Exhibitions & Programs
Christian Hidaka: Theatres of the Sky, Skies of the Theatre
20250605-20260510
Christian Hidaka: Theatres of the Sky, Skies of the Theatre
20250605-20260510
The show is running until 2026/05/10
at Buk-Seoul Museum of Art
- Weekdays(TUE–FRI) 10AM–8PM
- SAT · SUN · Public Holidays Summer, 10AM~7PM
- Winter, 10AM~6PM
- 《Seoul Culture Night》 Every Month First, Third Friday
- 10AM–9PM
- Opening Hours The last admission is 1 hour prior to closing time
- Closed Days 01.01 , Every Monday
- Regular closing days
Exhibition Location
Buk-Seoul Museum of Art B1st GALLERY 6
Buk-Seoul Museum of Art B1st GALLERY 5
Exhibition Period
2025.06.05~2026.05.10
Admission
Free
Exhibition Genre
Inquiries for Exhibition
Jin Lee 02-2124-5269
Inquiries for Visit
안내 데스크 02-2124-5248,5249
Waiting In Godo
Waiting in Godo serves as the centerpiece of this exhibition, positioned high on the wall in Gallery 5, where various exhibition spaces meet. The title was inspired by Christian Hidaka’s visit to Godo, a small town in Ravenna, Italy, where he noticed the word “Godo” fading on an old station sign while waiting for his train.
Though its title brings to mind Waiting for Godot, the renowned play by French novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett, the artist’s Godo steps away from the literary reference to invite viewers into a time of his own imagining―grounded in a specific place and moment, yet reaching beyond them.
The figure, intended as a self-portrait reflecting the artist’s fate, bears a strong visual resemblance to Vincent van Gogh’s The Painter on the Route de Tarascon, Arles July (1888). Here, Christian Hidaka depicts himself as a time traveler, journeying between life and death, sky and earth, drifting through the in-between spaces of the world―a metaphor for the passage of life. The arched passageway in the blue wall symbolizes the flow of time, suggesting that the artist now stands at the midpoint of his life.
Blue Window (Bubbles)
Blue Window (Bubbles) and Blue Window (Yayoi) greet viewers from beyond blue-tinted frames. Set against a deep black background, both works call to mind a mysterious realm―one that lies just beyond reach, where neither touch nor sight can fully grasp what’s there.
In Blue Window (Bubbles), a young girl acts as a guide to the underground theater, drawing the viewer into the scene. The composition evokes Soap Bubbles (1734) by 18th-century French painter Jean Simeon Chardin, known for celebrating the true beauty of everyday life over grand, decorative imagery. The girl’s soap bubbles drift upward toward the sky, opening a path to a world of imagination.
In Blue Window (Yayoi), the iconic Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama is depicted alongside a man, gazing out from behind the window. With one hand outstretched as if casting a spell, she calls us to follow her lead. At her invitation, visitors are encouraged to step into a surreal underground world shaped by wonder and dreams.
Blue Window (Yayoi)
Blue Window (Bubbles) and Blue Window (Yayoi) greet viewers from beyond blue-tinted frames. Set against a deep black background, both works call to mind a mysterious realm―one that lies just beyond reach, where neither touch nor sight can fully grasp what’s there.
In Blue Window (Bubbles), a young girl acts as a guide to the underground theater, drawing the viewer into the scene. The composition evokes Soap Bubbles (1734) by 18th-century French painter Jean Simeon Chardin, known for celebrating the true beauty of everyday life over grand, decorative imagery. The girl’s soap bubbles drift upward toward the sky, opening a path to a world of imagination.
In Blue Window (Yayoi), the iconic Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama is depicted alongside a man, gazing out from behind the window. With one hand outstretched as if casting a spell, she calls us to follow her lead. At her invitation, visitors are encouraged to step into a surreal underground world shaped by wonder and dreams.
Underground Shanshui
This mural was painted by Christian Hidaka over the course of three weeks on site at the museum and marks the artist’s first attempt at a work of this scale.
