Frieze Seoul unveils list of galleries, programs for upcoming inaugural edition

A visitor views a painting at this year's Frieze Los Angeles in February. The fair's inaugural Seoul edition will kick off in September at COEX in southern Seoul. Courtesy of Frieze

By Park Han-sol

With Seoul named as the first Asian host of the Frieze Art Fair, a prestigious global platform for modern and contemporary art, the organizer of Frieze Seoul unveiled a list of participating galleries and main programs for its inaugural edition in September, Wednesday.

The four-day fair will kick off on Sept. 2 at COEX in southern Seoul, running alongside Korea's largest contemporary art fair, KIAF Seoul, via a five-year-long partnership with the Galleries Association of Korea.

It is the fifth international fair launched by Frieze, following Frieze Los Angeles, Frieze New York, Frieze London and Frieze Masters.

Some 110 major galleries from over 20 countries plan to take part in Frieze Seoul this year. The list includes globally established players like Perrotin, Pace Gallery, Lehmann Maupin, Gladstone Gallery and Thaddaeus Ropac ― which have all opened new outposts in Seoul over the last six years ― as well as Gagosian, White Cube, David Zwirner and Hauser & Wirth, which have yet to make their ways into Korea's capital city.

Also joining the event are 12 local galleries, including Arario Gallery, PKM Gallery, Kukje Gallery and Johyun Gallery.

A promotional image for the upcoming Frieze Seoul / Courtesy of Frieze

Along with the list of participants, Frieze Seoul has announced that the four-day event will be divided into three sections: Main, Frieze Masters and Focus Asia.

Frieze Masters, under the direction of Nathan Clements-Gillespie, will be dedicated to representative art from antiquity to the late 20th century, inviting 18 galleries ― Seoul-based Gallery Hyundai and Hakgojae Gallery, among others ― to present the millennia-spanning art collection on one stage.

Focus Asia, helmed by Christopher Y. Lew of the Horizon Art Foundation in Los Angeles and independent curator Jang Hye-jung, will be organized to focus on 10 of the groundbreaking creators from the continent through emerging Asian galleries that have opened their doors since 2010.

Ahead of the start of the September fair, from Aug. 29, Frieze will offer international audiences chances to explore local museums, artists and cultural events across the country's capital city during Frieze Week.

The opening of Frieze Art Fair in Seoul is expected to stimulate further the already booming domestic art market. With the notable surge in public interest in art sales and collecting, Korean fairs have been claiming a continuous streak of successes since last year.

This year alone, both the Galleries Art Fair held in March and Art Busan in May saw record turnouts and sales once again. The former announced 17.7 billion won ($13.7 million) in sales, an increase of more than twofold compared to last year's sales, while the latter grabbed headlines after seeing 76 billion won in sales and a turnout of over 100,000 visitors.

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