4. Rapport: Seoul

By Insun Woo

^{Published on September 3rd, 2024}

Rapport is a recurring section in Global Art Daily’s E-Issues that paints a portrait of the featured art scene. Starting with an exploration of Frieze Seoul's impact, this piece delves into the structures driving Seoul’s vibrant art scene, highlights key art spaces and initiatives, and examines Instagram's influence on artistic production and reception.

Frieze Seoul and its Ripple Effect

Since its inaugural edition, Frieze Seoul has taken place at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in southern Seoul, alongside Korea’s largest homegrown art fair, Kiaf Seoul. While the joint opening has posed certain challenges for the latter in terms of securing attention, the benefits of the cooperation have also been clear. “I believe the influx of international visitors ultimately had a beneficial effect on the domestic galleries participating in Kiaf,” says Ryan Choi, Associate Director of Joong Jung Gallery, located in the scenic Pyeongchang-dong neighborhood, home to several other galleries. “Joong Jung Gallery was able to connect with and make sales to new international clients and dealers who visited Kiaf in conjunction with attending Frieze Seoul.”

1. G Gallery exhibiting WOO Hannah, Focus section. Photo by Lets Studio. Courtesy of Lets Studio and Frieze.

The magic of Frieze and Kiaf is amplified outside where the madness on the art fair grounds erupts into a whirlwind of exhibitions, cocktail receptions, parties, talks, and programs organized by various art spaces across the city. The UAE-born and based artist Sarah Almehairi’s first solo exhibition in Korea, for example, was organized in alignment with the dates of Frieze Seoul 2023. “The UAE embassy of Korea recognized its significance as well, and the ambassador H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi and the representatives of the media department attended the opening of the exhibition,” shares Choi.

2. View from the opening of Off Centered Pauses, solo exhibition of Sara Almehairi at Joong Jung Gallery, Seoul, Korea, September 4 - October 7, 2023. Image courtesy of Joong Jung Gallery.

Catching international curators and collectors as they wander onto the streets of Seoul is an opportunity that can’t be missed by galleries, independent art spaces, and museums alike. “We’re trying to pack as many exhibition openings and public programs as possible into this period to give visibility to as many local artists as possible when international visitors come,” said Sola Jung, Chief Curator at the Seoul Museum of Art.

“We’re trying to pack as many exhibition openings and public programs as possible into this period to give visibility to as many local artists as possible when international visitors come.”

_{– Sola Jung, Chief Curator at Seoul Museum of Art}

The open studios at SeMA Nanji Residency are part of Seoul Art Week, which was introduced in 2021 with the opening of Frieze Seoul to promote contemporary art in the city. Supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the campaign has complemented the activities taking place as part of Korea Art Week organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with the Korea Arts Management Service, which began in 2015 to cultivate art appreciation across the entire country.

Seoul’s Art Scene, a Rich Tapestry Woven by Public and Private Hands

With over 350 public and private art museums, commercial galleries, and independent spaces, Seoul is deluged with interesting exhibitions and programs all year round. This vigor comes from a sophisticated infrastructure built over several decades by both public and private players. For instance, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) have actively supported living artists through initiatives such as the Korea Artist Prize and Project Hashtag at the MMCA and the Triadic Support Program at SeMA.

Generous public support is a striking aspect of Korea’s art scene. “Among Asian countries, we have the most government support; the amount and method of funding for the arts are highly diverse, which greatly shapes the condition for artistic production,” said Ji Yoon Yang, Director of Alternative Space LOOP.

“Usually, a third of my grant is dedicated to renting an exhibition space.”

_{— Minji Kim, Artist}

Such active support for contemporary art is tied to South Korea’s cultural policy, which recognizes culture as the key means to growing its economy and soft power. The state has actively promoted the arts through financial investments, active collaboration with the private sector, and establishment of cultural export agencies – the result of which is the global success of K-POP (recall BTS and BLACKPINK), K-Drama (Squid Game), and Korean film (Parasite), a phenomenon known as Hallyu, today.

The systems driving Hallyu are also what support contemporary art in Korea. Indeed, grants are given out by government bodies such as the Art Council of Korea (ARKO), Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS), and various cultural foundations for artists to publish catalogs and organize exhibitions. Combined with funding provided by private entities and individuals, these systems attract artists to Seoul.

