Image: National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, has highlighted Philip Pareono’s 'Marquee' series, a body of work inspired by the illuminated signs typically installed at the entrances of theatres and cinemas. In the museum’s presentation, the series is described as one of Pareono’s signature projects and as a transformation of a functional display device into an independent sculptural form and environmental apparatus.
The museum’s account frames the marquee not simply as a carrier of information about films or performances, but as a visual structure that can be detached from its commercial purpose. In Pareono’s hands, the source material for the works is the signage itself: the familiar light-based device becomes the basis for an artwork that operates in a different register from its original role in public entertainment spaces.
According to the post, the 'Marquee' works incorporate neon, LED lighting and bulbs. That combination points to Pareono’s use of light as both medium and subject, with the series built around the formal and atmospheric qualities of illuminated display rather than around any single image or narrative. The museum’s wording emphasizes the shift from utility to sculpture, suggesting a practice that retains the physical presence of the marquee while reimagining its function.
The MMCA Seoul post is presented as an institutional reflection on the series rather than a full exhibition announcement, and it does not provide a venue-specific programme, opening date or closing date. Even so, its language places the work within the museum’s contemporary art context, where the familiar architecture of cinema signage is read as a sculptural environment in its own right.
The reference to the series also situates Pareono within a conversation about how artists repurpose everyday built forms. By isolating the marquee from the context that usually gives it purpose, the works shift attention to the material language of light, sequence and display. The museum’s short description presents that shift as central to understanding the series.
No further installation details, dimensions or related events were included in the source post, which focused on the conceptual basis of the 'Marquee' series and its use of neon, LED lighting and bulbs.
