combining cinema aesthetics, photographic art and interior design through multi-media methods in an exhibition showcasing photography inspired by the visual style of Wes Anderson.

“Accidentally Wes Anderson” Seoul exhibition view

The use of “Accidentally” in the title is inspired by the Instagram account “Accidental Wes Anderson,” created by the American couple Wally and Amanda Koval, who collected submissions of vintage-looking symmetrical photography from Wes Anderson fans around the world, inspiring them to imitate his trademark compositions and color schemes. Through their lenses, they have captured architecture, scenes and moments that echo the director's films, photographing and sharing the “world of Wes” as they see it. These photographs were compiled into a selection of 300 images approved by Wes Anderson himself. The exhibition divides these works into the nine themes of “Opening the Photo Album”, “Destinations”, “Mind the Gap”, “Checking In”, “Swimming Pools”, “European Classics”, “Star Spangled Banners”, “Collecting Colors” and “Relaxing in Nature”, seemingly recreating Wes Anderson's cinematic scenes.

As a leading figure of postmodernist cinema aesthetics, Wes Anderson created a unique visual iconography through such films as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, and The French Dispatch. He is adept at using deep perspective and geometric compositions to produce dramatic visual tension. The first section, “Opening the Photo Album,” unfolds through a series of scenes from everyday life, capturing ordinary moments fixed in the lenses of the photographers. The works in this section use compositional aesthetics to explore the discovery of the extraordinary in the ordinary. Architecture and interior design are the best carriers for this geometric aesthetic, which is the primary visual presentation formed in Wes Anderson's films. “Destinations” presents landmark buildings from around the world through the Wes Anderson style long corridor form, with an emphasis on symmetrical composition and perspective relationships. “European Classics” and “Star-Spangled Banners” focus respectively on Euro-American architecture, presenting classic European buildings from the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution and American architectures represented by the Severance Music Center in Cleveland.

“Accidentally Wes Anderson” Seoul exhibition view

The unique narrative rhythms built from the painstakingly designed scenes and visual repetition in his films give rise to a highly recognizable style that creates a magical atmosphere somewhere between reality and fairytale. These qualities are particularly apparent in the sections “Mind the Gap”, “Checking In” and “Swimming Pools”. “Mind the Gap” focuses on transportation tools, with a specially designed train window installation echoing the train scenes in Wes Anderson's films, symbolizing journeys and transitions in life. Meanwhile, “Checking In” and “Swimming Pools” perfectly recreate the vintage charm of his films. Extravagant lobbies, artfully decorated suites, modern swimming pools and storied seaside wading pools place the viewer in a surreal, magical world painstakingly constructed by the director.

“Accidentally Wes Anderson” Seoul exhibition view

More and more photographers these days are creating their own works inspired by the “Wes aesthetic” in an affirmation of his visual aesthetic and a testament to his impact on popular culture. The color filters found throughout his body of work, such as soft pinks, mint greens, vintage yellows and other low saturation colors, have become markers of Wes Anderson's visual style. In the “Collecting Colors” section, we can see how his trademark emerald green and pastel tones convey a sense of nostalgia for a particular era while also embodying contemporaneity. As the exhibition’s exclusive paint partner, Nippon Paint has carefully blended vintage colors to create an immersive spatial environment, the soft, refined tones perfectly echoing Wes Anderson's aesthetic style as an extension of his chromatic language.

“Accidentally Wes Anderson” Seoul exhibition view

From composition to color, from space to narrative, every detail embodies the aesthetic style of this postmodernist director. The final section of the exhibition, “Relaxing in Nature,” presents natural scenes far removed from the clamor of the city to take viewers on a visually therapeutic excursion. A specially designed lounge is paired with soft music evoking the slow rhythm that often marks the narratives in the director's works, as well as yearning for a place of refuge. As this exhibition’s exclusive lighting partner, high end German home lighting brand Paulmann has provided the exhibition with a unique artistic experience of light and shadow. Through exquisite lighting design, each exhibition section is transformed into a tiny stage, with the flows of light and shadow evoking the dramatic lighting of Wes Anderson’s films.

“Accidentally Wes Anderson” Seoul exhibition view

Also worth noting is the special China edition of Exhibition Section X. This section has collected “Wes aesthetic” works with Chinese elements, giving the symmetrical beauty of an ancient Chinese garden, or the geometric forms of modern architectures a new interpretation. As an internationally renowned leisure brand, Club Med welcomes travelers from across the globe to its resorts located all over the world. Exhibition Section X presents twelve carefully selected photographs drawing inspiration from The Grand Budapest Hotel to reveal the unique allure of Club Med's resorts in France, Greece, Tunisia, the Maldives, and Türkiye. Social media posts with the hashtags #ClubMed, #WesAnderson and #FosunFoundation will get a chance to win prize packages that bring wonderful getaways within reach.

“Accidentally Wes Anderson” Seoul exhibition view

It is worth considering that Wes Anderson's style did not arise in a vacuum. It is inextricably linked to a specific sociocultural context. Under the influence of postmodernist thought, artists began to reexamine history and traditions, which they would deconstruct and reshape through playful methods. Wes Anderson's films employ symmetric compositions, bright colors, and vintage elements to construct ideal Utopias, while this unique aesthetic style meshes with people’s desires for individualized, differentiated expression. The photographs in this exhibition, mirroring the films with their symmetric compositions, low saturation tones and geometric aesthetics reveal how ordinary people discover and record these poetic “accidents” in everyday life. In other words, they have provided an outlet for escape from reality, a spiritual homeland filled with romanticism and poeticism.