Unfortunately, ample funding doesn’t translate into financial security for artists. In most cases, grants cover only the production cost of an exhibition, especially due to the pricey real estate in Seoul. “Usually, a third of my grant is dedicated to renting an exhibition space,” said Minji Kim, a young multidisciplinary artist interested in exploring the human body, image-text relationships, and imaginaries of technology-invaded futures. “While it depends on the space, to rent one for three to four weeks requires around 3-5 million Korean won” (equivalent to approximately 2,200-3,700 USD). As such, artists are required to figure out a system to sustain their practice and livelihoods. Outside of her time in the studio, Minji Kim teaches art to adults and children and gives yoga lessons.

Public funding comes with certain challenges. Not only does applying for grants involve onerous paperwork, but it is also emotionally taxing due to what may be called a “language barrier” between artists and grant administrators. In many cases, the latter come from non-art backgrounds and lack an understanding of artistic processes, requiring artists to provide painstaking justification for changes made in expenditure throughout the creative process.

Despite the aforementinoed obstacles, it is undeniable that such proactive support led by public and private entities buttresses robust artistic production in Korea.

The Heartbeat of Seoul’s Art Scene: Independent Spaces

While exhibitions and programs held at large institutions certainly have their own charm, the pulse of Seoul’s art scene lies in its independent art spaces. Concentrated in neighborhoods such as Hongdae, Euljiro, and Seochon, but also sprouting in less popular, low-rent neighborhoods across Seoul, these fringe spaces are where one can discover emerging artists, staging interesting experiments made possible by the peculiarities of the exhibition spaces. As many take up a corner of residential, industrial, or commercial buildings – such as Amado, Onsu Gonggan, and Euljiro OF to name just a few – the spaces bear characteristics uncommon to white cube galleries.

3. Naver Map of art spaces across Seoul, including museums, galleries, and independent spaces. Courtesy of the author. Click on the image or link to view the map: https://naver.me/xdpp5Inw. Courtesy of Insun Woo.

As illuminated by independent curator Sung Woo Kim and Sungah Serena Choo, curator at Leeum Museum of Art, in an interview with Frieze, the origin of independent art spaces in Korea dates back to the late 1990s, when the economic slump caused by the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis also put a severe strain on the country’s art market. Declaring themselves as “alternatives” to the mainstream art institutions that favored established artists, several independent spaces opened up to support young artists pursuing experimental practices. A few standing strong today include Alternative Space LOOP, Insa Art Space, and Project Sarubia, whose operational structures (and scales) have come to approach the institutional.

Second- and third-generations of independent spaces, which arose throughout the early and mid-2010s, continued to support young artists but with a slightly different operating system. Very few spaces operate as non-profits, and most function as “mixed bag[s],” as phrased by Choo, with some selling works and others running programs for hire. Such a choice is inevitable in the face of spiraling rents across Seoul that are wiping out small businesses and independent (nonprofit) spaces alike. Forced to prioritize financial needs over clear curatorial directions, many independent spaces show artists who can bear rental expenses.

Regardless, independent spaces offer a glimpse of the work created by young artists and curators. Following are highlights of a few spaces doing interesting work.

Independent Spaces in Seoul

< BOAN 1942 > | Located in the Tongui-dong neighborhood, BOAN1942 is a cultural space consisting of exhibition spaces, a bookstore, and a guest house, which reflects its history as an inn named Boan Yeogwan (yeogwan means ‘inn’ in Korean). Tongui-dong has historically been a cultural hotspot where Korean writers, poets, and artists gathered and gained inspiration from. For example, the poet Seo Jeong-ju, along with fellow poets Kim Dongni, Oh Janghwan, and Kim Daljin, published The Poets Quarter, a significant coterie magazine in Korean literary history, during his stay at Boan Inn. As such, BOAN1942 refers to itself as an “accommodation of culture,” focused on producing life-based and site-specific art since 2007. Its three exhibition spaces are dedicated to showcasing the current state of contemporary art through various artistic media, while also defamiliarizing the ecosystem of cultural populism through artistic practices. | Image: Installation view at BOAN1942.

< AMADO ART SPACE > | Amidst sleek clothing stores and luxury brands in the affluent Itaewon neighborhood stands Amado Art Space, a weathered three-story former house. Established in 2013 by art critics and curators, Amado has functioned as an alternative to the mainstream contemporary art system. Its focus lies on process-oriented artistic and curatorial practices that go against the visually- and result-oriented values of the market. The signature programs include the Amado Annualnale, Amado Exhibition Lab, and AmadoLAB. | Image: Heeah Yang, "Infinite Garden," Installation view. Image courtesy of Amado Art Space."

