ATELIER AKI is pleased to announce its participation in West Bund Art & Design 2026, taking place in Shanghai, China, from November 10, beginning with the VIP Preview, through November 15. This year, the gallery presents works by five artists, Kwon Kisoo, Kwon Neung, Kim Hanna, Miju Lee, and Jeong Seongjoon, showcasing the diversity of Korean contemporary art through explorations of tradition and contemporary visual culture, personal memory and imagination, and the relationship between humanity and nature.

Established in 2014, West Bund Art & Design is an international art fair that brings together galleries and institutions from around the world across major cultural venues along Shanghai’s Huangpu River. Through its participation in the fair, ATELIER AKI has cultivated relationships with institutions and collectors, developing these connections into subsequent exhibitions and projects while creating opportunities for Korean artists to sustain their presence internationally. This year, the gallery further expands its activities beyond the fair through a collaboration with chi K11 Art Museum in Shanghai, presenting Kwon Kisoo’s first solo museum exhibition in the city and establishing a presence across both the art fair and museum platforms.

Kwon Kisoo (b. 1972, Korea) reinterprets the traditions of East Asian painting through a contemporary visual language, creating a distince world of landscapes defined by vivid colors and geometric compositions. His signature character, Dongguri, journeys through landscapes of bamboo, mountains, water, and the moon, reflecting both the artist himself and the lives of contemporary individuals. The perspectives on nature and philosophical traditions embedded in East Asian landscape painting find renewed expression in his work through color, line, repetition, and movement. Currently on view at chi K11 Art Museum in Shanghai, Kwon’s solo exhibition 《KWON KISOO : FOLLOW THE MOON》 runs from October 1 through November 22, presenting approximately 80 works spanning more than two decades of his practice across painting, sculpture, installation, and media art. With his works presented simultaneously at the museum and West Bund Art & Design, audiences have an opportunity to explore the breadth of Kwon’s artistic world, from the familiar figure of Dongguri to his evolving practice across diverse mediums.

The presentation also features works by Miju Lee and Kwon Neung, two artists who transform personal memories and cultural experiences into new visual landscapes. Making her West Bund debut with ATELIER AKI, Miju Lee (b. 1982, Korea) translates memories of everyday life, dreams, and emotions shaped by her experiences between Korea and Spain into painting, sculpture, and installation. Female figures, plants, animals, and everyday objects appear at varying scales and perspectives, forming landscapes where reality and imagination coexist. At this year’s West Bund, Lee presents new paintings, including  〈Evening in Santa Margalida〉 and 〈Growth〉, inspired by the unfamiliar surroundings and emotions she experienced during her stay in Santa Margalida, Mallorca, in 2023. Revisiting these experiences through painting after the passage of time, the works reveal how profound self-reflection has become a turning point in her practice.

Lee has continued to explore the relationship between painting, three-dimensional forms, and space through projects including a window installation for Hermès in Hong Kong and her solo exhibition 《Perfect Days》 (Mallorca, 2024). In 2026, she further developed her practice across mediums and spaces with her solo exhibition 《Más allá de la montaña》 (Beyond the Mountain) at Marc Bibiloni Gallery in Spain.

Kwon Neung (b. 1990, Korea), based in Shenzhen, China, brings together figures from art history, classical paintings, and popular culture, placing them within contemporary everyday settings. Images drawn from different eras and cultural contexts form new relationships within a single composition, transforming familiar scenes of daily life into spaces where art and memory intersect. Through these encounters, Kwon explores the memories and emotions evoked by images and the ways in which art becomes intertwined with everyday life. Following his solo exhibition 《Homme de Monde》 at the PARKSEOBO Foundation in 2025, Kwon presented 《The Seasons of Everyday Life: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring》 at ATELIER AKI in 2026. His works are held in collections including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Art Bank, the Park Seo-Bo Foundation, and the Shao Zhong Art Foundation.

An interest in everyday care and coexistence finds different expressions in the practices of Kim Hanna and Jeong Seongjoon. Kim Hanna (b. 1981, Korea) captures the subtle emotions of everyday life through scenes featuring “Hanna” and “Rabbit.” Serving as two alter egos of the artist, these figures care for and wait for one another, sharing experiences of anxiety and comfort, solitude and solidarity. Making its debut at this year’s West Bund, Kim’s new series of paper sculptures begins with a reflection on the everyday cycle of eating, consuming, and discarding, prompting her to reconsider the materials used in her practice. Guided by a desire to reduce waste and live with less harm to the environment, she gathers leftover paper scraps, wrapping paper, and newspapers from her studio, shaping them through processes of crumpling and layering. Embracing the subtle changes in form that emerge through repeated gestures, Kim extends her commitment to small, mindful actions in everyday life into an exploration of materials and sculptural form.

