Amherst
Founded in March 18th, 2009
Exhibition Planning: Exhibition, Storytelling
Contents Team: Develop contents and arts collaborations
Marketing Team: Art projects of companies and organizations
Gallery Team: Manage and contract of artists and artworks

Exhibition
The Keith Haring
Joseph Beuys: The Multiples
Edward Curtis and the North American Indian: SACRED LEGACY
THE SMURFS FIGURE ART AUCTION
Le Petit Prince
Sagmeister: Another Show about Promotion and Advertising Material

There is a famous quote in Korea which says, "Genius cannot beat the one who puts in the effort, and the one who tries cannot beat the one who enjoys." For this issue, the Kookmin Review interviewed "the one who enjoys". JinHan Choi is the CEO of Amherst, an exhibition planning and art marketing company in Korea. He brought great success with the Keith Haring Show back in 2005 and has brought in interesting and entertaining exhibitions since then. As the head of the first art marketing company, JinHan Choi shared his stories with the Review. The following is an edited script of the interview:

What made you found Amherst?
I was interested in the arts when I was in high school but could not go to an arts school because of my parents. I think working in Arts & Culture became my biggest goal because it was what I was always interested in. Before I founded Amherst, I had the chance to work in marketing at financial companies like LG card and GE Capital. While working there, I realized art marketing has a large potential to grow in Korea. Most marketing activities that involved Art & Culture at that time did not focus on what people wanted, but only focused on past experience of success.
I also believed that I had the strongest competitive advantage in doing art marketing: business acumen. Planning great art exhibitions is easy only if you use a lot of money but it does not always guarantee success. Making people want to come to exhibitions requires acumen and I knew I had it. I was confident that I could make people come to my exhibitions, and with lower costs. Finding the right and interesting content was the only thing I needed to do to make it successful.

How did you build up your business acumen?
I do not have a special answer for this question because I built up my business acumen in my daily life. Whenever I was faced with a problem or difficulty, I thought about it all the time. For instance, I once thought about how to earn money while traveling when I was in college. If you keep focusing on the questions that you are trying to answer, it eventually comes up. Because of this old habit, I always carried a little notebook with me. Good ideas ‘pop’ in your mind sometimes out of nowhere. If you miss that timing, you waste time and energy for nothing. So I used the little memo to keep my ideas and organized it into a diary to keep track of all the ideas.
As a CEO of a company, I tell my employees to leave their work at the company and do not think about the work at home, because I do not want them to be stressed. However, at times, I want my employees to step out of it and continue to think about the work wherever they are, because doing it makes them grow professionally. In the Art & Culture industry, creative ideas play significant roles.
I am normally strict with myself but the only thing I believe I am good at is thinking about the problem all the time. I personally found it very helpful so if you think it will be helpful for you, I recommend you to try it.

The word “art marketing” is not familiar to us. What exactly is art marketing?
Art marketing is similar to advertising companies. We deliver messages that companies want to deliver through works of artists, whereas advertising companies use creative ideas. The biggest difference between advertising and art marketing is that the content in the marketing activities becomes competitive in the market in addition to the artistic value. The creative ideas of advertising companies often become subject to the brand, but in art marketing, both the artist and the company benefit each other. The content gains authority because of the artist and people appreciate the work of the artist. An increasing number of companies have now opened their eyes to the power of art marketing, and Amherst was proactive in segmenting the business.

What does it take to work in art marketing?
I think reading the trend is the most important factor to work in the Arts and Cultural industry. To create enjoyable content, you should be able to read the trend first. Moreover, be interested in every area. Do not limit yourself only to a certain area. If you want do marketing, you should be prepared for anything. Nothing is wasteful. Think continuously.