Beyond the round opening leading into a cave, an illusory underground world seems to unfold. Water flows through winding ravines, while stars glimmer in the night sky beyond. The scene calls forth both the imaginative spirit of prehistory and the vast, mysterious expanse of the cosmos.
The mural blends elements of both Eastern and Western cultural traditions. The circular gateway bears a resemblance to the entrance to a chapel designed by Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, while also echoing the architectural language of Japanese temples. Within the cave, ink-like textures reminiscent of East Asian landscape painting emerge, along with a fluid, non-fixed perspective―an essential feature of the region’s pictorial aesthetics. Following his encounter with ancient cave paintings in southern France, Christian Hidaka extended his practice into mural form.
The figure in Attendant, positioned in front of the mural, serves as a bridge between the imaginary cave world and the physical space of the museum. This character was modeled after a visitor the artist once saw dozing in a chair at another museum. Through this work, Christian Hidaka offers viewers a chance to momentarily step out of everyday life and envision themselves entering a completely different realm.
Attendant
This mural was painted by Christian Hidaka over the course of three weeks on site at the museum and marks the artist’s first attempt at a work of this scale.
Beyond the round opening leading into a cave, an illusory underground world seems to unfold. Water flows through winding ravines, while stars glimmer in the night sky beyond. The scene calls forth both the imaginative spirit of prehistory and the vast, mysterious expanse of the cosmos.
The mural blends elements of both Eastern and Western cultural traditions. The circular gateway bears a resemblance to the entrance to a chapel designed by Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, while also echoing the architectural language of Japanese temples. Within the cave, ink-like textures reminiscent of East Asian landscape painting emerge, along with a fluid, non-fixed perspective―an essential feature of the region’s pictorial aesthetics. Following his encounter with ancient cave paintings in southern France, Christian Hidaka extended his practice into mural form.
The figure in Attendant, positioned in front of the mural, serves as a bridge between the imaginary cave world and the physical space of the museum. This character was modeled after a visitor the artist once saw dozing in a chair at another museum. Through this work, Christian Hidaka offers viewers a chance to momentarily step out of everyday life and envision themselves entering a completely different realm.
Stage Serpientiae
In prehistoric times, the snake symbolized wisdom and was regarded as a messenger and guardian of the underworld. In this piece, it takes on that role once more―channeling creative inspiration on the artist’s behalf. Coiled around a woman's hand, the snake gazes toward a man playing the flute. As their eyes meet, he pauses his music and returns its gaze. In the sky to the right, an angel points directly at the snake. These three figures appear engaged in a silent exchange, with an unseen current of inspiration flowing between them. Partially hidden in front of the flute player is a child ―Cupid―holding aloft an egg as a symbol of new beginnings. Set in a space that suggests both temple and stage, the work reflects the artist’s unique and mysterious imagination, far beyond ordinary life. Arched doorways encircle the figures, lending the scene a sense of theater. The arch, filled with sky-blue tones, scattered stars, and a radiant sun, expresses the artist’s enduring fascination with the cosmos and astrology.
Scene doree
Scene doree and Night Flutist are paintings that skillfully merge the Western tradition of chiaroscuro with the oblique perspective characteristic of East Asian painting. Each composition takes shape in three distinct layers―proscenium, stage, and understage―recalling the structure of an actual theatrical set.
In Scene doree, figures drawn from Pablo Picasso’s works are subtly embedded throughout the scene. The girl in the white ballet dress references a character from Family of Saltimbanques (1905), while the dancer’s sky-blue attire resembles the costume designed by Picasso himself. Ascending the “ladder of wisdom,” this dancer brings about a climactic moment: a solar eclipse, when the moon passes before the sun. To the artist, this marks the arrival of a true “golden age.”
In Night Flutist, a figure dressed in a costume patterned after Picasso’s drawings plays a flute. The village is enveloped in darkness and silence, yet the music gently transforms the quiet into something luminous and tender. Though it is reminiscent of a small Italian town, the empty streets and absence of people give the painting the atmosphere of a theatrical set.
