Mixing finance experience with graffiti art
Choi Hwan-seung, CEO of Minoa Art Assets, poses in his office, in an interview with The Korea TImes. The company and the Seoul Arts Center will host "The Great Graffiti" at the Seoul Calligraphy Art Museum at the Seoul Arts Center. / Korea Times photo by Kim Ji-soo
Minoa Art Assets CEO talks about art management
By Kim Ji-soo
Choi Hwan-seung, former Wall Street broker and financial consultant and now Minoa Art Assets CEO, interestingly finds a commonality between being a broker and dealing in artistic content.
“On Wall Street you would think all the decisions are rationally made, when, in fact, there is a lot of emotion involved as well,” Choi said.
“It’s akin to how a company’s stocks are evaluated in the United States, where analysts often pore over the people of the company as well as the figures.”
Perhaps it is because of that similarity that Choi chose to start his own art content management and museum show company, Minoa Art Assets.
Founded in July 2015, the company, with the Seoul Arts Center, will host “The Great Graffiti” exhibition from Dec. 9 through Feb. 26, 2017, at Seoul Calligraphy Art Museum at the Seoul Arts Center.
The exhibition features 60 works of the some biggest names in graffiti art. They are Crash (John Matos), who is regarded as a pioneer in the graffiti art movement; Nick Walker; JonOne (John Andrew Perello), who collaborated among others with LG Electronics to put his work on LG Bluetooth devices; (Frank) Shepard Fairey, a.k.a. Obey Giant, who used graffiti art to convey political messages, as with the 2008 Obama Hope Poster; Zevs (Christophe Aghirre Schwarz), who also worked with LG products; L’atlas (Jules Dedet) and JR (Jean Rene). Four of the artists — Zevs, JonOne, Nick Walker and L’atlas — will visit Korea for the exhibition.
During the exhibition, several artists will perform live painting, and works will go on sale during the exhibition.
“Other elements of hip-hop are already in Korea in earnest, such as rappers, b-boys and DJs, and now it is graffiti’s turn,” Choi said.
Once considered vandalism, graffiti art is very much part of contemporary life — everything from art and design to products. It is also the happening art of the moment.
There have been exhibitions as recently as the one by Brainwash this year in Seoul, but the coming exhibition may well be one of the first blockbuster shows of graffiti artists.
It’s a new challenge for Choi, who spent his previous career in finance. “But this company is akin to investment banking,” Choi said.
Poster for “The Great Graffiti” exhibition that will open at the Seoul Arts Center on Dec. 9.
After having studied sociology at Yonsei University, he went to Adelphi University on Long Island, New York, earning an MBA. He then began work as a broker with the firm Equitable, which later became AXA Financial. In the late 2000, he became executive vice president of North East division in charge of New Jersey at AXA Advisors. These were times when he was earning a million-dollar income annually. But he wanted to come back to Korea, so in 2007, he returned to work for Samsung Life Insurance, before working as senior executive director at Allianz Life Korea from 2009 through 2015.
As with many of his peers in their 50s, he wanted to do something that brought him joy.
“I think when you are in your 30s or 40s, you’re driven toward success and you’re full of passion,” he said. “Then you get into your 50s, and you want to do work that brings you joy. When you enjoy what you do, your business will be better; you’re also likely to be a better member of society.”
It’s not that he did not consider opening a financial firm in Korea, but there were too many regulations. In addition, he had to find something enjoyable to do, something in which he could be a leader rather than just a follower.
Fortunately, he has a business partner who has an extensive network in the arts. Choi did not disclose any more information about his partner, who does not like publicity, he said.
“I hope to make Minoa Art Assets a platform where people can enjoy the arts and that can lead into various opportunities and brands,” he said. He envisions expanding Minoa Art Assets to include a cultural tour travel agency, arts publishing, auction and other business ventures, such as promoting Korean artists abroad. Immediately after “The Great Graffiti” exhibition in Seoul, he hopes to take it to China and Japan.
He said when he first started the company, many asked him to reconsider. His family still lives in the United States. But Choi said he never liked that word “benchmark” and he wanted to create and therefore lead, and with his new company, he hopes to lead through the arts.
“The arts can connect with all industries, I personally believe,” Choi said. “Also, as Korea remains divided and has no natural resources, I believe our existing model of competing with other nations through manufacturing products has limits. For Korea to be competitive, we should tap into the creative, innovative geyser of the arts and culture so that we can create brands and industries.”
Choi has poured much of his wealth into the exhibition. As an entrepreneur, he wants to take risks and speak through the results, rather than through words.
“It’s a big beginning, but I am only beginning,” he said.