Seoul’s ParkSeoBo Museum Isn’t a Temple to Its Namesake
The opening of the ParkSeoBo Museum immediately next to the Park Seo-Bo Foundation was one of the most anticipated events of this year’s Seoul Art Week. The blue five-story cubic structure designed by architect Choi Moon-kyu is surmounted by a crystalline, striated glass block reminiscent of the artist’s luminous monochromes. With 2,000 square meters that will host rotating temporary exhibitions, it was initially conceived as a mausoleum but will now function as a cultural center, honoring the artist’s legacy while carrying forward his commitment to relentless creative innovation.
“The museum’s directive is to continue in the spirit of Park Seo-Bo and the educational values he sustained throughout his life,” director Sam Seung-ho tells Observer. “He worked as a professor for a long time. One of the teachings he always gave his students was printed on the wall of his classroom: not to resemble any of his teachers, not to resemble talented peers and not to be indebted to previous history.”
Since the foundation was established in 2019, creating a physical exhibition space has been among its most pressing priorities. Initially, it considered opening museums in other cities, such as Jeju, Busan and perhaps Yeongju, but those plans didn’t come to fruition. “We decided that we could at least create a small space and turn the memorial into an art museum instead,” Sam explains. “We started building the space here because it is right next to his residence. It was accessible, and the studio was nearby as well.”
The museum’s architecture is intentionally porous to its surroundings and to nature. One of the building’s defining characteristics is the incorporation of small gardens and natural spaces across its different floors. While Park Seo-Bo did not provide extensive architectural direction, he preferred to see his work presented in relation to nature.
The museum’s location, between small mountains in a residential area, also influenced the architectural approach. The intention was to create small spaces that connect the institution to the surrounding natural environment, including providing a kind of passage or habitat for wildlife, so the museum could exist in harmony with its environment rather than stand apart as an isolated object.
While still alive, Park Seo-Bo wanted his works to be exhibited alongside those of other artists. After his passing, when the foundation considered what principles the museum could be built on, it decided to focus on the kinds of ideas he had pursued throughout his life. The museum won’t be a “temple” to Park Seo-Bo, Sam explains, but a catalyst for connections between artists and across different art worlds: “Instead of artists or viewers simply coming here to learn something about Park Seo-Bo and taking something away, we want this to be a platform, or a museum, that connects new artists and creates new creative approaches to art, encouraging new thinking among younger-generation artists.”
Throughout his life, Park Seo-Bo was forward-thinking in creating new opportunities for younger generations, giving them room to show and present their work through grants and a residency program. The foundation is continuing this approach by supporting artists from newer generations and introducing them to the Korean art world. Some former residents, Sam reports, are now well-regarded contemporary artists showing with major galleries.
This logic informs both the foundation’s acquisition strategy and the programming at the ParkSeoBo Museum. Its inaugural show, “Park Seo-Bo & Huong Dodinh: Emptiness, Fullness,” pairs the Korean master’s work with that of Vietnamese-French abstract painter Huong Dodinh. Encountering each artist’s various series across three floors, one can see how the pairing explores the expansive possibilities of painting through texture, layering and rhythm, allowing it to breathe and expand beyond its surface.
If Park Seo-Bo’s Ecriture conjures the accumulation of action and time on the canvas as he repeatedly draws and pushes lines across
Moving to Paris in 1953 after the outbreak of the First Indochina War, Dodinh encountered the European avant-garde but remained largely independent of the dominant trends of the period, developing a highly personal language of abstraction, much as Park Seo-Bo forged his own path despite periods abroad. Park Seo-Bo was not familiar with her work before they met for the first and only time in 2023. She requested the meeting while visiting Korea for an exhibition, and they spent several hours together, becoming aware of affinities between their practices. Both recognized parallels in their approaches to painting, treating it as a philosophical and almost mystical act that connects human making to something that transcends its immediate earthly dimension.
Still, the future of all foundations and private museums requires building funding structures that allow them to outlast their founders. Sam was forthright about the fact that the foundation is still establishing a long-term financial model. The institution was initially supported by funds and artworks left by Park Seo-Bo, although its general policy is to preserve the works for future generations rather than sell them. Additional funds left by the artist currently support the institution, alongside significant donations from his family. The foundation is now working to create a more stable, longer-term model that will leverage both existing resources and external donations to preserve and carry forward the legacy of the Dansaekhwa master while continuing its research and presenting exhibitions that bring together artists from Korea and around the world. In doing so, the ParkSeoBo Museum also hopes to broaden the discourse around Korean contemporary art and expand its horizons as the country’s artistic ecosystem becomes increasingly visible on the global stage.
