Bek Hyunjin: Seoul Syntax

Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is pleased to host PKM Gallery for an exhibition in Los Angeles. A prominent Korean gallery, PKM has chosen to exhibit a solo presentation of Korean multidisciplinary artist and musician Bek Hyunjin, introducing his gestural and poetic practice to Los Angeles for the first time. Entitled Seoul Syntax, the exhibition will be on view July 12 through August 29, 2025.

Bek Hyunjin was born in Seoul and has lived and worked there for over 50 years. While the city has remained a constant in his life, Seoul itself is always changing and evolving. Both systematic and variable, the city is a juxtaposition of both stability and insecurity in Bek’s life. Seoul Syntax translates the artist’s experiences of his hometown – the emotions, thoughts, and sensations rooted in this place – to the city of Los Angeles.

Syntax refers to the structure and order of language, as well as the relationship between signs and their meanings – rife with slippages and misalignments. Across painting, installation, sound, and performance, Bek Hyunjin’s work captures Seoul’s chaotic and restless patterns, mapping its unique rhythms and structures.

Bek Hyunjin has held numerous exhibitions at major art institutions such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, Korea), Leeum Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea), Art Sonje Center (Seoul, Korea), Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum (Shanghai, China), and Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna, Austria). In 2017, he was chosen as the nominee/sponsored artist for the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Korea Artist Prize.

As a singer-songwriter, Bek worked actively as a member of the Uhuhboo Project, the first generation indie band, and a project band Bahngbek. He is also currently active as a solo musician.

For two and a half decades, PKM Gallery has been consistently presenting exhibitions of both Korean and international artists whose artworks keenly reflect the trends of contemporary art. The gallery has exhibited the works of Yoo Youngkuk and Kwon Jin Kyu, the Korean modern masters, and Yun Hyong-keun, Chung Chang-Sup, and Suh Seung-Won, the pioneers of Dansaekhwa, along with the works of leading figures in Korean contemporary art such as Bek Hyunjin, Koo Jeong A, Young In Hong, and Cody Choi. The gallery has also succeeded in introducing renowned international artists such as John Baldessari, Olafur Eliasson, Dan Flavin, Carsten Holler, Gabriel Orozco, and Thomas Ruff to the Korean audience. As an incubator for emerging young artists, PKM Gallery has been organizing exhibitions of Koo Hyunmo, Wonwoo Lee, Toby Ziegler, and others to encourage their growth as leading artists of the next generation.