Various Small Fires Seoul proudly presents DMZ: A Bioregional Transformation, a solo exhibition that revisits The Harrison Studio's 2021 research on the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), which is located on the border between North and South Korea. Their work uncovered that the area had become the most ecologically rich nature reserve in the region and argued expanding the DMZ from a 160-mile corridor 2 miles wide to include associated uninhabited mountainous areas. The exhibition presents illustrative images, maps, and research previously show in the DMZ to highlight the ceasefire territory's environmental value.
The Harrison Studio consists of Newton Harrison (b. 1932, lives and works in Santa Cruz, California) and Helen Mayer Harrison (1927—2018). Often simply referred to as “The Harrisons,” the husband and wife team are leading pioneers of the Ecological Art movement. During their prolific career, the Harrisons have been the subject of over 100 solo exhibitions, and have been included in over 250 group exhibitions. For nearly fifty years, the Harrisons have produced work across a vast range of disciplines, working in collaboration with biologists, ecologists, historians, activists, architects, urban planners, and fellow artists to initiate dialogues and create works exploring biodiversity and community development. They have shown work at the 2019, 1980, and 1976 Venice Biennales; Taipei Biennial (2018); documenta 8 (1987); the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Tate, London, UK; Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles; The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois; MoMA PS1, New York; Berkeley Art Museum; Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Kunstmuseum Bonn, DE; and Kunstverein Hamburg, DE. Works by the Harrisons are included in many major permanent collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Newton Harrison is a Professor Emeriti at University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of California, San Diego.
