This special exhibition features his iconic works, including his robot sculptures and TV Cello on loan from the Nam June Paik Art Center, as well as a monumental video installation composed of 65 television monitors, consigned by James Cohan Gallery.
By transforming TVs into instruments or human-like figures, he playfully dismantled and reimagined 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.
Paik once declared, "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." As such, 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.
"Nam June Paik traversed tradition and modernity, East and West, analog and digital, realizing through art the very spirit of cultural connectivity that underpins today's K-Culture," said Hee Sung Cho, Curator at the Korean Cultural Center New York.
This exhibition also highlights his enduring commitment to younger generations and to intergenerational dialogue in art. In the Atrium, Paik's Rehabilitation of Genghis Khan (1993)—highlighted in the exhibition's poster—is presented alongside The Car Toward the Future (2025) by emerging media artist Areum Kim, supported by the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation. Her work carries forward Paik's vision of technology intertwined with humanity, love, and coexistence, demonstrating how his artistic spirit continues to thrive today while opening pathways toward the future.
About the Artists
Nam June Paik
Born in Seoul in 1932, Nam June Paik pioneered the field of media art, transforming television into a creative medium. After early studies in Tokyo and Germany, he moved to the United States in 1964, developing groundbreaking installations, performances, and the video synthesizer.
From the 1980s, his global satellite projects, including Good Morning, Mr. Orwell (1984), connected avant-garde art with popular culture. Awarded the Golden Lion at the 1993 Venice Biennale, Paik remained active until his passing in 2006, leaving a legacy as a visionary who expanded art's role in shaping the future and global communication.
Areum Kim
Born in Seoul in 1987, Areum Kim is a media and visual artist whose practice explores technology, memory, and coexistence between human and non-human beings. Winner of the Grand Prize at the ONSO ARTIST OPEN CALL 2025, her works have been exhibited at major galleries and biennales in Korea.
For this exhibition, Kim presents The Car Toward the Future (2025), a multimedia work inspired by Paik, envisioning technology as a vessel of love, compassion, and connection across past, present, and future.
About the Korean Cultural Center New York
The KCCNY is a branch of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea inaugurated in 1979 to establish and promote Korean culture in New York. We provide diverse cultural and artistic activities including gallery exhibitions, performing arts programs, film festivals, educational workshops, and more, offering a place of experience and learning.
Located at 122 E 32nd Street in New York, KCCNY serves as a cultural hub in the heart of the city, near Manhattan's Koreatown. The seven-story center offers a comprehensive platform where audiences can encounter Korea's rich heritage as well as its dynamic contemporary culture, fostering dialogue, creativity, and cross-cultural exchange.
For more information, visit www.koreanculture.org and follow @kccny on Instagram.
For inquiries: please contact Dr. Bora Yoon, [email protected]
About the Collaborating Institutions
Nam June Paik Art Center
Opened to the public in 2008, Nam June Paik Art Center aspires to revive the generosity, criticality and interdisciplinarity characteristic of both Paik's work and life. As christened by the artist himself, Nam June Paik Art Center aims to be a museum where Paik lives on. It is not just to remain a memorial for the artist, but to seek an active undertaking to increase the awareness of Paik's work and life far and wide. As a public museum specializing in media art, Nam June Paik Art Center also devotes itself to cultivating artistic and scholarly experiments in creative and critical ways.
Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation
The Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation has been actively involved in a wide range of social contribution activities, guided by its founder's philosophy of contributing to the country and society through business activities. In particular, the Foundation has been committed to nurturing future leaders in line with the founder's vision.
The Foundation selects outstanding talent from South Korea and ASEAN countries by supporting their studies and research, empowering them to work toward realizing their dreams. We encourage young entrepreneurs to tackle social challenges with innovative solutions, and we also support emerging artists in helping bring K-culture to the global stage.
SOURCE Korean Cultural Center New York
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