What is the most memorable exhibition?
That would be the Keith Haring Show. It was the very first project of Amherst and I pretty much worked on the project on my own. I put in all my effort in bringing the exhibition to Korea. At the early stage of the project, I was not able to get as much investment as I expected, so I had to cover the costs with personal finance. Many people thought that the exhibition would end in failure, and things did not go the way I wanted them to. However I kept on pushing myself to do my best and it turned out to be a great success. I still remember the last day of the Keith Haring Show. It was 5 September 2010. The rain was pouring down and people were lining up all the way from the gate of the Soma Museum down to Mongchontoseong Station; the nearest subway station to the museum. Just a day before, I was relieved by the fact that I was able to reach a break-even point but then I could not stand still looking at the jam formed at the gate the following day. 16,000 people came to see the exhibition on that day, but no one was irritated or upset about standing in the line. I cried on that day watching the smiles on people’s faces. The memory of that day has become the biggest driving force of my career since.

Many students have a hard time making difficult decisions in their lives. What is your advice to them?
When I was working at LG card, I wanted to study an MBA aboard, but it would make my senior’s life at the company more painful if I did leave. I could not make a decision, so I went to that person to ask for advice. This is what he said. “Which one do you think is worse? Regret, while doing what you want to do? Or regret that you did not even try it?” And that is now my life’s motto. I think regretting while doing what I want to do is better than not even trying. I think trying makes me to go one step further.

In addition, many students ask me to give suggestions regarding their problems when I give lectures. I think the best way to solve your problem is “you”. You have to find the answer. I can give you suggestions but cannot solve the problem for you. There are many mentors. Students want to become mentees of those famous mentors and try to follow their paths. Build your own values. Remember, you are the CEO of your life.

Thanks to CEO JinHan Choi, the Review also had a chance to meet the most representative Korean pop artists, Artnom and Charles Jang. They are currently affiliated with Amherst, and work in various fields of Arts & Culture in Korea. Let’s hear their stories.

▶Interview with Artnom
You put the stories of middle-aged men into your artworks. Why did you make your character based on a middle-aged man and why is your character wearing a sheep head-shaped hat?
My character was created modeling my face. I had the same face even when I was young. I wanted to talk about stories of my own with people who have the same concerns. When I first created my character, there was no sheep head-shaped hat, but I added it after seeing my face in the mirror with the hat. I thought it was pretty cute. The bunny character represents myself after marrying my wife. She was born in the year of the sheep so I used a bunny head-shaped hat for myself after my marriage.

Why did you make your artistic name ‘Artnom’? ‘Nom’ is slang for a man. Did you intend to name it like that?
Yes. I get so many compliments so I wanted to be called a name that sounds like slang.

What do you want people to feel when they see your works?
I want them to enjoy my work. That is all I want from them. I pursue ‘Funnism’ in my works because it is hard to see these kinds of artworks in Korea. The work itself is enjoyable and fun. I hope many people in Korea take an interests in the Arts.

What is your vision?
I want to live alive. I do not want to lock myself in limitations. I want to try new things and enjoy my life with energy.

▶Interview with Charles Jang
How did you start doing graffiti?
I did not like drawing on canvas. It was too boring. I wanted to draw actively and ‘spew out’ my energy. After serving in the military, I naturally learnt graffiti and got to know famous pop artists like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. I got a lot of inspiration from their works and built relations with graffiti artists in Korea.

How did you make your own style?
I learned different styles of arts including graffiti, Indian Arts of Australia and Canada. Before I graduated from college, I went to Australia and Canada for working holidays, and there, I had chances to learn about traditional arts. Enjoying the dynamics of my life, I spent one year in Australia and another year in Canada. I believe art also has the tempo just like music, and my style had the same tempo with art that I learned in Australia and Canada. So I can say that my style is a combination of totem arts of those two countries, my own Korean character, and pop art.

Where do you get inspiration?
It depends but I normally get inspiration from people. I try to find how people communicate with one another and find things in common with them.

What is your vision?
My vision is making good works. I want to develop myself every day.

What do you want an audience to feel when they look at your works?
I try not to have certain expectations from people. I am now focusing more on developing myself. Everybody works hard in their job and I want to do the same.