Koo Bohnchang, one of the most celebrated Korean contemporary photographers, is the subject of a major solo exhibition titled Lingering in Time: Koo Bohnchang's Photography (1990-2021) at Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing, China, on view through November 14, 2021. The exhibition, which introduces approximately 80 works dating from the late 1980s to the present, marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in China and also the largest by a Korean photographer to date.

Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, the country’s first non-profit museum dedicated to photography, was founded in 2007 by Rong Rong, the Chinese photographer who played a pivotal role in developing photography as a prominent genre of contemporary art in China. Famous for its design by the renowned artist and architect Ai Weiwei, the institution has become a central platform for discovering new artists, hosting its annual Three Shadows Photography Award to support emerging Chinese photographers. The institution has also played a key role in establishing the presence of Chinese contemporary photography in the global art scene by organizing international symposiums and festivals dedicated to photography.
In a similar vein, Koo, both as an artist and curator, has played a seminal role in bolstering the reputation of Korean contemporary photography. Koo, who has presented his works in institutional group exhibitions across China, has maintained a special relationship with the country; he has discovered young artists and introduced their work to international audiences while serving as a judge at multiple Chinese photography contests. In 2018, he took part as an artist and portfolio reviewer in the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival, further promoting the cultural exchange between the two countries.

Installed across the institution’s expansive space spanning approximately 4600 square meters, the exhibition presents thirteen of Koo’s important photographic series and two video works, along with archival materials that provide a survey of his wide-ranging artistic practice. This includes the critically acclaimed Vessels series, in which the artist photographs white porcelains from Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, reinterpreting their inherent traces of time and pure beauty in a contemporary context. In his Gold series, Koo photographs golden relics scattered across different institutions around the world, highlighting the brilliance of these objects and the history of human civilization with dramatic lighting. Remarkable for its unique pictorial beauty, Portraits of Time focuses on the traces of time apparent in images of frayed walls. Breath, which documents the artist’s dying father, is imbued with rich visual metaphors that represent the artist’s reflections on life and death. Also presented in the exhibition are series that exemplify Koo’s special interest in specific objects: Mask depicts a wide variety of Korean traditional masks worn in folk ceremonies, reflecting the unique spirituality of the Korean people and their traditional outlook on life and death, while Soap records the aesthetic simplicity found in the deteriorating form of an ordinary object.
The exhibition also highlights some of the artist’s earlier works. This includes the artist’s Sea of Thought series which was first produced in 1989, displayed with the original frame from 32 years ago. Other works employ methods that are less common in today’s technology hegemony era; In the Beginning is created by stitching together sheets of photographic prints with thread, while Stories in Ashes is comprised of prints with burnt edges. In an essay for the exhibition catalog, the photographer and curator Gu Zheng remarked, “Koo’s “quiet” photography helps us to appreciate the charm of the medium, as well as the innate depth of the national character of both the photographer and his work.” The exhibition, which introduces Koo’s extensive oeuvre of more than three decades, will travel to the same institution’s outpost located in Xiamen in 2022.