Once a thriving industrial center, Seongsu-dong has seamlessly evolved into South Korea’s iconic artistic hub that hosts a community of artists and designers. At ‘Scène’, a café/gallery located at the heart of Seongsu-dong, LG Display has once again ignited a fresh movement in the world of media art by presenting its third installment of the ‘OLED ART WAVE’ exhibition, which follows the successes of ‘Every Wave You Will Sense’ in 2021 and ‘Never Alone’ in 2022.
This year, under the theme ‘LONG DREAM,’ five new emerging artists utilized OLED displays to vividly illustrate the dreams we hold, born from the enduring nights on our journey toward utopia. With the full support of LG Display’s wide array of OLED products, artists were also backed by the company’s display experts on essential technical information needed to conceptualize, create, and exhibit their works. Let’s find out more about ‘OLED ART WAVE: LONG DREAM’, the embodiment of artistic harmony with technological excellence.
OLED ART WAVE, a refreshing blend of OLED and Art for endless creativity
LG Display’s illustrious OLED ART WAVE exhibition has been a continuous project since 2021, aiming to promote the unique features of OLED and create a diverse artistic environment for promising artists, both domestically and abroad.
‘OLED ART WAVE: LONG DREAM’ features creative and distinctive media art from five digital artist groups, including Jonathan Monaghan, Yehwan Song, Gijeong Goo, Yaloo and Studio AR+EHC. The exhibition was brought to life with a total of 16 OLED displays, spanning from the sizable 88-inch OLED to the Transparent OLED canvas placed throughout the venue.
A new wrinkle for this year’s OLED ART WAVE exhibition is the special collaboration menu at the Scène featuring tasty pound cakes and beverages and the unique session ‘Artist Talk,’ where Studio AR+EHC and artist Gijeong Goo engage directly with the audience to share insights into their creative processes and the deeper meaning behind their works. Let’s take a closer look at the individual artworks of the five talented artists from ’LONG DREAM’, each resonating with their unique creative personalities.
A dream-like experience <LONG DREAM>
#1. The animation series <Crown Dream> by artist Jonathan Monaghan seamlessly plays across three 55-inch Transparent OLED displays. A New York-based artist, Monaghan shared his pleasant experience in working with LG Display’s OLED: “It offers so many new opportunities for an artist. I’m able to consider the space around the animation and the animation’s ability to interact with that space.” In <Crown Dream>, Monaghan created his own view of the world by navigating across ancient mythology, science fiction, baroque architecture, historical paintings, and even images from contemporary subcultures.
#2. Leveraging the 77-inch OLED panel, Yehwan Song’s <Upload Type Grinding Evaporator> blends Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), immersing viewers in an entirely new spatial experience. Artist Yehwan Song stated, “Typically, colors used in digital environments differ from the ones in real-life. With OLED’s ability to express color accurately and vividly, I was able to utilize various colors in my work more actively.”
#3. Harnessing the massive 88-inch 8K OLED alongside the 77-inch and 65-inch OLEDs, artist Gijeong Goo ‘s <Macro Scenes> shows digital images that attempt to mimic green plants and mechanical organisms that transcend the limitations of nature.
Utilizing OLED displays from the early stages of creation allowed Goo to accurately convey the intended colors and textures to the audience. The artist added, “Since OLED can also be transparent or flexible, it has opened up a host of new opportunities in the art space.” In particular, Goo highlighted OLED’s near-perfect blacks that help reduce glare and improve its overall color quality, a trait that sets OLED apart from any other TVs.
#4. Artist Yaloo’s <TTEUL of KKOT GAM GWAN> features two 55-inch Transparent OLED displays that appear to be suspended in midair, together with a large display standing front and center, here become passageways into the artist’s imagination. The artist leverages extensive research that spans from the Nudibranch molluscs that inhabit the waters of Ulleungdo Island, to cultural treasures such as the ‘Gilt-bronze Incense Bruner’ of Baekje. Depicting a hybrid ecosystem that generates its own energy and illumination, this artwork utilizes the unique sculptural qualities of Transparent OLED to evoke a dreamlike sensation.
#5. In <Show Me Your Memories> by Studio AR+EHC, images materialize and disperse repeatedly on five Transparent OLED displays. These images draw inspiration from interviews with LG Display’s employees, focusing on the themes of ‘the color that inspires you’ and ‘the most inspiring city experience.’ These interviews then were generated through AI images. The visuals of the artwork are reflected back through black mirrors, creating a space where one can experience how a dreamlike experience is realized back into reality through art and technology.
LG Display’s ongoing commitment to cultivate the media art landscape
The influence of LG Display’s OLED ART WAVE campaign has reached far beyond borders and has made OLED the optimal, next-generation canvas for digital art. With perfect blacks and rich color expression that doesn’t tolerate any distortion, OLED has become the go-to choice for global art institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum and the ARTECHOUSE art gallery. As OLED continues to garner more and more recognition from the art world, LG Display is ramping up its efforts to discover and support promising new artists across the globe to reshape the media art landscape.
