Park Jong-young is one of the 20 finalists chosen for the 24th edition of the SongEun Art Award. A group exhibition of the prize's contenders has been staged at SongEun Art Space in southern Seoul. Courtesy of SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation and the artist

The SongEun Art Award returns this year with a group exhibition spotlighting the 20 finalists shaping the future of Korea's art scene.

Launched in 2001 by the SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation to recognize next-generation artistic visionaries, the annual prize celebrates rising talents aged 45 years and under. It stands as one of the country's most prestigious honors in contemporary art, alongside the Korea Artist Prize and the Hermes Foundation Missulsang.

For its 24th edition, 20 artists and collectives have been selected from a pool of 598 applicants. This year's short list features Gu Na, Koo Ja-myoung, Kim Won-hwa, Noh Sang-ho, Park Jong-young, Bae Yoon-hwan, Shon Soo-min, Song Ye-hwan, An Yu-ri, Yaloo, eobchae, Omyo Cho, Ryu Ah-yeon, Lee Seung-ae, Lee Hye-in, Cho Jai-young, Jin Min-wook, Choi Jang-won, Chu Mi-rim and Tak Young-jun.

The winner of the prize, set to be announced in January 2025, will receive 20 million won ($13,800) and the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at SongEun Art Space in southern Seoul. Additionally, two of their works will be acquired for the collections of the SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation and the Seoul Museum of Art.

Noh Sang-ho's “Holy” series bridges the digital and analog worlds by recreating AI-generated glitch images through uncanny airbrush painting. Courtesy of SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation and the artist

At the ongoing group show, “The 24th SongEun Art Award,” the finalists offer a glimpse into their evolving narratives and creative visions through an array of mediums, including painting, sculpture, installation, video and media art.

Some artists integrate technology into their pieces in remarkably diverse ways.

Koo Ja-myoung brings invisible software algorithms and codes to life by transforming them into biology-inspired sculptures. In his latest installation, he intriguingly converts the codes from four North Korean propaganda websites into amino acid structures and DNA sequences, blurring the lines between digital systems and organic forms.

Noh Sang-ho bridges the digital and analog worlds by recreating artificial intelligence-generated glitch images through uncanny airbrush painting. His “Holy” series revolves around a glitch image of a snowman engulfed in flames — an unsettling yet striking scene that defies the bounds of physical reality.

Yaloo uses holograms to present surreal motion-capture animations, where an 86-year-old protagonist doubling as a K-pop idol and a pirate embarks on a psychedelic journey. Courtesy of SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation and the artist

Yaloo uses holograms to present surreal motion-capture animations. Her work features an 86-year-old protagonist who doubles as a K-pop idol and a pirate, embarking on a fantastical, psychedelic journey.

“This media installation is almost like a pirate ship, a battlefield and a K-pop stage all rolled into one,” she said.

Others turn to traditional artistic mediums to delve into themes of loss and transformation.

Omyo Cho draws inspiration from her self-written science fiction novel, fashioning eerie sculptures that imagine how future creatures might survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Her art primarily incorporates glass and metal — materials she finds captivating for their contrasting yet shared properties. Glass is fragile and metal is strong, but under certain conditions, both can flow and merge. Through these elements, she envisions lifeforms of the future, explaining, “Though they are dormant now because Earth's temperature is too low for them, perhaps in a hotter future, they might awaken, flow and come alive.”

Lee Hye-in captures the decline of traditional market alleys in the outskirts of Seoul, places she grew up around and watched fade over time, in her neon-colored canvas works. Courtesy of SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation and the artist

Lee Hye-in captures the decline of traditional market alleys in the outskirts of Seoul, places she grew up around and watched fade over time. Her vivid, neon-colored paintings portray two places still clinging to existence — a brothel and a bar packed with hoarded antiques instead of patrons — highlighting their haunting presence amid redevelopment.

The group exhibition of the prize's contenders runs through Feb. 22, 2025.