The must-sees of Frieze and Kiaf art fairs, set to take over Seoul this September

Arts & Design

Published: 25 Aug. 2022, 19:27

The must-sees of Frieze and Kiaf art fairs, set to take over Seoul this September

At the Incheon International Airport, the Kiaf is presenting an exhibition as a kind of amuse-bouche to the visitors to Seoul for the fair. Titled “We connect, Art & Future,” the exhibition at the Terminal 1 Transportation Center features more than 60 contemporary artworks, including NFT works by Mr. Misang and Cody Choi. The show started on Monday and runs through Sept. 25. [KIAF]

Reflecting the high attention on the upcoming inaugural edition of Frieze Seoul and the 21st edition of Kiaf Seoul, early-bird tickets for the two art fairs, which will kick off simultaneously on Sept. 2 at COEX in Gangnam, were sold out, their organizers said on Monday.

While the Seoul edition of the London-based Frieze, one of the world’s top art fairs, and Korea’s biggest art fair Kiaf take place separately on the third and first floors of COEX, tickets allow access to both fairs, as part of a partnership. The two fairs will also jointly hold a talk program, featuring star curators such as the London-based Serpentine Gallery director Hans Ulrich Obrist and Hong Kong-based M+ director Suhanya Raffel.

It is the first time that the Frieze Art Fair, founded by the London-based contemporary art magazine Frieze in 2003, is being held in an Asian city.

“Seoul is an amazing city; I really appreciate its culture — not just its art but its creative spirit," said Patrick Lee, director of Frieze Seoul, in a press briefing on Monday. “I look at Frieze Seoul not just as a Korean art fair but really as an Asian art fair. When we started, I hoped you would have a nice balance with focus on Asian galleries, institutions, curators and writers. Now I’m excited to say that close to 30 percent of galleries [participating in Frieze Seoul] are from Asia and many of them are first-time to Frieze. I hope these galleries and artists [represented by them] will have opportunities outside Asia [through Frieze Seoul.]”

Hwang Dal-seung, founder of Keumsan Gallery and the head of the Galleries Association of Korea that operates Kiaf, said during the briefing, “Kiaf and Frieze Seoul will make a good collaboration. As for points that differentiate our fair from Frieze Seoul, we will focus on new series of works by established artists, emerging artists with an air of freshness and new media art.”

A total of 164 galleries will set up booths at Kiaf, which wraps up on Sept 6, while 110 galleries will present works at Frieze Seoul, which finishes on Sept. 5. Eight Korean galleries and four foreign galleries will participate in both fairs. The Korean galleries are Arario, Hakgojae, Hyundai, Jason Haam, Johyun, Kukje, Leeahn and PKM. The four foreign galleries are Axel Vervoordt from Belgium, Esther Schipper from Germany, Galleria Continua from Italy and Perrotin from France.

″Tranquility 5-IV-73 #310” by Korean modern art master Kim Whanki (1913-1974) will be presented at Kukje Gallery's booth in the first edition of Frieze Seoul which kicks off on Sept. 2 at COEX, southern Seoul. [WHANKI FOUNDATION]

A spin-off art fair, Kiaf Plus, which focuses on young galleries and new media art, will be held from Sept 1 to 6 at the Seoul Trade Exhibition and Convention (Setec) near Hagyeoul station in Gangnam with a total of 73 galleries set to participate. Furthermore, new exhibitions and events will be held around Seoul to attract visitors to Frieze Seoul. With a rush of things to see during “the biggest art event in Asia” according to Kiaf organizers, art lovers might feel overwhelmed with choice. The Korea JoongAng Daily chose eight must-see things during the Kiaf x Frieze Seoul period.

