First Major Solo Exhibition in Korea by Mark Bradford to Open at Amorepacific Museum of Art
Pioneer of 'Social Abstraction' Unveiled in Landmark Exhibition in Seoul
SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Amorepacific Museum of Art (Director: Seungchang Jeon) is proud to present Mark Bradford: Keep Walking, the first solo exhibition in South Korea by the internationally acclaimed American artist Mark Bradford. This landmark exhibition is also the largest presentation of Bradford's work in Asia, offering an expansive overview of his artistic practice spanning more than two decades.
Born in 1961 in South Central Los Angeles, Bradford is known for his monumental abstract paintings that interweave personal history with broader social narratives. Drawing from his autobiographical experiences and from his deep ties to his local community, Bradford creates layered, tactile compositions using materials scavenged from the urban environment - billboard paper, flyers, endpapers from beauty salons, and fragments of everyday life. Through a process of building up, sanding down, tearing, and collaging, he transforms the detritus of the city into poetic and politically resonant works.
Bradford refers to his visual language as "Social Abstraction" - a practice that retains the formal strategies of abstraction while engaging directly with issues of race, gender, class, and the systems of power that shape contemporary society. His work has been widely celebrated across the globe, including representing the United States at the 2017 Venice Biennale. He was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2021 and ranked 19th on ArtReview's Power 100 in 2024.
Keep Walking brings together approximately 40 works-including large-scale paintings, video installations, and newly commissioned pieces developed specifically for the museum's architecture. Featured works include early seminal paintings such as Blue (2005) and Niagara (2005), the latter inspired by the eponymous 1953 film starring Marilyn Monroe. Also on view is Float (2019), a monumental floor installation that invites viewers to physically walk across its surface, experiencing the artwork through movement and proximity.
Visitors will encounter the visual and emotional weight of Bradford's compositions-dense fields of color, texture, and meaning that reflect the turbulence and resilience of contemporary life. These works do not merely illustrate social conditions; they embody them through material and process. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to engage with one of today's most powerful voices in contemporary painting.
This presentation is part of an international touring exhibition organized by Hamburger Bahnhof - Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart in Berlin. The Seoul presentation expands upon the earlier iteration, incorporating new works and a site-responsive approach tailored to the distinctive architecture of Amorepacific Museum of Art.
"Mark Bradford has redefined what painting can be - not just as a formal exercise, but as a space where histories, identities, and communities collide and coalesce," said Amorepacific Museum of Art. "Through this exhibition, we hope to offer Korean audiences a profound and immersive experience of Bradford's artistic vision and his ongoing exploration of abstraction as a deeply social medium."
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[Exhibition Overview]
- Title: Mark Bradford: Keep Walking
- Dates: August 1, 2025 (FRI) through January 25, 2026 (SUN)
- Opening Hours: 10 AM to 6 PM (Closed on Mondays, January 1, Seollal and Chuseok holidays)
- Venue: Amorepacific Museum of Art (100, Hangang-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea)
- Admission: APMA website: http://apma.amorepacific.com
- Exhibition Support: Sulwhasoo
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