Jeong Seongjoon (b. 1981, Korea), based in Korea and Beijing, explores the relationship between humanity and nature through allegorical scenes of animals journeying across urban and natural landscapes. Familiar figures such as polar bears and penguins navigate realistically rendered environments, relying on one another as they seek possibilities for coexistence. In his solo exhibition 《Next Stop: Tomorrow》 at ATELIER AKI earlier this year, Jeong expanded his narrative from a journey in search of utopia into a story of humans and animals shaping a shared future. His paintings invite viewers to consider the ecological crisis not as a distant concern, but as a matter of how we treat other living beings and the choices we make in everyday life.

At West Bund Art & Design 2026, ATELIER AKI brings together five artists whose individual visual languages explore themes of memory, identity, nature, and coexistence. Through a diverse presentation spanning painting, sculpture, and installation, the gallery highlights the breadth of expression in Korean contemporary art while building on its established connections in Shanghai to develop future exhibitions and projects for its artists.

Venue
2A01, West Bund International Convention and Exhibition Center

Artists
Kwon Kisoo, Kwon Neung, Kim Hanna, Miju Lee, Jeong Seongjoon

Exhibition Dates
10 Nov – 15 Nov 2026

Website
www.atelieraki.com

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/atelieraki_gallery/

Contact
aki@atelieraki.com

About Artists

Kwon Kisoo (b. 1972, Korea), a leading figure in Korean contemporary art, has introduced the strength of Korean art to international audiences through works that reinterpret traditional Eastern philosophies and artistic techniques in a contemporary context. He is best known for creating Dongguri, a character that transcends distinctions of gender and age.

Kwon studied Korean painting at Hongik University, where he earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. His works have been presented at prominent international exhibitions and institutions, including the Venice Biennale, Busan Biennale, Long Museum in Shanghai, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, Mori Art Museum in Japan, Saatchi Gallery in London, Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York, United Nations Headquarters in New York, MoCA Taipei, and Today Art Museum in Beijing. In 2015, Kwon was selected as a Visiting Professor through the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program, one of the world’s most prestigious scholarship programs. He was also selected twice for the Google Art Project alongside internationally renowned figures such as American contemporary artist Jeff Koons, Japanese architect and installation artist Kengo Kuma, and French aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, further establishing his international reputation early in his career. His works are held in major public and institutional collections in Korea and abroad, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul Museum of Art, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Jeonbuk Museum of Art, and Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as Long Museum in Shanghai, Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and Fondazione Claudio Buziol in Venice, Italy.

Kwon Neung (b. 1990, Korea) graduated from the Department of Western Painting at Hongik University and is currently based in Shenzhen, China. Bringing together past and present, East and West, art and everyday life, and reality and imagination within a single composition, Kwon transforms ordinary moments into scenes of historical and artistic significance, inviting viewers to reconsider the meaning of life and art today. His works are held in the collections of the Shenyang Museum (China), the Art Bank of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA, Korea), the Shao Zhong Art Foundation (邵忠基金会, China) of Meta Media Holdings Limited, one of China’s leading media groups, the PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION (Korea), the Yang Won Sun Foundation (Korea), and the Wooran Foundation (Korea). In 2019, Kwon received the ONE ART AWARD at One Art Taipei, gaining international recognition for his potential.

His major solo exhibitions include 《The Seasons of Everyday Life》 (ATELIER AKI, 2026), 《Homme de Monde》 (PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION, 2025), and 《Coexistence: Timeless》 (Common Art Center, Beijing, 2021). Kwon has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including 《ATELIER AKI: Here and Beyond Part I》 (ATELIER AKI, Seoul, 2025), 《Breaking the Scene: Observation and Thought》 (Common Art Center, Beijing, 2024), 《NOMAD》 (ATELIER AKI, Seoul, 2022), 《’artplus’ Age》 (Enjoy Art Museum, Beijing, 2022), 《Parallel Dream Travels》 (Hongmei Park · Fermentation Art Center, Shenyang, 2022), and 《Brave New Gaze : Vision, Gaze and Start》 (ATELIER AKI, Seoul, 2020).

