Sandra‘s Closet

While being in Seoul, Prada presents the tenth iteration of Prada Mode, Plural and Parallel, at cultural venue KOTE, to coincide with Frieze.

Curated by Lee Sook-Kyung, the space showcases multiple site-specific installations by esteemed directors Kim Jee-Woon, Yeon Sang-ho, and Jeong Dahee, advancing an ambitious vision of contemporary cinema through each director’s idiosyncratic lens.

Lee Sook-Kyung

Lee Sook-Kyung is a curator, lecturer, writer, and the Director of the Whitworth, University of Manchester, UK. Dr. Lee began her career as Exhibitions & Displays Curator at Tate Liverpool, before working as Senior Curator of International Art at Tate Modern, where she curated a number of key exhibitions and headed a major research initiative, Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational. She later cemented her global profile as the Commissioner and Curator of the Korean Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. Active in the world of contemporary art curation for 28 years, she has played a leading role in the organization of groundbreaking exhibitions, broadening global perspectives and raising the profile of Asian art—particularly Korean art—across the world. Dr. Lee also served as the Artistic Director of the 14th Gwangju Biennale, which ran from April to July 2023 in Korea, and has recently been appointed as the Curator of the Japan Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024.

The Installations
KOTE is a cultural space for creators crossing boundaries. Originally built as a furniture craft store in 1964, the space served as the birthplace of countless stories and memories. For Prada Mode Seoul, KOTE is transformed into a multi-dimensional destination where guests can explore the different universes on offer. Across KOTE’s multiple buildings, the three directors bring their visions to life, brought into conversation by Lee Sook-Kyung and spanning questions of culinary culture, absence, and mortality. Guests are able to move from space to space, experiencing the full depth and richness of each.

LoL, Sandra

The Shadows of Faded Old Love

Hellbound

Paper, Light, Ghost

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and © Prada
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise!

Greetings from Seoul where I arrived last night to immediately attend the ARTIVIST‘s Inaugural Exhibition, the opening reception «Spooky Portals» by Dustin Yellin, followed by an intimate dinner at Raum East.

I love Dustin’s works. The Brooklyn-based artist tells stories that weave together the diverse forces of nature and technology. Through his multidisciplinary body of work, which includes object making, painting and animation, Yellin draws attention to the interconnectivity of all beings and things. His approach tunnels across traditionally siloed fields so as to crystallize the idea that both the human world, and all other worlds around us, are a collection of enmeshed networks – even if many are hidden.

Yellin’s glass works in particular is absolutely spectacular. Paint and images clipped from various print media are embedded within laminated glass sheets to form grand pictographic allegories, invite viewers to engage with the legions of their own consciousness and its embodied emotions, as well as that of our collective society and its infrastructures.

Yellin is the founder and director of Pioneer Works, a multidisciplinary cultural center that builds community through the arts and sciences. The artist balances descriptive poetry with a prescriptive social practice so as to span new ways of seeing and being, and build a bridge to a more holistic world.

With art collector Kim Robson Ortiz and Walker Waugh at the exhibition opening.

Dustin’s first Asia solo exhibition is open until October 21, 2023 at  27 Dosan-daero 67-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

With artist Dustin Yellin at dinner.

Enjoy some impressions of last night! I am here one week, so lots of interesting things will be coming up!

LoL, Sandra

Amazing dinner location in Seoul at Raum East.

Great dinner conversation with Mr. Song, who snapped away my favorite art piece. Congrats!

Great success of the night. Amy Kim is happy.

With lovely Payal Shah, founder of L’Dezen.

With Korean actor Lee JunHyuk, Susan Shin and Payal Shah.

Great night among great people. From left to right: My humble self, Amy Kim, Dustin Yellin, Susan Shin, Walker Waugh and Payal Shah.

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise!