Tracing the Trajectory of Creation through 300 Art Toys: Coolrain Archive Exhibition to be Held in October

'Art toys,' familiar through figures and characters, are now expanding beyond mere collectibles into an art genre that contains an artist's worldview and formative language. An exhibition will be held to retrace the time during which domestic art toy culture has grown and its production sites through the 20-year work of one artist.

Arttoy company ARTPIEZ will hold the archive exhibition 《ARTTOY : PIECES of COOLRAIN》 by first-generation Korean art toy artist Coolrain (Lee Chan-woo) as its gallery's opening exhibition from October 2 to November 22 at ARTPIEZ Gallery in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

This exhibition unfolds the creative process of artist Coolrain, which has continued from 2004 to the present, through approximately 300 works and records. In addition to finished art toys, various stages of work will be presented together, from sketches and work notes where ideas first appeared to prototypes, individual production parts, and final works.

Artist Coolrain has created unique characters based on the popular culture he has experienced, such as basketball, b-boying, hip-hop, and street fashion. Following the presentation of 'MONSTERZ CREW' which started from b-boy culture in 2007, he participated in the Nike Dunk 'Be True' project in 2008, and since then, he has expanded his scope of activity by collaborating with various fields including Dynamic Duo and Amoeba Culture, as well as NBA, PSG, and BTS.

In this exhibition hall, major works done with BTS, Dynamic Duo, and including the NBA series can be met. By adding materials that organize representative works and activities by year, the exhibition shows not only the changes of one artist but also the flow of how domestic art toys have expanded by meeting various cultural areas such as sports, music, fashion, and entertainment.

During the exhibition period, experiential workshops such as art toy coloring, which are directly directed by artist Coolrain, will also be operated on weekends. The exhibition can be viewed for free from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 AM to 6 PM, and is closed on Mondays.