NEWLY OPENED EXHIBITION
Nam June Paik, Rehabilitation of Genghis Khan, 1993
Nam June Paik: The Communicator
September 26 – November 22, 2025
The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation. In commemoration, the Korean Cultural Center New York, in collaboration with the Nam June Paik Art Center and the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation, presents Nam June Paik: The Communicator.
Nam June Paik (1932–2006), the founder of video art, was a pioneering artist who freely crossed the boundaries between art and technology. Yet he was more than a mere media experimenter. Through technology, he sought to open new possibilities for connection—between individuals, across cultures, and through shared sensibilities. Above all, he was “a communicator,” an artist of exchange and resonance.
For Paik, art was not an object of contemplation but a site of participation, encounter, and communion. Traversing tradition and modernity, East and West, analog and digital, he realized through art the very spirit of cultural connectivity that underpins today’s K-Culture.
His iconic works, such as TV Cello and robot sculptures, fused electronic media with traditional forms, creating a wholly new visual language. By transforming television sets into instruments or human-like figures, Paik playfully dismantled the boundaries between machine and human, art and everyday life, performance and play. His robots, built from stacked televisions, symbolized his belief that technology could extend human existence and inspire new ways of imagining the world. These works continue to ask us: What is communication?
“It is the duty of the artist to think about the future.
I am an artist, but I have no interest in conventional art.
My interest lies in the entire world.
For me, every day is a matter of communication.”
– Nam June Paik
Communication was his lifelong pursuit and the essence of art. His works sought the liberation of the senses through technology, envisioning art freed from boundaries and limitations.
In this light, his artistic philosophy resonates deeply with the idea of “liberation” today. If liberation is not only about recovering national sovereignty but also about freeing humanity from the confines of time, space, ideology, and thought, then Paik’s art becomes its living, contemporary embodiment.
This exhibition also highlights his enduring commitment to younger generations and to intergenerational dialogue in art. On the first floor, Paik’s Rehabilitation of Genghis Khan (1993) is presented alongside The Car Toward the Future (2025) by emerging media artist Areum Kim, a work that carries forward Paik’s vision of technology intertwined with humanity, love, and coexistence. This juxtaposition demonstrates how his artistic spirit continues to thrive today—through evolving technologies and new creative voices—while opening pathways toward the future.
To learn more, click here.
ONGOING INSTALLATION
Ik-Joong Kang, Hangeul Wall: Things I Love to Talk About, 2024, 20,000 Hangeul tiles (mixed media on wood: 3×3 inches each), approximately 26 x 72 ft (8 x 22 meters)
Hangeul Wall: Things I Love to Talk About
Atrium
The Hangeul Wall, measuring 26 x 72 feet (8 x 22 meters) and composed of 20,000 Hangeul tiles, connects the wisdom and experiences of global citizens. Developed in collaboration with LG CNS, KCCNY launched a website in May 2024, enabling people worldwide to create their own artworks using the site’s translation and coloring functions under the theme “Things I Love to Talk About.” The website attracted over 8.2 million visits from more than 50 countries and received 7,000 artwork submissions within two months. From these, 1,000 pieces were selected through public online voting and artist review, culminating in this monumental installation.
The Hangeul Wall stands as a symbol of the rich cultural heritage of Hangeul and the universal freedom of expression, serving as a testament to our shared human narratives. Traditionally, walls are seen as barriers that divide and separate; however, the Hangeul Wall represents a different kind of structure—a wall of peace and unity. It transcends the conventional notion of separation to become a canvas of connection and harmony.
To learn more, click here.