< YPC SPACE > | YPC Space is a platform for the Yellow Pen Club – a collective consisting of Junghyun Kwon, Areum Lee, and Jiwon Yu – to showcase its projects. Having started in 2015 as a small group studying art criticism, YPC has since expanded its activities to produce writings, exhibitions, and publications about art and its surroundings. The organic operation, which allows for thoughts and conversations developed through workshops and lectures at YPC Space to translate into the exhibition space, is at its heart. Reflecting the origins of YPC as an art criticism study group, YPC Space regularly organizes lectures, study groups, and reading sessions. | 6. A series of YPC Lectures conducted by Wonhwa Yoon, throughout August 2023. Image courtesy of YPC Space.

Seoul Reading Room

Seoul Reading Room is a semi-public library of contemporary art and theory established in 2016. Describing itself as “located somewhere between a public library and a personal study,” Seoul Reading Room is run collectively by Jaeyong Park, Sejin Park, Hayeon Lee, Saerom Suh, Yeongeun Cha, and Yoonjoo Seung.

Like many other independent initiatives, Seoul Reading Room emerged from a blend of personal need and chance. Its beginnings trace back to a library of art-related books, created by Work on Work – a curatorial collective led by Jaeyong Park from 2011 to 2016 – to fulfill his personal need for access to such a resource. After the collective disbanded in 2016, Park established Seoul Reading Room as he needed to register as a business to collaborate with institutions under Korean law.

Today, Seoul Reading Room sets itself apart by collecting ephemeral materials, such as exhibition brochures, that are often overlooked by institutional art libraries and archives, which still prioritize traditionally valued items like publications and artist-created materials.

“I want Seoul Reading Room to be a place where my non-art friends can come and talk about what we are doing.”

_{– Jaeyong Park, Curator, Writer and Translator}

8. “Book and Coffee” organized by Youngeun Cha and Jaeyong Park in May 2023. Image courtesy of Seoul Reading Room.

The beauty of Seoul Reading Room lies in its openness to people from all ages and backgrounds, as it organizes communal gatherings that bring together individuals from and outside the art world at its Cheongun-dong space. “I want Seoul Reading Room to be a place where my non-art friends can come and talk about what we are doing,” said Jaeyong Park.

Indeed, by hosting an eclectic set of programs – from Photo Album Unboxing, Art Cornucopia, and Books and Coffee to SCHOOL Translation Draft Reading Group and Visual Art Writing Seminar – Seoul Reading Room has cultivated a sense of community amongst individuals from various professional backgrounds.

Digital Influence: Contemporary Art Influencers

There are contemporary art social media influencers such as Crakti (@crakti), CUSA (@magazine.curator), and Oottoogi (@oottoogi) who have gained clout in recent years – a phenomenon that is perhaps unique to Korea’s art scene.

“With @crakti, I wanted to draw attention to exhibitions featuring young and emerging Korean artists and those held at lesser-known galleries or institutions, rather than just the more commercial and Instagrammable ones already popular among the general public.”

^{– Summer Jimin Park, Curator}

Motivations driving these accounts vary. “My initial motivation for starting @crakti was personal—I wanted a space to document and share my exhibition experiences,” said Summer Jimin Park, who recently began her Master’s studies at Columbia University after working as an arts professional in Korea for six years. “As my audience grew, I realized how my account could serve a broader purpose: sharing information with a much wider audience, from art professionals to anyone with even a casual interest in visual art.”

“With @crakti, I wanted to draw attention to exhibitions featuring young and emerging Korean artists and those held at lesser-known galleries or institutions, rather than just the more commercial and Instagrammable ones already popular among the general public.” I also put a lot of effort into translating the often complex and unintelligible language of the art world into more accessible terms.”

9. @crakti on Instagram shares information about the latest exhibition in Korea and across the world. Image courtesy of @crakti

This year, the power of online influence was brought into an offline space at the Daegu International Art Fair (DIAF), where four influencers, including Crakti, were invited to curate a booth titled POSTING COLLECTION. The section aimed to attract younger visitors and encourage them to see themselves as potential collectors. The invited art enthusiasts contributed written accounts of their favorite artists at the fair, explaining what made these artists stand out. Additionally, the booth featured a recording of a casual Zoom discussion, where the influencers shared their ways of researching and collecting art, as well as how they use social media to document and share their experiences.

“This initiative was all about making the idea of collecting art feel more relatable, encouraging visitors to engage with the fair on a more personal level. Many responded by taking photos of the booth and tagging the influencers they followed on Instagram,” said Summer Jimin Park.

The growing impact of Instagram on the art world is regarded with concern and apprehension at times, and it is true that those who use the platform – whether they be artists sharing their works or arts professionals promoting art appreciation – should do so with a degree of self-reflexivity. Yet, it is also true that Instagram carries much potential to enhance the experience of art and grow the audience pool. Examining specific case studies that demonstrate the relationship between social media and the artworld to determine best practices seems to be an important task for the moment.

