K&L 뮤지엄 소장품전: K&L MUSEUM Collection Exhibition

Curated and written by Lina Kim, Director of K&L Museum

Marking its third anniversary in 2026, K&L Museum presents an exhibition showcasing the modern and contemporary art collection it has built with conviction and dedication over the past three years. This exhibition has been conceived as an opportunity to share the museum’s carefully cultivated collection with a wider public.

K&L Museum was founded with the aim of practicing the spirit of mécénat, grounded in the corporate philosophy of SMK International and a deep commitment to culture and the arts. Through a modest yet sincere approach, the museum has consistently pursued exhibition-making and collection-building over the past three years, contributing to the development of Korea’s cultural landscape while attentively recording the currents of contemporary art.

Guided by the core values of inspiration, philosophy, connection, and influence, K&L Museum has sought to establish itself as a platform for cultural and artistic discourse linking Korea with Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia. Through collaborations with a diverse range of artists and institutions, the museum has engaged with contemporary social-scientific, technological, and environmental issues, translating them into artistic form. By presenting works articulated through distinct perspectives and singular visual languages, K&L has continuously explored the conditions of the present and fostered new artistic dialogues.

This trajectory is brought into sharper focus through the present collection exhibition. 

The exhibition brings together works by artists who have previously held solo exhibitions at K&L Museum—including Hermann Nitsch, Kwon You-Hyun, Claudia Comte, and Ann-Kristin Hamm—alongside works by numerous Korean and international artists featured in past exhibitions. Newly acquired works by Katharina Grosse, Julian Opie, Yoon Jong-Sook, Karin Kneffel, Kim Hyun-Jin, Haegue Yang, and Grace Weaver further enrich the presentation, expanding the distinctive character and artistic scope of the K&L Museum collection.

A particularly compelling point of engagement within the exhibition is the relationship between music and the visual arts, which has played a significant role in shaping the K&L collection. Across history, heroic myths and music—imbued with mystery and grandeur—have offered humanity moral insight, emotional resonance, and creative vitality, serving as enduring sources of inspiration for many visual artists. Tracing the musical narratives embedded within the works of the K&L collection invites visitors into a multisensory experience that extends beyond visual appreciation and expands the field of perception.

In parallel, K&L Library, a sister space that opened in 2025, presents an exhibition dedicated to prints by major Spanish masters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Francisco Goya. Together, these exhibitions offer a layered exploration of European and Mediterranean aesthetics, reflecting the sustained intellectual interests pursued by the museum’s parent company and its affiliated institutions.

Through this exhibition, K&L Museum hopes to share the artistic journey it has undertaken and the values of mécénat it upholds, while offering a space for collective reflection and renewed engagement with art.