Luncheon on the Grass it was not - Korean Tourist Organization.

I haven't conducted any research before coming to watch this show. I usually don’t go unprepared, but this time I just thought that artists will paint a few pictures, I’ll listen to some nice, relaxing music ( for some reason when I thought about this show I had Manet and his “ Luncheon on the Grass” or " Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" as it is known in original,  in my mind) and I’ll have a pleasant evening.

Boy was I surprised! What the hell was I thinking !? The show was nothing as I expected it to be….

140 seats theatre was three-quarters full. Doesn't look good,I thought to myself . I would expect a full audience on Saturday night. Then, when I looked around I thought  that judging from the amount of old, dried out oil paint on the floor it will be messy. The picture of Monet and nice, relaxing music vanished at that stage all together.

The performance has started. Theatre went completely dark. Very loud, rhythmic music is pounding at my breastbone,strobe lights are flashing. Looks a bit too psychedelic to me.

Entire show is based on creating  eight paintings using eight different techniques.

Painting 1 – Light drawing.  

Theatre is dark. The artist is using a putty knife. To draw a lion on a piece of a glass covered with black paint. The glass is lightened from the back, so that we can see the whole process of creation well. Quite impressive I have to say, especially that it’s done in just 2-3 minutes!

Painting 2 –  Finger drawing         
                                                                                        
Four aliens were having a conversation... That’s the only way I can explain what was going on stage.All of them interact with the audience and together they create a T-shirt souvenir which will be given to one of the spectators. Finger drawing is inspired by Jackson’s Pollock work. I did not like this part too much, maybe because I'm not too keen on UFO, but it gave me some idea. Task for this week: trash my old boots using Pollock’s Number 1A as an inspiration ;-) I’ll have some fun!

Painting 3- Flower drawing

Couple flowers which were offered to audience later on,  were drawn by performers and two people who paid for their tickets, rather than spending money on soju and beer. Go figure.

Painting 4 – Drawing with a flash-light  

Artists were creating “Beauty and the Beast” portraits on some sort of thermal paper using the flash-light. Truly amazing.  One of my friends is an artist photographer. I remember her, working on one of her projects when she was painting dresses on models using light. Extremely difficult to achieve and requires a lot of skills. 

Painting 5- Japanese Landscape.
       
This oriental landscape is finished in just 3 minutes. I did time it!

Painting 6-  Marbling.  

One of the most surprising techniques I have seen during the show was marbling. The paint has been spread over the water and shaped with toothpicks. Once finished, the painting was transferred to a canvas. The painting itself was a bit to tacky for me, but the technique on the other hand was interesting.

Painting 7 – Shadow painting

Suddenly,  lights in the theatre went off again and some sort of dramatic music screamed through loudspeakers. It’s time for shadow drawing. The whole painting of N.Y.'s Twin Towers under attack was drawn on a glass sheet and transferred onto the wall using light. Quite moving, especially for someone who was a few blocks from Ground Zero at  that time.

Painting 8 – Napoleon crossing the Alps                                                                                          

The last painting in the show was inspired by Jacques Louis David and his vision of Napoleon. Decently executed, large scale picture drawn using charcoal.

During the show, as in most of theatres in Seoul, no photos can be taken (photos in this review are used in courtesy of The Drawing Show team). Unexpectedly photos were allowed at the end of the performance, it was a nice touch to finish it off.

If you are an artsy person. covered with paint from head to toe,  this show if definitely for you. I didn't feel any “wow” factor myself, though. It was too futuristic for me. Somehow it was a strange mixture of Lynch’s Dune, Warhol’s Studio 54 and tacky interpretation of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Even though I think it’s worth to see as it is different from all other shows in Seoul. After all, you may look at the show from different perspective and background than me; ergo you may even enjoy it much more ;-)

Performance Times:

Monday-Sunday: 17:00, 20:00

Directions:

Jongno 3-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 1 & 3 & 5), Exit 14.