Doing Frieze Seoul 2022

The art world is abuzz with talk of Frieze Seoul, Frieze’s first fair in Asia and the fifth fair launched by Frieze. Led by Patrick Lee, the inaugural edition brings together over 110 leading galleries from around the world, including Cardi Gallery, Sadie Coles HQ and Gagosian.

Highlights of the main section include Hauser & Wirth’s booth, featuring works by Louise Bourgeois, Mark Bradford and Jenny Holzer, among others, and Pace’s group show tracing the links between intergenerational abstractionists including Huong Dodinh, Virginia Jaramillo and Maysha Mohamedi. Among the Korean artists for your radar are Sungsil Ryu, Hejum Bä and Lee Dong-Youb, one of the leading exponents of the Dansaekhwa movement which emerged in Korea in the mid-1970s.

Complementing the fair’s main section is Frieze Masters, which features pieces spanning millennia and media, from rare books to early 20th-century painting. Another highlight is Focus Asia, which features a strong line up of solo artist presentations from emerging Asia-based galleries.

Taking place alongside the fair is Kiaf SEOUL, operated by the Galleries Association of Korea, and an expanded Frieze Week programme of exhibitions and events dotted across the city. Of all of these, we’re most excited about Pace’s freshly expanded arts complex and New Romantics, The Artist Room’s pop-up exhibition presented in collaboration with Phillips.

‘There is a powerful sense of anticipation that gives every indication of the strong appetite for Frieze Seoul,’ says the fair’s director, Patrick Lee. ‘We are really looking forward to welcoming everyone to celebrate the creative life of the city this September.’