Kim Hanna (b. 1981, Korea) translates her inner landscapes into a poetic visual language, developing a personal narrative at the intersection of identity and imagination. Her paintings feature two figures, “Hanna” and “Rabbit,” who serve as alter egos of the artist. Originating from her wish to “become a rabbit” during her university years, these figures have accompanied her artistic journey for many years. Through the evolving emotions and relationships between these two characters, Kim gives visual form to the subtle complexities of human emotion. Her paintings capture the nuances of seemingly small and ordinary feelings while evoking warmth and memories of childhood. More than a symbolic character, “Rabbit” serves as a vessel for the artist’s experiences of anxiety and comfort, solitude and solidarity. Through this relationship, Kim explores the tension between the universality of everyday emotions and the intimacy of personal experience.

Since the mid-2000s, Kim has established her practice through solo exhibitions at prominent institutions and galleries in Korea and abroad, including Alternative Space LOOP (2006), Arario Gallery Beijing (2007), Arario Gallery Seoul (2008, 2013), Gana Art Busan (2017), Lotte Hotels & Resorts Gallery (2018), ECRU (2021), and Bangkok (2023). Beyond painting, she has expanded her visual language into design, literature, and popular culture through collaborations with UNIQLO, Shinsegae Department Store, and Monthly Yoon Jong Shin, as well as the publication of a book through Nanda Publishing, demonstrating the breadth of her practice as a contemporary creative artist.

Miju Lee (b. 1982, Korea) works across painting, sculpture, and installation, creating a world where everyday experiences, memories, and dreams intersect. Having studied design and pursued further studies in Barcelona, Lee draws on her experiences between Korea and Spain to express emotions and scenes that are difficult to articulate through words, developing a visual language of her own. Her compositions feature female figures, animals, plants, and everyday objects, bringing together shifting perspectives and scales, flat planes of color, and varied textures to create landscapes that feel both familiar and unfamiliar. Water, in particular, functions as a kaleidoscopic device that transforms the forms of objects and the perception of space, creating scenes in which reality and imagination coexist naturally.

Her major solo exhibitions include 《Más allá de la montaña》 (Marc Bibiloni Gallery, Madrid, 2026), 《Simply a Walk》 (APOproject, Seoul, 2024), 《Perfect Days》 (LA BIBI, Mallorca, 2024), 《Dear Cabinet》 (Seojung Art, Seoul, 2023), 《Soft Strong》 (BACK_Y, Taipei, 2023), and 《Jupjup》 (Shinsegae Gallery, Busan, 2022). In 2025, Lee presented the site-specific project 《Yeti’s Garden》 at Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden in Mallorca, organized by Marc Bibiloni Gallery. She has participated in exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Gwacheon; Busan Museum of Art; Pohang Museum of Steel Art; POSCO Art Museum; and Culture Station Seoul 284, as well as exhibitions in Spain, France, the United States, and Taiwan. In 2025, she also undertook a window installation project for Hermès in Hong Kong, continuing her exploration of the relationships between painting, three-dimensional forms, and space.

Jeong Seongjoon (b. 1981, Korea), who is actively engaged in the art scenes of Korea and Beijing, has explored the theme of “coexistence between humanity and nature” since the beginning of his career, developing a body of work that reflects his personal artistic perspective. His works bring contemporary concerns surrounding ecological crises and environmental issues into visual focus, addressing universal challenges that demand recognition and attention. Endangered animals, including donkeys, small monkeys, polar bears, and Antarctic penguins, appear repeatedly in his paintings, functioning not merely as animal figures but as narrative protagonists through which he explores the possibility of coexistence between humanity and nature. By placing these animals at the center of journeys toward utopia, Jeong metaphorically reveals the fragile balance between human civilization and the natural environment, as well as the realities of the crises that have emerged from this relationship. His works can thus be read as both allegorical narratives and reflections on ecological ethics.

Jeong studied at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia, before earning his master’s degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in China, where he became the first international student to graduate at the top of his class. He subsequently completed his Ph.D. in Fine Arts at Chonnam National University, where he currently serves as a professor in the Department of Fine Arts. Jeong gained international attention when his work entered the collection of the Louis Vuitton Foundation through Bernard Arnault, Chairman of the LVMH Group and a prominent international art collector. His works are also held in major institutional and corporate collections in Korea and abroad, including the CAFA Art Museum in China, Gwangju Museum of Art, PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION, Anna Pao Sohmen Foundation in Hong Kong, Holiday Inn Hotel Art Museum in Shanghai, Cheongmok Art Museum, Vanke Group (万科) in China, Chonnam National University, Sunchon National University, Hana Bank, and Hyoseok Co., Ltd.

(Text and images courtesy of ATELIER AKI GALLERY)