Walking Through a Living Painting: Julian Opie Brings VR and Giant LED Art to Ulsan This July

A British Art Icon Comes to Korea — With a Virtual Venice in Tow

So here's something genuinely exciting for art lovers in Korea this summer. Starting July 2nd and running all the way through October 5th, the Ulsan Museum of Art is hosting a major solo exhibition by Julian Opie — one of Britain's most globally recognized contemporary artists. And this isn't your standard white-walls-and-framed-prints kind of show. We're talking virtual reality, massive outdoor LED sculptures, and a 30-meter media screen that essentially turns the museum's front yard into a living artwork.

If you're not familiar with Julian Opie, here's the quick version: he's the British artist best known for reducing human figures and cityscapes into bold, simplified outlines — think minimalist portraits with thick black lines and flat colors. His visual language is instantly recognizable, and it's shown up everywhere from gallery walls to album covers. His work sits at this fascinating intersection of fine art and the visual rhythms of modern urban life.

Step Inside Venice — Without Leaving Ulsan

The headline experience of this exhibition is happening inside the museum's XR Lab, where visitors can strap on a VR headset and step into "OP.VR/Venice" — a virtual reality installation that quite literally transports you through the alleyways and courtyards of Venice, Italy. You cross bridges, wander into palaces, and encounter Opie's signature artworks embedded throughout the digital architecture. The whole thing runs about 15 minutes, and the effect is described as walking through a living painting — which, honestly, sounds like exactly the kind of thing you need to experience to fully appreciate.

What's really interesting here is how the experience plays with perception. Because Opie's style is already so graphic and abstracted, seeing his work rendered in a fully immersive three-dimensional space creates a kind of spatial illusion — you're simultaneously aware you're in a digital world and completely drawn into it. Each session accommodates up to four visitors at a time, runs on a 15-minute rotation schedule, and is open to anyone aged 13 and above for safety reasons.

Art That Spills Out Into the Street

But the indoor experience is only half the story. Step outside the museum and you'll find two of Opie's most iconic portrait series brought to monumental scale.

On the museum's lawn, a 4-meter-tall LED sculpture displays moving figures from his "100 People" series — a work that captures the quiet rhythms of everyday urban life through animated silhouettes. And spanning the museum's exterior wall is a 30-meter outdoor media screen showing "Other People," another portrait series in which figures stride continuously across the massive display.

Together, these outdoor works transform the museum's public space into something closer to a sculptural landscape than a traditional exhibition space — which seems very much by design. The boundary between inside and outside, between gallery and city, is exactly what this show is trying to dissolve.

Meet the Artist in Person

On opening day, July 2nd, Opie himself will be present for a public artist talk starting at 1:30 PM. Seats are limited to 30 people on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you want in, you'll need to send your name and contact details to the museum's official email at ulsanartmuseum@korea.kr. That's a rare opportunity to hear directly from an artist of this caliber, so it's worth jumping on quickly.

The exhibition runs through October 5th, giving visitors a solid summer window to make the trip to Ulsan — a city on Korea's southeastern coast that has been quietly building one of the country's most ambitious contemporary art scenes.

Korea's New Summer Symbol: The Trumpet Vine That "Defies the Sky"

While we're talking about summer in Korea, there's another seasonal story worth knowing about — and it's a lot more low-tech than VR headsets. Across the country, a flowering vine called neungsohwa (능소화), or trumpet vine, is having a genuine cultural moment.

Part of the trumpet creeper family, neungsohwa produces clusters of large, dramatic blooms in vivid yellow and orange. The vines climb walls, fences, and tree trunks — sometimes reaching up to 10 meters high — and they typically peak in August, right in the thick of Korea's brutal summer heat. That's actually a big part of their appeal right now.

A Flower With Attitude

So here's the thing about why this plant has caught on so strongly with younger Koreans: it's all in the name. "Neungsohwa" can be translated roughly as "insulting the sky" or "defying the heavens." That's a surprisingly bold name for a flower, and it's resonated deeply on social media. Essays and posts playing with the idea of a flower that laughs at — or simply refuses to be beaten down by — Korea's punishing summer monsoons and heat waves have gone wildly viral.

There's also a deeper cultural thread here. Historically, the trumpet vine was cultivated as an ornamental plant for scholars in the Joseon period (1392–1910), the era of Korea's last royal dynasty, and was associated with dignity and integrity. Old lore describes how its blossoms drop from the vine fully intact rather than scattering petals — a detail that's been read as a symbol of graceful perseverance.

Where to Find the Best Spots in Seoul

For many Koreans, photographing themselves beneath cascades of trumpet vine blossoms has become a full-on seasonal ritual, and certain spots around Seoul have developed reputations as must-visit neungsohwa destinations.

• Ttukseom Hangang Park — Entire stretches of wall are draped in vines, with the Han River as a backdrop.
• Seochon (west of Gyeongbok Palace) — Romantic corners with vines tucked between traditional hanok houses, small cafes, and galleries give the area an especially photogenic charm.
• Jeongdok Public Library (Jongno District) — Vines climbing over brick buildings create a quieter, more literary atmosphere.
• Huam-dong (near Seoul Station) — Hillside mural alleys with cascading orange blooms.
• Namyoung Station — Trumpet vines framed against N Seoul Tower, mixing old-fashioned summer imagery with a very modern skyline.

Korea Times Announces Winners of Its 22nd Economic Essay Contest

And finally, a quick note on academic achievement worth celebrating. The Korea Times has announced the winners of its 22nd English Economic Essay Contest, an annual competition open to university students across Korea.

This year's Grand Prize — worth 3 million won each — went to two students: Alexandra Maria Escobar Garay, a Salvadoran student at Busan University of Foreign Studies, and Ko Kyung-hwan, a Korean student at Hanyang University. The fact that the top prize went to an international student from El Salvador is a reminder of just how internationally diverse Korean university campuses have become.

The runners-up, each receiving 2 million won, were Sultanova Khadizha from Kyrgyzstan (Woosong University) and Said Jonathan Luviano Lessie from Mexico (Ajou University). Commendation awards of 1 million won went to Tran Minh Ngoc from Vietnam, Narzullaeva Maftuna Shukhrat Kizi from Uzbekistan, and Lee Hyo-jeong, a Korean student studying at the University of California.

What's really interesting is what the students were asked to write about. The two essay topics — Korea's banking and securities firms expanding into digital assets, and the use of artificial intelligence in financial services — reflect exactly the conversations happening at the highest levels of Korea's financial industry right now. The award ceremony takes place on July 8th at Lotte Hotel Seoul, with the winning essays to be published in that day's edition of The Korea Times.

This article is based on reports from Ksilbo, Koreatimes, Koreatimes.