Much to see, more to buy: Frieze Seoul offers more 'affordable' artworks in third edition

Arts & Design

Much to see, more to buy: Frieze Seoul offers more 'affordable' artworks in third edition

Published: 05 Sep. 2024, 16:15 Updated: 05 Sep. 2024, 17:27

SHIN MIN-HEE
shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr

Visitors browse gallery booths during Frieze Seoul's VIP preview at Coex, southern Seoul, on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

It’s safe to say that Frieze Seoul is no longer an art fair to visit and casually stumble upon a $45 million Picasso or $9 million Basquiat piece. Now in its third edition, participating galleries have safely settled on selling less expensive works that buyers would be less intimidated to take home.

Not much has changed on the outside, as the exhibition halls of Coex’s Halls C and D in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, naturally started bustling with VIP guests around three hours in, once Frieze Seoul kicked off at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

This time, the venue was filled with some 110 gallery booths, a slight decrease from the second edition, with notable displays from Kukje Gallery, Lisson Gallery, Massimodecarlo, Gallery Hyundai, Hauser & Wirth, Perrotin, Gagosian and Gladstone Gallery.

A Takashi Murakami rainbow flower painting from the Perrotin gallery booth during Frieze Seoul's VIP preview at Coex, southern Seoul, on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

A stainless Yayoi Kusama sculpture on view at the David Zwirner gallery booth during Frieze Seoul's VIP preview at Coex, southern Seoul, on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Artworks like Yayoi Kusama’s large-scale pumpkin sculpture at American gallery David Zwirner and Takashi Murakami’s rainbow flower painting at French gallery Perrotin proved to be popular photo op spots for visitors. Many whispered and pointed out — or openly requested selfies — when they spotted celebrities like Huh Yun-jin of Le Sserafim, Joshua of Seventeen, Park Hae-jin, Rain and Baby Monster, who were looking at the artworks on display and engaging with the gallerists.

Unlike its first two editions, the atmosphere of the fair overall was more composed. Now that Frieze Seoul seems to be through with its days of trial and error, like having too many people inside the venue all at once, it is evident that both the gallerists and visitors know what to see and what to expect.

“It was crazy the first time, as everybody was just running around, but now in the third time, we have conversations,” Mariane Ibrahim, art dealer and founder of her eponymous gallery based in Chicago, told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “The reunion with the people has gotten more intense.”

Artworks on display at the Mariane Ibrahim Gallery booth during Frieze Seoul 2024 [SHIN MIN-HEE]

“Everything seems much more collected now,” a gallerist who requested anonymity said. “Before, it was difficult to decipher who had just come to check out the artworks and who the actual buyers were, but now I think it leans more toward the latter.”

But this year particularly showed a striking surge in international guests from museums or galleries actively seeking to buy artworks, like Hans Ulrich Obrist, the artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries in London. It was a sharp contrast to Frieze’s first edition, which instead had a high turnout from influencers who prioritized getting the perfect snaps for Instagram.

“They say it’s a recession, but there have been so many positive reactions from art industry insiders who came from overseas,” said Lee Dan-ji, director of the New York-based Tina Kim Gallery. In other words, it means that there may be more opportunities for Korean artworks to be displayed at foreign art institutions in the future.

Anicka Yi's artworks on display at Gladstone Gallery's booth at Frieze Seoul 2024 [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Seoul-based Gallery Baton displays paintings and sculptures by Yuichi Hirako in its Frieze Seoul booth. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

The fact that Korea is concurrently hosting two major biennales — in Busan and Gwangju — adds fuel to why these officials would take the time and effort to personally visit the country during this season. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also been making it a mission to promote art events nationwide, with many programs targeted toward tourists.

“There’s just so many attractions for foreign visitors in Seoul,” said Mariko Kawashima, director of Axel Vervoordt Gallery’s Hong Kong branch. It’s the gallery’s third time participating in Frieze Seoul, and it has seen a high interest in its Korean pieces, like the moon jar by Kimsooja, which sold the same day for between 50,000 ($55,250) to 100,000 euros.

It’s why Barakat Contemporary, which made its Frieze Seoul debut this year in the Focus Asia section, is confident despite giving the spotlight solely to Jun So-jung’s “Syncope” (2023). The gallery is looking forward to selling the $38,000 video installation to a museum rather than a private collector.

DAG's gallery booth during Frieze Seoul 2024 has the paintings of late Indian painter Sohan Qadri on display, shown here. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Other first-time participants at Frieze Seoul made sure that their presentations would appeal to the Korean audience, as was in the case of DAG, an art gallery with branches in New Delhi, Mumbai and New York. The gallery is part of the Frieze Masters section, dedicated to works made from the ancient era to the 20th century. DAG has on view paintings from the Copenhagen-based, Indian painter Sohan Qadri (1932-2011).

DAG’s vice president Priya Mudgal said it strategically selected Qadri as its representative artist, considering the Korean audience’s interest in abstract works. As Qadri’s watercolor and dye-infused paintings are reminiscent of dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting), 40 percent of the artist's paintings at the fair, priced from $40,000 to $100,000, were already sold before the event's opening.

Some galleries released their sales reports for the first day. Kukje Gallery showed impressive sales, including three Ugo Rondinone watercolor paintings each ranging from $50,000 to $66,000, a Julian Opie mosaic selling for between 45,000 and 54,000 euros and a Ham Kyung-ah embroidery piece selling for between $70,000 and $84,000.

Visitors pass by the Gagosian gallery booth during Frieze Seoul's VIP preview at Coex, southern Seoul, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Some significant sales were made by Thaddaeus Ropac with a Georg Baselitz painting going for 1 million euros, and Hauser & Wirth with a Nicolas Party painting selling for $2.5 million to an Asian private collector. The gallery also sold an Avery Singer painting for $575,000.

PKM Gallery, which is holding an exhibition on the late abstract painter Yoo Youngkuk, sold one of his pieces for $1.5 million. Gladstone Gallery sold several sculptures by Anicka Yi, who is having a solo exhibition at the Leeum Museum of Art in central Seoul, each for $200,000.

Programs on the sidelines of Frieze Seoul include a media art exhibition displaying reinterpretations of sumuk (ink) paintings by late painter Suh Se Ok that were created by his two sons, artist Do Ho Suh and architect Eulho Suh, sponsored by LG.

Choi Goen, winner of this year’s Frieze Artist Award, presents two new installations made from discarded copper exhaust pipes and air-conditioning units, titled “White Home Wall: Welcome” and “Gloria” in a corner of the venue.

Ha Chong-hyun, 89-year-old master of dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting) paid a visit to Kukje Gallery's booth during Frieze Seoul on Wednesday. Here he is shown in front of his painting. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Kukje Gallery’s KIAF booth is exclusively presenting the works of artist Kim Yun-shin, a featured artist in the Venice Biennale’s International Art Exhibition this year. The gallery reported satisfactory sales the first day, on Wednesday. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

KIAF (Korea International Art Fair) Seoul began the same day but was unable to match the crowd of Frieze. The fair has instead opted for increasing in scale — both number of galleries and venue size — to attract more visitors. Some galleries that take part in both fairs decided to make one of their two booths distinctively highlight a single artist to provide a more comprehensive overview of their works. For example, Kukje Gallery’s KIAF booth is exclusively presenting the works of artist Kim Yun-shin, a featured artist in the Venice Biennale’s International Art Exhibition this year. The gallery sold six of Kim’s pieces at KIAF on the first day, the most expensive one priced at between $75,000 and $90,000.

Frieze Seoul runs through Saturday and KIAF Seoul until Sunday. General admission that allows access to both fairs is 80,000 won ($60).

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]