K- pop Stars, Luxury Labels Join Frieze Seoul
This year, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Prada and Acne Studios joined Seoul's buzzy art week calendar, hosting star-studded events.
The second edition of Frieze Seoul art fair made it even more evident that Seoul is a cultural capital on the rise.
The commercial art exhibition's first Asia project landed at the Coex, an exhibition center in the Gangnam district, where it hosted more than 120 galleries and 70,000 attendees from Sept. 6 to 9. Over the span of the week, a sea of gallerists, collectors and art dealers were able to meet, greet and close deals in the millions.
The exhibition drew a large crowd of attendants, including BTS members RM and Jimin, who slipped into the fair fully masked; Edison Chen, who was in town to attend the We11done fashion show, and a surprise to some, the 92-year-old Park Seo-Bo, a seminal figure in contemporary Korean art.
The rise of K-art is a part of South
Korea's bet to ride the wave of "Hallyu" and assert broader K-influence in the world.
"We will do our best to support K-art so that under its 'K' identity, it can actively enter the overseas market since K-art is emerging as a powerhouse and blue chip in the cultural export market," said Park Bo-Gyoon, South Korea's Culture Minister earlier this year.
For 2023, Park approved an unprecedented 1.5 trillion won, or $1.1 billion, budget to build the country's arts and culture infrastructure.
A growing number of corporate-backed private art museums, the rising interest from Millennial collectors, and artworkrelated tax-exemption initiatives also helped boost the Korean art market.
Despite worries that gloomy global economic outlooks would spread to Frieze Seoul, stellar sales results from blue-chip galleries have proven otherwise.
On Frieze Seoul's preview day, Hauser & Wirth sold more than 13 works, ranging from a $800,000 George Condo piece to a $575,000 Paul McCarthy, to private collections and institutional owners across East Asia.
Local powerhouse Kukje Gallery sold a number of works by big-name figures in the South Korean art world, including a Park Seo-Bo in the range of $490,000 to a Suki Seokyeong Kang priced upward of $84,000.
"Historically, Asia-based collectors have favored art from across the region, but the pace of change has been rapid and the influx of global dealers opening outposts in Seoul is a testament to that change," explained Emily Glazebrook, commercial director at Frieze.
While Hauser & Wirth and Gagosian Gallery are still mulling over a Seoul outpost, a roaster of international galleries have opened local branches to better tap into the local art scene. Major art world players, such as Perrotin, Thaddaeus Ropac and Peres Projects, have opened their second gallery or expanded existing floorspace in the burgeoning art capital.
Alongside Frieze Seoul, the city was promptly transformed into a vibrant hub for creativity. To capitalize on the momentum of the art week, luxury and
fashion players were quick to stake a claim in the game by supporting art-related events and hosting parties and happenings around town to generate more buzz.
Leading Korean retailers, including W Concept and Shinsegae, brought a touch of bespoke retail experience to Frieze, where they hosted gatherings for VIP customers to enjoy traditional Korean tea while musing at the works of the country's leading artists.
Their booth sat below a breast-like drapery work by Woo Hannah, the winner of the inaugural Artist Award at Frieze Seoul, sponsored by Bulgari.
"Initiatives such as these directly benefit artists, providing them with an invaluable opportunity for international visibility," added Glazebrook.
In an exposed white cube beside
Frieze Seoul, We11done made its runway comeback after a three-year hiatus.
"It's happening now. We want to play a part in the launch of a great fashion and art community," enthused Jessica Jung, cofounder of We11done.
Across town, Chanel opened an exhibition that sponsored traditional Korean craft and worked with three Seoul-based artists on a video series documenting dialogues between established and emerging Korean artists. Brand ambassadors G-Dragon and Kim Go-Eun attended the launch event at Chanel's flagship in Gangnam.
The fashion crowd event-hopped along Gangnam's main thoroughfare, first to see Cindy Sherman's work at Espace
Louis Vuitton Seoul, then landing at the Shinsegaeowned Boontheshop, where visitors could accidentally rub shoulders with Jodie Foster, Hans Ulrich Obrist, or get a glimpse of the retail titan's famously private president Chung Yoo-kyung.
Across the Han River, Prada summoned a huge crowd at Kote, a culture center in the historical Insa-dong area, where the Italian luxury label hosted a two-day event under the Prada Mode banner.
Under the direction of filmmaker and curator Lee Sook-Kyung, three Korean filmmakers created distinctive and interactive set designs within Kote's standalone buildings.
Brand ambassadors, including seven members of the boy band Enhypen, boyband NTC's Jaehyun and Jeon Somi, together with Twice's Sana, Korean actors Teo Yoo and Kim Taeri mingled in private at the event and its after parties.
In the hip Itaewon district, Bottega Veneta partnered up with the Samsungowned Leeum Museum of Art to present a solo exhibition called Willow Drum Oriole of the esteemed artist Suki Seokyeong Kang, whose work reimagined traditional Korean landscape paintings in the form of playful sculpture, performances and video installations.
Brand ambassador RM attended the opening, where he caught up with the artist and Bartolomeo "Leo" Rongone, Bottega's chief executive officer.
Meanwhile, Acne Studios took over a small bookstore across the road to celebrate "House of Acne Paper," the 18th edition of the Swedish fashion label's printed magazine.
The week was book-ended by Acne Studios' warehouse party at the heart of Itaewon, Seoul's nightlife center. After many a celebrity sighting over the week, the crowd was not surprised to see Blackpink's Jennie in the crowd, sporting new bangs and dancing the night away.