Frieze will launch its first Asia fair in Seoul, South Korea in 2022 under a partnership with the Galleries Association of Korea. Frieze’s fifth international fair, it will take place at the events venue COEX in the city’s Gangnam district from 2 to 5 September, 2022, coinciding with the long-running regional fair Kiaf Art Seoul, featuring Korean galleries.
The fair will feature almost 100 international galleries, most specializing in contemporary art although there will be a Frieze Masters section dedicated to historical art from antiquity to the 20th century. A list of exhibitors is yet to be announced.
“Seoul is a natural home for Frieze with its extraordinary artists, galleries, museums and collections,” says Victoria Siddall, Frieze’s board director, in a statement. “We are honoured to be working alongside the Galleries Association of Korea in a spirit of collaboration that is right for our times. Together, we will create an unmissable week in Seoul that brings together galleries from all over the world and celebrates the city’s vibrant art scene.”
Dal-Seung Hwang, the chairman of the Galleries Association of Korea, adds: “In a period of high public interest in the Korean art market, the collaboration between South Korea’s largest art fair and Frieze will confirm Seoul as a hub of the global art market, and South Korea a major destination for the art market in Asia.”
The current resilient state of South Korea’s economy is attractive for international art business. The country’s GDP contracted only by 1% last year and is expected to grow by 3% in 2021.
Interest from Western galleries in Seoul is booming. Last week, Thaddaeus Ropac announced he would open its first Asian gallery in the Fort Hill building in the city’s Hannam-dong district this October. “The attractive point for international organisations is that South Korea does not have any VAT or customs [charges] on art,” Ropac says. “Contrary to China, which is very expensive to bring art into. But this is like Hong Kong and Singapore, no VAT or customs. So it’s very easy to ship art in and out”.
In April, Pace announced its expansion to a bigger space occupying two floors of Le Beige Building, also in Hannam-dong, opening on 27 May with a Sam Gilliam exhibition. Marc Glimcher, Pace’s president and chief executive says the city’s “popularity is about to explode. Seoul is on the brink of new cultural investment, with major museums and art fairs interested in the opportunities it has to offer.”
The Berlin-based dealer Johann König has also just opened a gallery in the Seoul district of Gangnam together with the luxury clothing brand MCM. “Korea has a strong position in the art market,” König says.