botero & warhol

Botero, Warhol's Works Shown in Seoul

American pop artist Andy Warhol's iconic portraits of Chinese leader Mao Zedong and Hollywood screen legend Marilyn Monroe can be seen at the Opera Gallery Seoul through March 15. / Courtesy of Opera Gallery By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter The works of Colombian master artist Fernando Botero and American pop artist Andy Warhol are being shown together in a special exhibition at the Opera Gallery in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul. The special exhibition will give viewers a chance to compare and contrast the two aritsts' works from a social and historical context. On display are 20 works by Warhol and 15 Botero paintings and sculptures. Opera Gallery curator Park Eun-jin said this is the first time since 1997 that Botero's works have been shown in Korea. She also noted Warhol's immense popularity in Korea, as seen with numerous exhibitions and even advertisements featuring his Pop Art. Botero is a neo-figurative artist who has been described as the ``most Colombian of Colombian artists.'' He was born in Medellin in 1932, and majored in Fine Arts at Medellin University. He later moved to Spain, then France and Italy, where his distinctive style caught the art world's attention. Viewers can see the depth and scale of Botero's works from his small sculptures to the massive, one-ton sculpture, ``Reclining Woman.'' As with his sculptures, Botero's colorful paintings show how he plays with exaggerated sizes and proportions of the figures. It also brings to mind elements of South American traditional folk art. The ``Woman with Green Dress'' (1992), ``Street'' (1998) and ``Reclining Nude with Book'' (1997) feature his trademark round, if not obese-looking, people. Critics have suggested Botero uses these exaggerated figures as a form of satire. However, Botero explained: ``An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why. You adopt a position intuitively; only later do you attempt to rationalize or even justify it.'' Even if Warhol's works are already well known in Korea, there are still a few pieces which will pique the interest of art buffs. The ``Three Portraits of Ingrid Bergman,'' feature different sides to the enigmatic Swedish actress. The portraits show Bergman in a '40s studio shot, as Ilsa in ``Casablanca'' and as a nun in ``The Bells of St. Mary.'' Park said it is hard to put together all three portraits in sequential order. A portfolio of 10 screen prints of ``Mao,'' featuring the Chinese leader Mao Zedong is also at the exhibit. There is a smattering of diamond dust covering the surface of ``Superman'' and ``Mickey Mouse,'' making them sparkle. Warhol's lesser-known portraits are also seen at the exhibit, such as ``Kimiko'' and ``Saint Apollonia.'' ``Kimiko" is a print of a Japanese woman in soothing blue and green colors. It is also rare to have two ``Saint Apollonia'' portraits, almost mirror images of each other except one is red and the other is yellow. Saint Apollonia, the patroness of dentists, was tortured by having all her teeth pulled out. The portrait shows her holding a clamp with a tooth. The Botero and Warhol exhibit runs through March 15. Call (02) 3446-0070 or visit www.operagallery.com. cathy@koreatimes.co.kr