First-time Asian galleries and Focus Asia at Frieze

Among the first-time Asian galleries to the main section of Frieze, Manila-based The Drawing Room will hold a solo show of Filipino artist José Santos III. The Busan-based Johyun Gallery will present works by Korean artists Lee Bae and Park Seo-Bo. The Focus Asia section, which features solo shows of young Asian artists, the Seoul-based P21 will present works by Korean artist Sungsil Ryu, who is also holding a solo exhibition at Atelier Hermès near Dosan Park in Gangnam as the winner of the 2021 Hermes Foundation Missulsang.

Installation view of Sungsil Ryu's exhibition "The Burning Love Song" at Atelier Hermès near Dosan Park in Gangnam, southern Seoul. [FONDATION D'ENTREPRISE HERMES]

Korean masters at Kiaf and Frieze

At the main section of Frieze, Kukje Gallery will present Kim Whanki's (1913-1974) large abstract painting filled with numerous blue dots, “Tranquility 5-IV-73 #310.” The 1973 painting is famous for having fetched 6.55 billion won ($4.9 million) at a K Auction sale in 2017 — setting a record-high price for Korean art at the time. In the Frieze Masters section, Hakgojae Gallery will present ″Robot (Radio Man, Joseph Beuys)″(1987) by Nam June Paik (1932-2006), while Gallery Hyundai will show works from another video art pioneer Park Hyunki(1942-2000). At Kiaf, Paris-based Galerie Vazieux will hold a unique exhibition titled “The Three Lees, A Korean Saga” which features Paris-based Korean artist couple Lee Ung-no (1904-1989) and Park In-kyung, 96, and their son, Young-sé Lee.

″Robot (Radio Man, Joseph Beuys)″(1987) by Nam June Paik (1932-2006) will be presented at Hakgojae's booth in Freize Seoul's Masters section. [HAKGOJAE]

Park Hyunki is one of the masters that will be presented at Gallery Hyundai's booth in Frieze Seoul's masters section. [GALLERY HYUNDAI]

Western masters at Frieze

Works by big names in Western art history will also be on view. New York-based 101-year-old Acquavella Galleries will present works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol and Francis Bacon in the Frieze Masters section. Another New-York-based galley Castelli, will hold a solo show of Roy Lichtenstein, focused on his works from the 1980s. In the main section, Zurich-based Hauser & Wirth will present works by Louise Bourgeois. L.A.-based Gagosian will present works by living masters such as Richard Serra and Ed Ruscha.

″Femme au beret rouge a pompon″(1937) by Pablo Picasso will be shown at the booth of Acquavella Galleries as part of Frieze Masters section. [ESTATE OF PABLO PICASSO]

Louise Bourgeois's sculpture ″Gray Fountain″(1970-71) is one of the works to be presented by Hauser & Wirth in the first edition of Frieze Seoul which kicks off on Sept. 2 at COEX, southern Seoul. [EASTON FOUNDATION AND HAUSER & WIRTH]]

Solo shows related to Kiaf and Frieze

PKM Gallery will show works by Chung Chang-sup (1917-2011), one of the masters of dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting) both at Kiaf and Frieze, along with other artists’ works. In addition, the gallery, located near the Blue House in central Seoul, opened a solo exhibition of the artist. Paris-based Perrotin, which is also participating in both fairs, will hold a solo show of young British-American artist Emma Webster as the inaugural exhibition of its second Seoul branch near Dosan Park in Gangnam, which will open Saturday.

For collectors and art lovers curious about other solo shows of the artists being showcased at the fairs, there is Hannam Night, when galleries in the Hannam-Dong district, central Seoul, will stay open late for visitors, on Sept. 1. Participants include Gallery Baton, Lehmann Maupin, Pace Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac, Various Small Fires (VSF), Whistle and P21.

On Sept. 2, there will be Samcheong Night featuring galleries in the Samcheong-dong area including Hakgojae, Hyundai, Kukje, One And J., Perrotin, and PKM, among others.

