
- Bae, Bien-U, Art Sonje Museum, Gyeongju, Korea.
- Convexconcave, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium.
- Bae Bien-U, Villefavard en Limousin Farm, France.

2010                      
- Where God and Man Collide, The House for Mozart for Salzburg Festival, Salzburg, Austria.
- Bae, Bien-U, Il Woo Space, Seoul, South Korea.

2009                      
- Soul Garden, National Museum of Contemporary Art in Deoksugung, Seoul, Korea.
- Soul Garden, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada in Palacio de Carlos V. La Alhambra, Granada, Spain.
- Sacred Wood: Bae Bien-U, Aando Fine Art, Berlin; Galerie Zur Stockeregg, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Sacred Wood :  Bae, Bien-U, Aando Fine Art, Berlin, Germany.

2008     
- Bae Bien U, Phillips de Pury & Company, London, United Kingdom.
- Timeless Photography, Bozar Center for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium.
- Bae, Bien-U: Sonamu, Gana Art Center, New York, USA.

2007
- K Collection ‘Bae, Bien-U’, Lee C Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.
 - Sea & Island, Gana Art Center, Pusan, South Korea.

2006                      
- Bae, Bien-U, 9th Photo España, Thyssen Museum, Madrid, Spain.

2005                     
- Bae, Bien-U, Pollar Gallery, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Beauty of Korea, Insa Art Center, Seoul, South Korea.

2003                      
- Tahiti Festival de la Photographie, Tahiti.

2002                      
- Bae Bien-U, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea.
- Pine, Gana-Beaubourg Gallery, Paris, France.

2001                      
- Bae, Bien-U, ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, USA.

2000
- Tree - Bae, Bien-U, Bhak Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.
- Bae, Bien-U, Sigong Gallery, Daegu, South Korea.

1998                      
- Photographies de Kyungju, Jean-Luc & Takako Richard Gallery, Paris, France.

1993                      
- Meeting and Departure, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea.

1989                      
- Landscapes, Hochschule Gallery, Bielefeld, Germany.

1988                      
- Korean Landscapes, Raiffeisen Bank Gallery, Bamberg, Germany.

1985                      
- Marado, Hanmadang Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.

1982                      
- Seascapes, Kwan Hoon Gallery, Seoul,  South Korea.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selection)

2022
- L'Asie, maintenant, Musée National des arts asiatiques - Guimet, Paris, France
- Carte Blanche, Park Hyatt, Paris, France

2021
- Photographies Contemporaines, Galerie Richard, Paris, France.
- Traversée, Galerie RX, Paris, France.

2020
- Un monde infini : Artistes chamanes, autour d’une collection de l’Himalaya, Fernet-Branca, Saint Louis, France.

2019
- Œuvres Choisies, Galerie RX, Paris, France.
- EXPO Chicago, Galerie RX, Chicago, United States.
- Paris Photo, Galerie RX, Grand Palais, Paris, France.

2018
- Oeuvres Choisies. Lee Bae, Bae Bien-U, Elger Esser, Hermann Nitsch, Galerie RX, Paris, France.
- Fotografías Circa XX Pilar Citoler. Naturalezas Y Arquitecturas, Museo Barjola, Gijón, Spain.
- Arts & Nature Social Club, Circle Culture, Berlin, Germany.
- Time Frames: Contemporary East Asian Photography, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, USA.
-  EXPO Chicago, Galerie RX, Chicago, USA.

2017
- Photo London Public Commission Project, Somerset House, London, United Kingdom.
- PARIS PHOTO 2017, Galerie RX, Grand Palais, Paris, France.
Into the Woods: Trees in Photography, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom.
- EXPO Chicago, Galerie RX, Chicago, USA.

2016      
- ART 16, London's Global Art Fair, RX Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
ArtParis, Art Paris Art Fair 2016, RX Gallery, Paris, France.
Public to Private: Korean Contemporary Photography since 1989, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea.
- Venice Biennial, Palazzo Fortuny, Italy, curator : Axel Vervoordt
- Winter, Galerie RX, Paris
- Paris Photo, Galerie RX, Paris

2015
A Homage to Korean Architecture – Wisdom of the Earth, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea.
- Biennial: Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy

2014                      
- Lost in Landscape, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto, Italy
- Korean Beauty: Two Kinds of Nature, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea

2013                      
- L’Arbre qui ne meurt pas, Théâtre des Sablon, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
- Landscape, MART Museum, Rovereto, Italy.

2012                      
- The Aged Future, Culture Station Seoul 284, Seoul, South Korea.
- Pleasure, Galerie RX, Paris, France.

2011                       
- TRA: Edge of Becoming, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy.
- 38°N Snow South: Korean Contemporary Art, Galleri Charlotte Lund, Stockholm, Sweden.

2010                      
- The Wind in the Pines: 5000 years of Korean Art, Hermitage Art Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Eternal Blinking, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii, USA.
- Free Style:  A dialogue between Art and Design, Hongik University Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea.

2009                      
- Infinitum, Palazzo Fortuny, the 53rd Biennial di Venezia, Venice, Italy.
- Art in Busan, Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan, South Korea.
- International Photography Festival, Ulsan, South Korea.
- Korean Contemporary Photographers : 2009 Odyssey, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea.

