Jeju horses, a designated Natural Monument, greet the rising sun at a grazing field of the Jeju Livestock Research Institute in Nohyeong-dong, Jeju City, on the morning of Dec. 19 last year. According to the Korea Heritage Service’s National Heritage Portal, Jeju horses are known for their gentle temperament, robust constitution, and strong resistance to disease and harsh conditions.
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — As South Korea enters 2026, the Year of the Red Horse in the traditional lunar calendar, galleries across the country are marking the occasion with a wave of exhibitions devoted to one of humanity’s oldest artistic symbols.
In Seoul’s Cheongdam-dong, Gallery Sein is hosting a special exhibition titled “Let the Horse Run: K-Art,” featuring works by 14 artists across painting, photography and sculpture. Among the highlights are An So-young’s two-part series inspired by René Magritte’s Le Blanc-Seing, reimagined with a solitary horse moving through a snow-covered birch forest.
Lee Jin-a, Powerful Welcome (Courtesy of Gallery Geurimson)
The animal’s body holds shifting skies—day and night, dusk and dawn—suggesting the coexistence of time and memory, while a lantern-holding girl waits nearby, her book also bearing the image of a horse. The exhibition runs through Jan. 16.
Works by Ahn So-young on display at Gallery Sein — from left, Girl #21, Meditation on Le Blanc-Seing #1, and Meditation on Le Blanc-Seing #2.
Nearby in Jongno District, Gallery Geurimson is presenting “Jinchae Society: We Are Horses,” through Jan. 19. The show brings together 84 artists affiliated with the Jinchae Research Institute, showcasing works created with jinchae, a traditional Korean painting technique that uses pigments ground from natural minerals and layered onto paper or silk.
The exhibition spans styles from classical East Asian painting to contemporary interpretations, unified by the recurring motif of the horse.
Kim Bora’s Forest at Noon (courtesy of Gallery Grimson).
One notable work, Kim Bora’s Forest at Noon, centers on a chess knight poised precariously atop an inverted cone, evoking tension and uncertainty. The piece invites viewers to reflect on whether they are living as autonomous actors—or as pieces moved by unseen hands.
Additional exhibitions extend the theme across Seoul and beyond. In Seocho District, artist Jung Mi’s solo show opens Jan. 18 at Gallery Space L, featuring luminous horse paintings influenced by Franz Marc’s famed Blue Horse, rendered with gold leaf, silver foil and reflective materials.
Jeong Mi’s Soul Mate (courtesy of Gallery Space L).
In Yangpyeong County, a community of artists with developmental disabilities and their mothers is holding “Red and Powerful Horse,” presenting 128 works that emphasize vitality and inclusion. And at Gallery Yoon in Jongno, emerging artists from Korea, China and Russia explore the image of the horse—from mythical unicorns to legendary Cheollima—in an exhibition titled “Gallop,” running through Jan. 17.
Poster for the special exhibition “Red and Powerfully, the Horse”
(Courtesy of the online community “Grim Eomma”)
Together, the exhibitions reflect how a single symbol can carry layers of cultural memory, personal introspection and collective aspiration, reaffirming the horse’s enduring presence in art as a figure of strength, movement and imagination.
Image credit: Gallery Grimson, Galley SEIN, Gallery Space L, Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
