Alexander Ugay at the Albertina Museum

Alexander Ugay participates in a group show of works from VERBUND COLLECTION at the Albertina Museum, held in celebration of the collection’s twentieth anniversary. On view from 29 February until 5 May 2024.

The work ‘Unknown Return’ by Alexander Ugay is the part of the upcoming exhibition that will be unveiling new acquisitions of VERBUND COLLECTION presented for the first time in Austria.

The ‘Unknown return’ project comprises a constellation of three groups of images, including both photographic and AI-generated. It explores the complex layers of identity, memory, and loss within the Korean diaspora, particularly focusing on the impact of historical events such as the 1937 Deportation and the influence of the Soviet era. Through a combination of photographic and AI-generated images, the work investigates themes of cultural preservation, subjective interpretation of history, and the interplay between personal and collective narratives. By juxtaposing family photographs with digitally reconstructed typologies and reflecting on the erasure of language and culture over generations, the project invites viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about the past while reimagining possibilities for understanding and reclaiming diasporic identity.

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