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WHAT can photography still do in the age of artificial intelligence? Two exhibitions at Kukje Gallery offer a chance to contemplate the question, bringing together nine Korean photographers and the late American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in a broad exploration of photography’s enduring relationship with form, observation and material reality.
The centerpiece is “Objects in Oscillation,” a group exhibition curated by acclaimed Korean photographer Koo Bohn-chang, featuring works by nine contemporary Korean artists across the gallery.
“As AI-generated imagery becomes increasingly prevalent, these exhibitions return attention to photography’s fundamental relationship with observation, light and form,” a gallery official told The Korea Herald.
Rather than relying on algorithmic image-making, the artists in “Objects in Oscillation” foreground direct observation, craftsmanship and the camera’s ability to transform ordinary objects into subjects of contemplation. Koo’s works, including his “Objects” and “Collection” series, focus on overlooked items such as empty boxes and found objects, revealing traces of absence, memory and use.