Night Flutist
Scene doree and Night Flutist are paintings that skillfully merge the Western tradition of chiaroscuro with the oblique perspective characteristic of East Asian painting. Each composition takes shape in three distinct layers―proscenium, stage, and understage―recalling the structure of an actual theatrical set.
In Scene doree, figures drawn from Pablo Picasso’s works are subtly embedded throughout the scene. The girl in the white ballet dress references a character from Family of Saltimbanques (1905), while the dancer’s sky-blue attire resembles the costume designed by Picasso himself. Ascending the “ladder of wisdom,” this dancer brings about a climactic moment: a solar eclipse, when the moon passes before the sun. To the artist, this marks the arrival of a true “golden age.”
In Night Flutist, a figure dressed in a costume patterned after Picasso’s drawings plays a flute. The village is enveloped in darkness and silence, yet the music gently transforms the quiet into something luminous and tender. Though it is reminiscent of a small Italian town, the empty streets and absence of people give the painting the atmosphere of a theatrical set.
Brunian Seal (Snake)
These artworks are based on engravings by Giordano Bruno, a Renaissance philosopher from over 600 years ago who was deeply fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. Bruno described these diagrams as “images for preserving one's own unique memory” of space and time―a notion that Christian Hidaka embraces as a new way of encoding memory in visual form. He titled the series Seal, a reference to the marks pressed into wax when sealing a letter, and placed them throughout the exhibition space.
Christian Hidaka’s interest in historical European mathematics and Chinese astrology also finds expression in Magic Blue Square. The magic square is a time-honored numerical puzzle used for centuries by artists and mathematicians across cultures. In this enigmatic grid, every row, column, and diagonal adds up to the same value. In this work, the sum is twelve, and the two blank squares represent zero. Through the motif of the snake and this symbolic number, the artist commemorates the 2025 anniversary of Buk-Seoul Museum of Art―a Year of the Snake―marking twelve years since its opening in 2013, which also fell under the same sign. This work acts as a bridge between the slowed, heightened tempo within the gallery and the rhythm of the real world.
Brunian Seal 1
These artworks are based on engravings by Giordano Bruno, a Renaissance philosopher from over 600 years ago who was deeply fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. Bruno described these diagrams as “images for preserving one's own unique memory” of space and time―a notion that Christian Hidaka embraces as a new way of encoding memory in visual form. He titled the series Seal, a reference to the marks pressed into wax when sealing a letter, and placed them throughout the exhibition space.
Christian Hidaka’s interest in historical European mathematics and Chinese astrology also finds expression in Magic Blue Square. The magic square is a time-honored numerical puzzle used for centuries by artists and mathematicians across cultures. In this enigmatic grid, every row, column, and diagonal adds up to the same value. In this work, the sum is twelve, and the two blank squares represent zero. Through the motif of the snake and this symbolic number, the artist commemorates the 2025 anniversary of Buk-Seoul Museum of Art―a Year of the Snake―marking twelve years since its opening in 2013, which also fell under the same sign. This work acts as a bridge between the slowed, heightened tempo within the gallery and the rhythm of the real world.
Brunian Seal 2
These artworks are based on engravings by Giordano Bruno, a Renaissance philosopher from over 600 years ago who was deeply fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. Bruno described these diagrams as “images for preserving one's own unique memory” of space and time―a notion that Christian Hidaka embraces as a new way of encoding memory in visual form. He titled the series Seal, a reference to the marks pressed into wax when sealing a letter, and placed them throughout the exhibition space.
Christian Hidaka’s interest in historical European mathematics and Chinese astrology also finds expression in Magic Blue Square. The magic square is a time-honored numerical puzzle used for centuries by artists and mathematicians across cultures. In this enigmatic grid, every row, column, and diagonal adds up to the same value. In this work, the sum is twelve, and the two blank squares represent zero. Through the motif of the snake and this symbolic number, the artist commemorates the 2025 anniversary of Buk-Seoul Museum of Art―a Year of the Snake―marking twelve years since its opening in 2013, which also fell under the same sign. This work acts as a bridge between the slowed, heightened tempo within the gallery and the rhythm of the real world.
