Cheongdam vies to be ‘new money’ art hub
People pass the Nature Poem building, which has more than 10 art galleries in it, on the Cheongdam-dong gallery street in southern Seoul. By Oh Sang-min
Where is the representative “vanity fair” of Seoul?
Most Seoulites will point to Cheongdam-dong streets in southern Seoul, with luxury fashion brand shops such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci and fancy restaurants. But these streets are also the place for an annual “art fair” and one of Seoul’s two art hubs.
Even those not interested in art could become curious about vivid, cartoon-like sculptures of a snake and a giant cat when they pass the windows of Opera Gallery on the first floor of the Nature Poem building near the Cheongdam crossroads. These are works by Romero Britto, a Brazilian neo-pop artist.
This building has more than 10 art galleries including the Park Ryu Sook Gallery on the third floor - one of the oldest galleries in southern Seoul. It is joined by the Michael Schultz Gallery Seoul, also on the third floor, which is based in Berlin.
Viewers look at paintings by Satoshi Kanai, a Japanese artist, on Cheongdam-dong gallery street in southern Seoul. By Oh Sang-min
“When we open a gallery in a city, we choose the hippest place in the city such as rue Saint-Honore in Paris and SoHo in New York, so we chose Cheongdam-dong,” said Kim Young-ae, general manager of Opera Gallery Seoul, which opened in late 2007. The gallery, headquartered in Paris, has branches in 10 other cities, including Singapore, New York and London.
“It’s important when choosing the location of an art gallery whether visitors can do other things such as shop or dine in the neighborhood, now that people, especially young people, are used to getting various cultural services in one place, such as seeing an art exhibition in department stores,” she said. “Cheongdam-dong streets meet this demand very well.”
That is one of the reasons why the Cheongdam-dong gallery street tends to appeal to the so-called “new-money” collectors. The other art hub of Seoul - the zone including the streets near Gyeongbok Palace and Insa-dong - is focused on collectors of two contrasting kinds: “old-money” collectors and beginners with relatively small budgets, gallery managers in Cheongdam-dong said.
Another reason is that most “new-money” families in Korea reside in southern Seoul, while “old-money” families live north of the Han River in such places as Pyeongchang-dong, Seongbuk-dong and Hannam-dong. And trend setters, such as designers and entertainers, seem to prefer Cheongdam.
“Nowadays, our gallery has many young collectors in their 30s and 40s who have studied or lived for a long time overseas,” Kim said.
“They have an international mind-set.”
Art galleries began to open one by one in Cheongdam-dong in the 1980s, but it has been more recently that the area emerged as one of Seoul’s art centers.
The art collection boom that spread into middle-class families in 2006 and 2007 also helped the street emerge as one of Seoul’s two art hubs.
Since early 2007, major local art auction companies, such as K Auction, and some of the nation’s biggest galleries, such as the PKM Gallery, have opened branches here.
The more luxurious atmosphere of the Cheongdam-dong galleries and other shops and restaurants in the neighborhood also tend to make it difficult for people who are not yet collectors pinpoint the galleries, the managers acknowledged.
“Well, we hope that people do not regard the threshold for the art galleries here so high,” said Jung U-sun, manager of Cais Gallery, one of the oldest galleries that started in southern Seoul.
“We want people to feel familiar with the art galleries here,” Kim of Opera Gallery said.
“And some people already do. Elementary school students who pass by our gallery every day on their way to school very much like pop-art sculptures of vivid colors that are in our display windows. We think these artworks in our windows play the role as a kind of public art, which amuse passersby.”
The business of Cheongdam-dong gallery street improved slightly this year over last year, when the nation was battered by the global financial crisis, manager Jung said.
Still, high rents in the area inhibit the growth of more galleries.
One solution is the construction of gallery buildings such as Nature Poem, which has more than 10 galleries in one building.
And the government’s plan to build the National Museum of Contemporary Art at the site of the former Defense Security Command headquarters near Gyeongbok Palace also sparks heated competition between Cheongdam-dong gallery street and the northern art hub.
Another characteristic of Cheongdam-dong is that most galleries are closed on Sundays, whereas galleries in northern Seoul are open on weekends but closed on Mondays.
By Moon So-young [symoon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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