Acknowledgements. Grateful to:
Chan Sook Choi (artist), Dasle Seok (artist), Jay Junghee Kim (curator), Ji Yoon Yang (curator), Jaeyong Park (writer), Minji Kim (artist), Ryan Choi (curator), Sejin Park (curator), Summer Jimin Park (curator and @crakti), Sola Jung (curator), and Yedong Yoo (curator) for kindly providing your insights through spoken and/or written interviews.

About the writer:
Insun Woo, based between Abu Dhabi and Seoul, is a writer and researcher with a B.A. Art History from NYU Abu Dhabi. Her life experience of growing up in cities across the world—from London, Sofia, Seoul, Moscow, and Osaka to Abu Dhabi, New York, and Istanbul—as an East Asian woman informs her present-day interest in contemporary art that explores urban culture and history, memory studies, feminist thought, and the history of modern Korea. Currently an editor at Global Art Daily, Insun has previously managed a professional enrichment program for arts students at NYUAD Career Development Center; created a project related to “comfort women” survivors as part of the Guggenheim Museum’s Summer College Workshop; and contributed to Art in Culture, Canvas Magazine, Fiker Institute, and Guggenheim Blog.

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4. Rapport: Seoul

Frieze Seoul and its Ripple Effect

“We’re trying to pack as many exhibition openings and public programs as possible into this period to give visibility to as many local artists as possible when international visitors come.”

Seoul’s Art Scene, a Rich Tapestry Woven by Public and Private Hands

“Usually, a third of my grant is dedicated to renting an exhibition space.”

The Heartbeat of Seoul’s Art Scene: Independent Spaces

Independent Spaces in Seoul

Seoul Reading Room

“I want Seoul Reading Room to be a place where my non-art friends can come and talk about what we are doing.”

Digital Influence: Contemporary Art Influencers

“With @crakti, I wanted to draw attention to exhibitions featuring young and emerging Korean artists and those held at lesser-known galleries or institutions, rather than just the more commercial and Instagrammable ones already popular among the general public.”

︎︎︎Previous Next︎

E-Issue 08 –– SELSummer/Fall 2024

E-08++ Summer/Fall 2024

About ––

Interviews ––

Open Call ––

Newsletter ––

Chronological Archive ––

E-Issue 01 –– AUH/DXB Summer 2020

E-01++ Fall/Winter 2020-21

🎙️GAD Talk Series –– Season 1 2020

E-Issue 02 –– NYC Spring 2021

E-02++ Spring/Summer 2021

E-Issue 03 ––TYO Fall 2021

E-03++ Fall/Winter 2021-22

E-Issue 04 –– IST Spring 2022

E-04++ Spring/Summer 2022

E-Issue 05 –– VCE Fall 2022

E-05++ Fall/Winter 2022-23

E-Issue 06 –– DXB/SHJSpring 2023

E-Issue 07 –– AUHWinter 2023-24

E-07++ Winter/Spring 2024

🔍 Legal

4. Rapport: Seoul

Frieze Seoul and its Ripple Effect

“We’re trying to pack as many exhibition openings and public programs as possible into this period to give visibility to as many local artists as possible when international visitors come.”

Seoul’s Art Scene, a Rich Tapestry Woven by Public and Private Hands

“Usually, a third of my grant is dedicated to renting an exhibition space.”

The Heartbeat of Seoul’s Art Scene: Independent Spaces

Independent Spaces in Seoul

Seoul Reading Room

“I want Seoul Reading Room to be a place where my non-art friends can come and talk about what we are doing.”

Digital Influence: Contemporary Art Influencers

“With @crakti, I wanted to draw attention to exhibitions featuring young and emerging Korean artists and those held at lesser-known galleries or institutions, rather than just the more commercial and Instagrammable ones already popular among the general public.”

︎︎︎Previous Next︎

E-Issue 08 –– SEL
Summer/Fall 2024

E-08++
Summer/Fall 2024

E-Issue 01 –– AUH/DXB
Summer 2020

E-01++
Fall/Winter 2020-21

E-Issue 02 –– NYC
Spring 2021

E-02++
Spring/Summer 2021

E-Issue 03 ––TYO
Fall 2021

E-03++
Fall/Winter 2021-22

E-Issue 04 –– IST
Spring 2022

E-04++
Spring/Summer 2022

E-Issue 05 –– VCE
Fall 2022

E-05++
Fall/Winter 2022-23

E-Issue 06 –– DXB/SHJ
Spring 2023

E-Issue 07 –– AUH
Winter 2023-24

E-07++
Winter/Spring 2024