Frieze Seoul art fair debuts to tap rapid growth in South Korean market
- London art fair organiser makes its first foray into Asia with the event in underground COEX in the South Korean capital, whose art market is growing fast
- More than 110 galleries are exhibiting, 30 per cent from Asia including some newly present in Seoul. ‘The level of artworks has been elevated,’ an adviser says
Frieze, the fast-expanding London art fair organiser, on Friday opened its first Asian edition in Seoul. And rather than being hosted outdoors in Frieze’s signature marquee, the fair is taking place in Asia’s largest underground shopping mall.
Frieze Seoul’s preview day at the COEX, with its state-of-the-art aquarium, in the affluent district of Gangnam in the South Korean capital opened with more than 110 galleries from 21 countries exhibiting.
They include Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, David Zwirner and 19 other galleries either based in Seoul or with a branch there. Around 30 per cent of the galleries are from Asia, including 10 emerging names that have opened since 2010.
KIAF Seoul, the country’s longest-running contemporary art fair, also opened on Friday alongside Frieze at COEX, with galleries from 17 countries exhibiting.
Frieze began in London’s Regent’s Park in 2003, expanded to New York in 2012, and, after Seoul, will add a fourth fair in Los Angeles.
Simon Fox, chief executive officer of Frieze, said the fair is committed to returning to COEX for the next five years as the South Korean art market undergoes a period of rapid growth.
“Every location is different, but we would like to stay at one location for a long time since coming here is a big investment,” he said.
Inside the fair, the VIP crowd attending the opening was a mix of overseas and South Korean collectors and dealers.
I think I speak for others when we say that it’s our hope for Korean art lovers to become open to international artists and their works
These include top-end dealers such as Pace and Lehmann Maupin, which used to have their only Asian gallery in Hong Kong.
Lippitsch said Seoul is attractive because of its great art infrastructure and advantageous tax regime compared to most Asian countries. South Korea does not charge value-added tax on sales of art by living artists valued at less than 60 million won (US$45,000). However, a 10 per cent levy is applied to photographs, editions and multiples.
Jongsuwat Angsuvarnsiri, of the SAC Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand, said he wanted to discover Korean artists to work with in the future, and he planned to exhibit at KIAF Seoul next year.
“I hope to introduce Thai artists to the scene here, so I was delighted to find a Thai artist was featured at Kukje Gallery’s booth,” he said, referring to one of Korea’s biggest art galleries.
“I think I speak for others when we say that it’s our hope for Korean art lovers to become open to international artists and their works.”
Kukje is taking part in both Frieze Seoul and KIAF, and says the two fairs appear to complement each other instead of being in direct competition. (Visitors can purchase a joint ticket with admission to both.)
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“We opened booths at both Frieze and KIAF, but we wanted our Frieze booth to really be about introducing our country’s hallmark artists like Kim Whanki, Yoo Youngkuk, Kibong Rhee and Park Seo Bo,” said Kwon Joo-rhee, a representative from the gallery, who expects visitors to Frieze to be more international.
Speaking by a large, blue painting by Kim Whanki called Tranquility (1973), she said local players had high hopes Seoul would become “a leader of the art world in Asia”.
“I think it’s a question of whether our country can harvest the hype around our scene,” she said. “From all the guests we’ve had back at the gallery and all the interest today, I think we’re giving them what they wanted.”
