ExhibitionOctober 2, 2019
Nam June Paik: The Future is Now, at the Tate Modern
A major exhibition curated by Dr Sook-Kyung Lee, Senior Curator, International Art (Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational), Tate, and Rudolf Frieling, Curator of Media Arts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, with Valentina Ravaglia (Tate) and Andrea Nitsche-Krupp (SFMOMA) on the work of artist Nam June Paik will be open at Tate Modern from October 17, 2109 to February 9, 2020. This will be the most comprehensive survey of the artist’s work ever staged in the UK, bringing together over 200 works – from early compositions and performance to video and large-scale television installations, in a mesmerizing riot of light and sound.
Nam June Paik (Korea 1932-2006) developed a collaborative and interdisciplinary practice that foresaw the importance of mass media and new technologies, coining the phrase ‘electronic superhighway’ to predict the future of communication in an internet age.
Tate Modern will include the artworks TV Garden 1974/2002; Paik’s first robot work Robot K-456 1964; a room will be dedicated to screening four of Paik’s ground-breaking satellite videos; Exposition of Music - Electronic Television; TV Buddha 1974; One Candle 1989 and the installation Sistine Chapel 1993.
The show will highlight key creative partnerships with celebrated composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham and Joseph Beuys. Paik’s collaboration with cellist Charlotte Moorman was also a deeply significant one for both artists, who developed a repertoire of provocative performances incorporating Paik’s television sculptures within elaborate costumes and props.
The exhibition is organized by Tate Modern and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and will tour to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as well as venues in the United States of America, the Netherlands and Singapore. The exhibition at Tate Modern will be accompanied by a catalogue from Tate Publishing and a program of talks and events in the gallery.
Nam June Paik (Korea 1932-2006) developed a collaborative and interdisciplinary practice that foresaw the importance of mass media and new technologies, coining the phrase ‘electronic superhighway’ to predict the future of communication in an internet age.
Tate Modern will include the artworks TV Garden 1974/2002; Paik’s first robot work Robot K-456 1964; a room will be dedicated to screening four of Paik’s ground-breaking satellite videos; Exposition of Music - Electronic Television; TV Buddha 1974; One Candle 1989 and the installation Sistine Chapel 1993.
The show will highlight key creative partnerships with celebrated composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham and Joseph Beuys. Paik’s collaboration with cellist Charlotte Moorman was also a deeply significant one for both artists, who developed a repertoire of provocative performances incorporating Paik’s television sculptures within elaborate costumes and props.
The exhibition is organized by Tate Modern and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and will tour to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as well as venues in the United States of America, the Netherlands and Singapore. The exhibition at Tate Modern will be accompanied by a catalogue from Tate Publishing and a program of talks and events in the gallery.
