Inaugural Frieze Art Fair Takes Seoul Art Market to New Heights

This month (September 2022) in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, Frieze will launch its first Asia fair (September 2-5), in conjunction with the Korea International Art Fair (Kiaf) established in 2002 (September 3-5) 6th) to take a two-pronged approach and make every effort to advance.

The two fairs will share the COEX Center, with Kiaf on the first floor and Frieze on the third, and it is hoped that this new partnership model will inject much-needed energy into a part of East Asia. Some areas are still under Covid-19 quarantines and lockdowns. "If you talk to anyone here, they'll say they're excited," said Patrick Lee, head of Frieze Seoul and former executive director of Hyundai, the city's longest-running gallery. "South Korea is developing very rapidly," Lee said, as Covid numbers drop and restrictions are lifted in a country with high vaccination rates. "It's pretty much comprehensive."

Lee describes South Korea as a "global powerhouse of culture, fashion and music" - but notes that "art is more indestructible" because there are "so many success factors". Lee believes that Frieze will "expand the ecosystem." From a pragmatic point of view, South Korea is "very easy in terms of logistics" and does not impose import duties on artworks . "Our tax laws are attractive at the moment, but they will always change," he added. While there is no VAT on paintings, there is a 10 percent tax on photographs and lithographs, and more than 30 percent on furniture and designs. Tax. The new socially conservative president, Yoon Suk-yeol, whose tax and inheritance policies have so far been popular with collectors, is also said to have pledged $3.66 billion in a fund to cultivate art.

The Covid era has also fostered the rise of what Koreans call "MZers" ( Millennials and Generation Z , born around 1981 to 2010) as a group of collectors. According to a Kiaf spokesperson, half of the 88,000 visitors to the 2021 fair are attending for the first time. Jason Haam, founder of the eponymous gallery that participated in both fairs, said: "When I started collecting in 2013, at age 23, I was the youngest collector and no one was as old as me. Now, most of my friends All interested in buying art and going to museums. Covid has triggered younger generations to start buying .” He added, “MZers mostly started buying art during Covid when there was nowhere else to spend it. The local market was beyond crazy. degree."

Create synergies

In total, nearly 350 galleries participated in the two fairs. Kiaf has 164 galleries in the main exhibition area and 73 galleries in the new exhibition area Kiaf Plus, showcasing ultra-contemporary works including new media art and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

Meanwhile, Frieze brought 119 galleries from 20 countries, including 55 galleries in Asia. The Frieze Masters Exhibition mainly showcases works of art before 2000, including antiquities, and welcomes 18 galleries to participate. Curated by Hyejung Jang of Doosan Art Center and Christopher Y. Lew of Horizon Art Foundation, Focus on Asia focuses on 10 Asian galleries established since 2010. Participants include the Tabula Rasa Gallery in Beijing and London, showcasing works by Laetitia Yhap; Yeo Workshop in Singapore, showing Fyerool Darma; and Dastan Gallery in Tehran, showing Ali Beheshti.

Kiaf is run by the country's gallery association, which was established more than 40 years ago in conjunction with the current Galleries Art Fair held every spring. Kiaf provides a stable "constituency" that creates a "synergy" with Frieze's global expertise and reputation, Lee said. "We touch each other and learn from each other. We share things like logistics and marketing," he said.

Perhaps out of prudence in poaching from Kiaf, Frieze has only 12 Korean galleries. The Korean galleries' "proposals are very strong, they stand their ground and are doing better and better," Lee said. The initial goal, he said, was to include about 25 percent of Asian galleries, describing the show as "Asian" instead of "Asian." non-Korean. The final balance includes regional heavyweight galleries such as Silverlens Gallery, STPI, Taka Ishii Gallery and TKG+, and Western blue chips such as Gagosian Gallery and Hauser & Wirth.

Galleries selected to participate in both fairs include South Korean powerhouses Kukje, Arario, PKM, Hyundai and Hakgojae, plus Perrotin with space in Seoul. Founded in Seoul in 2018, Jason Haam Gallery, in collaboration with artists such as Sarah Lucas and Cheikh Ndiaye, is one of the smaller local galleries joining the two fairs. "Kiaf has always been the best fair for us; it's the best and most visited fair in the country," Haam said. "We always sell most of the pieces we bring."

Still, Frieze's debut promises to revive South Korea's vibrant but often very localized art scene. “At least for me, the arrival of Frieze made it cool to work in Seoul and made artists more interested in exhibiting in Seoul,” Haam said. He describes a still small scene of about 10 Korean galleries active internationally, now joined by Western galleries with offices in South Korea, including Pace, Lehmann Maupin, Thaddaeus Ropac, Perrotin, Johann König and Gladstone. "I'm glad that the art world is looking at Korea. There will be more competition, but now there is a bigger market."

• ž Frieze Seoul , September 2-5, COEX, Seoul
• ž Kiaf Seoul , September 3-6, COEX, Seoul

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