Obliqulock (20:13)
These artworks are based on engravings by Giordano Bruno, a Renaissance philosopher from over 600 years ago who was deeply fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. Bruno described these diagrams as “images for preserving one's own unique memory” of space and time―a notion that Christian Hidaka embraces as a new way of encoding memory in visual form. He titled the series Seal, a reference to the marks pressed into wax when sealing a letter, and placed them throughout the exhibition space.
Christian Hidaka’s interest in historical European mathematics and Chinese astrology also finds expression in Magic Blue Square. The magic square is a time-honored numerical puzzle used for centuries by artists and mathematicians across cultures. In this enigmatic grid, every row, column, and diagonal adds up to the same value. In this work, the sum is twelve, and the two blank squares represent zero. Through the motif of the snake and this symbolic number, the artist commemorates the 2025 anniversary of Buk-Seoul Museum of Art―a Year of the Snake―marking twelve years since its opening in 2013, which also fell under the same sign. This work acts as a bridge between the slowed, heightened tempo within the gallery and the rhythm of the real world.
Obliqulock (20:25)
These artworks are based on engravings by Giordano Bruno, a Renaissance philosopher from over 600 years ago who was deeply fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. Bruno described these diagrams as “images for preserving one's own unique memory” of space and time―a notion that Christian Hidaka embraces as a new way of encoding memory in visual form. He titled the series Seal, a reference to the marks pressed into wax when sealing a letter, and placed them throughout the exhibition space.
Christian Hidaka’s interest in historical European mathematics and Chinese astrology also finds expression in Magic Blue Square. The magic square is a time-honored numerical puzzle used for centuries by artists and mathematicians across cultures. In this enigmatic grid, every row, column, and diagonal adds up to the same value. In this work, the sum is twelve, and the two blank squares represent zero. Through the motif of the snake and this symbolic number, the artist commemorates the 2025 anniversary of Buk-Seoul Museum of Art―a Year of the Snake―marking twelve years since its opening in 2013, which also fell under the same sign. This work acts as a bridge between the slowed, heightened tempo within the gallery and the rhythm of the real world.
Magic Square for Buk SeMA
These artworks are based on engravings by Giordano Bruno, a Renaissance philosopher from over 600 years ago who was deeply fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. Bruno described these diagrams as “images for preserving one's own unique memory” of space and time―a notion that Christian Hidaka embraces as a new way of encoding memory in visual form. He titled the series Seal, a reference to the marks pressed into wax when sealing a letter, and placed them throughout the exhibition space.
Christian Hidaka’s interest in historical European mathematics and Chinese astrology also finds expression in Magic Blue Square. The magic square is a time-honored numerical puzzle used for centuries by artists and mathematicians across cultures. In this enigmatic grid, every row, column, and diagonal adds up to the same value. In this work, the sum is twelve, and the two blank squares represent zero. Through the motif of the snake and this symbolic number, the artist commemorates the 2025 anniversary of Buk-Seoul Museum of Art―a Year of the Snake―marking twelve years since its opening in 2013, which also fell under the same sign. This work acts as a bridge between the slowed, heightened tempo within the gallery and the rhythm of the real world.
Tambour Ancien
Tambour Ancien begins with an old French military drum that Christian Hidaka purchased in 2021. Originally used during the Napoleonic era to signal the movement of soldiers, the drum sparked the artist’s interest in its history and symbolic meaning. He saw a connection between the drum’s steady rhythm and the act of painting, both as ways to channel inner thoughts and emotions.
The figure playing the drum in the painting has features that blend both European and Asian characteristics. It is, in fact, a self-portrait of the artist, who has a Japanese mother and a British father. The starry, swirling designs on the blue costume take cues from a piece Pablo Picasso created in 1917 for the production of Parade. He hopes this work will encourage viewers to imagine freely, moving across time periods and cultures.
