Gimpo International Sculpture Park Exhibits 30 Works by Masters Including Daniel Buren in a 20,000-pyeong Forest

A massive forest spanning 20,000 pyeong has been transformed into a contemporary art museum. At South Korea's Gimpo International Sculpture Park, 30 sculptures by world-renowned contemporary art masters such as Daniel Buren, Sol LeWitt, Julian Opie, and Kim Young-won are placed throughout the forest. According to the Culture and Art for You video, the gathering of these works in the forests of Gimpo is rooted in the geographical characteristic of being a border region and the special theme of 'unification'.

Daniel Buren, who captures space and nature, and the aesthetics of rules by Sol LeWitt

The first work encountered while walking along the forest path is a sculpture by the master of French contemporary art, Daniel Buren. His signature striped structures do not merely stop at being a form of a result, but feature a characteristic of drawing the surrounding space and nature into the work itself. In the video, one can see how the trees and sky visible between the structures are staged like a landscape within a frame. Depending on the direction the viewer walks, the white, sky blue, or orange stripes intersect, presenting a landscape that changes moment by moment.

The next work to appear is a sculpture by Sol LeWitt, a pioneer of American minimalism and conceptual art. The artist created a massive structure by repeating and combining about 100 granite blocks of similar size according to a fixed rule. From a distance, it looks like a massive wall or pyramid, but observing closely reveals a complex charm within simplicity, such as blocks rising one step at a time or connecting in a straight line. In particular, the way the stones, which seem to be stacked individually, eventually converge toward a single high point is a core feature of the work.

Julian Opie and Kim Young-won, capturing urban dryness and the vitality of the human body

In the middle of the forest, the work of British artist Julian Opie catches the eye. This sculpture, which reflects his style of expressing cities and people with thick, simple lines, contains people, cars, buildings, and trees. The dry depiction of the city, where facial features are omitted, contrasts with the vitality of the green forest, creating a special atmosphere that can only be felt within the woods.

At the end of the forest path, human body sculptures by artist Kim Young-won, who created the King Sejong statue at Gwanghwamun, appear. The three figures, crafted at a massive size of 190cm, are expressed with realistic muscles and body curves, creating the illusion that actual people are walking through the forest. The video notes the differences in the materials and poses of the figures. By mixing different materials like stainless steel and bronze, or contrasting a figure stepping on the ground with two feet against a figure walking in the air with their body inverted, different aspects of humanity are embodied.

Masters gathered in the border region of Gimpo, an artistic message toward 'unification'

The reason works by such world-class artists are gathered at Gimpo International Sculpture Park is that this is a border region adjacent to North Korea. At the time of the park's creation, the mission given to the artists was to express 'unification'. Each work contains an artistic interpretation of unification. Kim Young-won's work is interpreted as representing the different ideologies of the South and the North, while the iron stripes in Daniel Buren's work are interpreted as symbolizing the 33 national representatives of the March First Movement. Furthermore, the way the stones in Sol LeWitt's work point toward a single vertex from different directions signifies the path toward unification.

An 'Art Walking Challenge' program is also being operated so that these works can be experienced directly. This event, which will take place at Gimpo International Sculpture Park from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, October 3, 2026, is open to the first 100 people on a first-come, first-served basis, and the participation fee is free. Participants can find works within the park to complete missions and receive step-by-step gifts, and can hear the deep stories of the works through docent explanations by Lee Ji Hyun, the CEO of Culture and Art for You. Applications are available through Neol Wihan 99 Ticket.