Works by Chung Chang-sup, one of the masters of Dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting), are now on view at PKM Gallery near the Blue House in central Seoul. The gallery will also present Chung's works both in KIAF and Frieze Seoul at COEX, southern Seoul. [PKM GALLERY]

Young artist Emma Webster's paintings are on view at Perrotin;s second Seoul branch near Dosan Park in southern Seoul, which newly opens on Friday. The Paris-based gallery will also present the artist's work along with other artists' works in KIAF. [PERROTIN]

The joint talk program

Kiaf x Frieze Seoul will hold a talk program from Sept. 3 to 5 at Studio 159 on the second floor of COEX. Featuring three talks a day, this program will deal with post-pandemic art market trends, the new relationship between art and technology such as artificial intelligence and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), millennial collectors and other topics. The program will feature famous curators, art historians and other experts including Obrist, Raffel and Christopher Y. Lew, who co-curates the Focus Asia section of Frieze Seoul. Details will be available soon on the two fairs' websites.

Frieze Film

Films by ten Korean or Korean-born diasporic artists will be on view at two art spaces near Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul — Together Together and Magjib. Curated by two art collectives, Los Angeles-based Gyopo and Seoul-based WESS, the program titled “I Am My Own Other" will explore “themes such as the effects of technology on the ideation of self; the framing of nationhood; societal conformity; and gender and racial identities within the context of migration and hypercapitalism,” according to Frieze. Featured artists include Jeamin Cha, Seo Young Chang, Nikki S. Lee and Jaye Rhee. Frieze Film is open to the public from Aug. 31 to Sept. 7.

Artist Jaye Rhee's 3-channel video installation ″Once Called Future″(2019) will be shown as part of the Frieze Film program titled “I Am My Own Other.″ [GALLERY BATON]

Collaborations with Frieze Seoul Partners

Several collaboration projects between world-famous artists and international brands that have partnerships with Frieze Seoul will be unveiled at COEX. Among them, BMW will present a limited edition BMW M850i x Drive Gran Coupé covered with art by Jeff Koons. LG OLED will present its displays which show Anish Kapoor’s old and new video works in a lounge dedicated to the artist. In a separate lounge, LG OLED will display NFT works by Barry X Ball.

Artist Jeff Koons and BMW M850i x Drive Gran Coupe covered with his art. BMW will present the limited edition of the work during Frieze Seoul. [FRIEZE SEOUL]

A model looks at a video artwork by artist Anish Kapoor on an LG OLED display. LG OLED will present its displays which show Kapoor’s old and new video works in a lounge dedicated to the artist during Frieze Seoul. [FRIEZE SEOUL]

Mini Kiaf at Incheon International Airport

At Incheon International Airport, Kiaf is presenting an exhibition as a kind of amuse-bouche to visitors arriving in Seoul for the fairs. Titled “We connect, Art & Future,” the exhibition at the Terminal 1 Transportation Center features more than 60 contemporary artworks, including NFT works by Mr. Misang and Cody Choi. The show started on Monday and runs through Sept. 25.

While hopes are high for the upcoming art fairs, there are also some concerns among Korean art market insiders.

“Working in partnership with Frieze, the Galleries Association of Korea that operates the Kiaf will be able to learn more sophisticated strategies for relations with art collectors,” said So Jin-su, an art market expert and professor at Kangnam University. “And Kiaf’s competition with Frieze Seoul will help it upgrade its quality and scale in the long run. Of course, some are afraid the Korean fair could lose VIP collectors to Frieze Seoul. However, there are also expectations that visitors to Frieze Seoul could also visit Kiaf and make new relationships with local galleries.”

“The hope is that Frieze Seoul will serve as momentum for Korea, whose art market has grown rapidly in recent years, to become a hub of the Asian art world,” said another art market expert who wanted to remain anonymous. “However, many local galleries and even some local artists are worried that foreign mega-galleries might turn the attention and money of Korean collectors toward world-famous artists that they represent rather than discovering and nurturing new Korean artists.”

BY MOON SO-YOUNG [moon.soyoung@joongang.co.kr]