Wall Niche
Wall Niche (Scarpa/De Caus) is a work that opens a space for reflection on history, time, and memory through the idea of a cave. Christian Hidaka has painted a small cave-like space within a wall niche, creating a passage to another world. Caves have long appeared in human history―from ancient dwellings to sacred sites in Eastern and Western traditions, and even Renaissance architecture.
A window and pool of water at the center of the painting are inspired by the imaginative drawings of De Caus, a French garden designer from the 17th century. The surrounding green tones echo the work of the 20th-century Italian architect Scarpa. The composition brings together elements of modern Western architecture and traditional Japanese stage design. Through a “painting within a painting” structured like an endless cave, Christian Hidaka leads us into a deep, layered space where imagination can bloom.
Kirby Variations
Kirby Variations is a mural painted along a corridor wall about 32 meters in length, reflecting Christian Hidaka’s ongoing exploration of expressing three-dimensional space on a flat surface. Using principles of perspective and Euclidean geometry, the artist has studied various modes of observation. In this piece, he draws inspiration from the perspective theory of 18th-century British landscape painter Joshua Kirby, placing geometric forms at tilted horizontal and vertical angles.
Through the research on ancient cave paintings, the artist discovered that the earliest colors were black, white, red, and yellow. He came to understand that these four primal colors could generate an almost boundless spectrum of hues. Among them, black carries particular significance for the artist. It embodies a sense of absence, a void akin to a black hole, suggesting a pull into another space and time behind the wall.
Mountain Walkways
Christian Hidaka fuses different times and places within a single painting, driven by vistas he has encountered on his travels around the world. More than a decade ago, he visited the Huangshan Mountains in China and immersed himself in Song Dynasty landscape painting. Mountain Walkways is rooted in these experiences, combining views from multiple vantage points into a unified scene.
Mountains appear in layers across the canvas, as if the scene extends the painting’s edge, with streams and curving trails running through them. Unlike traditional Western perspective, which guides the viewer’s gaze to a single focal point, this work presents a flattened space where every part holds equal visual weight, encouraging viewers to navigate the scene by following its many paths.
Similar approaches to perspective and use of vivid, mystic colors can be found in today’s video game settings. Merging Eastern painting traditions with digital aesthetics, Christian Hidaka creates a space where past and present cultural sensibilities meet. For the artist, this way of painting reflects his belief in the power of art to reshape how we see the world.
Theatrum Caeli
Theatrum Caeli is rooted in 16th-century theaters. Christian Hidaka brings this imagined stage into the museum, reconstructing an early theater where disciplines such as mathematics, geometry, and performance once intersected―and transforming the gallery into a space of theatrical illusion.
The deep blue used throughout the theater represents the celestial world for the artist. It is a color that evokes wonder and helps create a “theatre of the sky,” as if the entire structure were suspended in the air.
The installation expands on Christian Hidaka’s earlier painting Theatrum Orbi (2017), which envisioned an imaginary theater―now realized in a more three-dimensional form. The artist has recreated the stage of Shakespeare’s Globe, as illustrated in Robert Fludd’s Art of Memory (1619), allowing visitors to physically explore the space and experience the shifting perspectives embedded within it.
From the designated “View Point” in the gallery, viewers can clearly perceive the use of one-point perspective, where all vanishing lines converge, offering a direct encounter with the artist’s visual experiment.
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A cherished gem of northeastern Seoul, the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art is SeMA’s first and largest branch opened to the public in 2013. It seeks to invent new forms of exhibitions and learning programs of contemporary art. Buk SeMA is particularly animated by vibrant local communities including a dozen art colleges as well as many other educational institutions. The experimental spirit of a younger generation of artists plays a vital part in the diverse transdisciplinary programs of Buk SeMA, which aims to become a collaborative station for the future. (Photo: ⓒ Kim YongKwan)
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