Seoul Art Festival starts with a song

Composer and pianist Yun Hyo-gan will play a piano created by photographer and installation artist Jang Seung-hyo at the opening of the Seoul Art Festival on Friday. Provided by the Seoul Art Festival

The second edition of the Seoul Art Festival is set to open at the Novotel Ambassador Gangnam in southern Seoul from Friday to Sunday.

The art fair, which is titled “Encounter between Corporate and Art,” features 180 artists from 50 local galleries.

According to the SAF committee, hotel art fairs such as this one represent a new breed of art fairs in Korea.

One of the highlights of the opening event will be a performance by composer and pianist Yun Hyo-gan, who will play classical and pop music songs.

But the piano he will play is likely to attract the most attention at the opening. The piano, a colorful pastiche of paint and other materials, is an installation created by photographer and installation artist Jang Seung-hyo. Jang, an up-and-coming artist who has exhibited his work here and abroad, has been invited to exhibit the piano at Art Beijing in April.

*The Seoul Art Festival is Friday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is 10,000 won ($8.92). Friday’s opening event is at 6 p.m. and costs 200,000 won. For details, call (070) 4119-0090 or visit www.safa.or.kr.

By Yoo Sun-young Contributing writer [estyle@joongang.co.kr]