2008                      
- Bozar Festival : Made in Korea, Bozar Center for Fine Arts, Brussel, Belgium.

2007                      
- Void in Korean Art, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea.
- MoA Picks: Reminiscing the Medium- a ‘Post’ Syndrome, Seoul National Museum of Art, South Korea.
- University, Seoul, South Korea.

2006                      
- Simply Beautiful, Centre PasquArt, Biel, Switzerland.
- Simply Beautiful, Le Grand Jardin, Joinville, France.
- The Modern Photography, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea.
- The 6th Photo Festival, BAE Bien-U & Elger Esser, Gana Art Center, Seoul, South Korea.

2005     
- BAE Bien-U & KIM Atta, Gana-Beaubourg Gallery, Paris, France.

2004     
- Real Reality, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.
- BAE Bien-U, Bohnchang Koo and Byung Hun Min, White Wall Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.

2003     
- Time of Nature Time of Human, Daejon Municipal Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea.
- People Walking on the Water: Cheonggyecheon Project, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea.
- REAL- SCAPE Revisited, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea.

2002     
- Now, What is Photo, Gana Art Center, Seoul, South Korea.
- 15 Photographes Coréens, Photo Gallery, Montpellier, France.
- Photography Festival, Tahiti, France.

2001     
- Central Connecticut State Univeristy, Connecticut, USA.
- Internationale Fototage Herten, Herten, Germany.

2000     
- Fotofest- Contemporary Photographers from Korea, Williams Tower Gallery, Houston, USA.
- Slowness of Speed, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea.
- Odense Foto Triennale, Odense, Danemark.

1999     
- Figure and Landscape in Korea, Hanlim Museum, Daejeon, South Korea.
- Commemorative Photograph Exhibition, The Korean Culture and Arts Foundation Art, South Korea.
- Museum, Seoul, South Korea.
- Contemporary Asian Art Work from The Lewitt Collection, Montserrat College of Art Gallery, Massachusetts, USA.

1998                      
- Alienation and Assimilation, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA.
- Contemporary Art from Korea, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany.
- Slowness of Speed, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.

1997                      
- Fast Forward, The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada.
- Inside Out, ICA, Philadelphia, USA.
- Sonahmuyeo, Sonahmuyeo Museum Hwanki, Seoul, South Korea.

1996                      
- An Aspect of Korean Art in 1990's, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan.
- Photography- New Vision, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea.

1995                      
- Territory of Mind, Mito Art Tower, Ibaraki, Japan.
- Photography Today, Art Sonje Museum, Kyungju, South Korea.

1994     
- Visions from the Land of Morning Calm, PIMA Community College Art Gallery, Arizona, USA.
- Contemporary Photography of Korea, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea.

1993     
- Contemporary Photography in Seoul, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea.

1992                      
- Horizon of Korean Photography, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea.

1991     
- Horizon of Korean Photography, Total Museum of Art, Jang Heung, South Korea.

1989     
- The 150th Anniversary of Photography Show, Bamberg Neue Residenz, Bamberg, Germany.
 

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

- Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom.
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea.
- National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan.
- Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, USA.
- Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago, Chicago, USA.
- 21C Museum, Kentucky, Kentucky, USA.
- Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea.
- Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea.
- Domaine de Chaumont sur Loire, France.
- The Sol LeWitt Collection, USA.
- Elton John Collection, United Kindgom.
- Afinsa Collection, Germany.
- Isac Andic Ermay, MANGO Collection, Spain.
- SISLEY Collection, Italy.
- Calder Foundation, USA.
- Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, USA.
- Société Générale’s Contemporary Art Collection, Paris, France.


 
PUBLICATIONS

2018
And pines embroidered the sky, Arnaud Bizalion Editor, France.

2015
Bae Bien-U, D’une forêt l’autre, Somogy Art Editions, France.
- Photographs by Bae Bien-U, Changdeokung, Korean Architecture, South Korea.

2014                      
Elements between the sea and the sky of Jeju, P.I.E. Books, Japan.

2011                       
Windscape, Hatje Cantz Verlag, Germany.
- Baram, Hangilart, South Korea.

2010                      
Painting with Light, Culturebooks, South Korea.

2009                      
-Changdeokgung, Seoul, Culturebooks, South Korea.
-Alhambra, Jardín del Alma – Soul Garden, Patronage of Alhambra and Generalife, Spain.

2008                     
- Sacred Wood, Hatje Cantz Verlag, Germany.

2005                     
The Beauty of Korea, Youlhwadang Publishers, South Korea.
Bae Bien-U, Hong Design, South Korea.

1999                      
- Horizon, Hong Design, South Korea.

1998                      
- Chongmyo Royal Ancestral Shrine of the Chosun Dynasty, Samsung Foundation of Culture, South Korea.

1995                      
Art Vivant-Bae Bien-U’s Works, Sigongsa, South Korea.

1993                      
Sonamu, Ahn Graphics and Books, South Korea.

1985                      
Marado, Ahn Graphics and Books, South Korea.

1982                     
- Works - Bae Bien-U, Madang Publishing Company, South Korea.