In September, Seoul was bursting with energy. The second edition of the Frieze Seoul art fair had just been inaugurated and the presence of K-pop stars RM, from the group BTS, and Jisoo, from Blackpink, had caused a stir.
Across town, more than 100 artists and fans were watching a performance of dance, music, film and theater at a major museum, part of a successful retrospective of the works of avant-garde Korean artist Kim Kulim, 87.
Together, the events seemed to sum up this city's emergence into the global spotlight.
Over the past 70 years, South Korea has gone through ups and downs as an art movement forged from the ashes of the Korean War has taken off and Korean movies, TV shows, K-pop, fashion and beauty They have attracted attention all over the world.
Moving from political unrest in the decades after the war to economic prosperity, South Korea has become a major player in the glitzy international art industry. And Seoul, by many accounts, is poised to be Asia's next great arts hub.
For many in the international art world, it is a long-overdue recognition for a City that, at least in the business of buying and selling art, has been eclipsed by Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.
“It takes many factors to create an artistic center, and South Korea works at a high level of sophistication and professionalism,” said gallery owner Thaddaeus Ropac, from London.
“For example, Paris is a mix of excellent museums, great collectors, a curatorial presence and a certain wealth, and Seoul has that same combination.”
Ropac, which also has galleries in Paris, London and Salzburg, Austria, opened a gallery in Seoul—its first in Asia—in fall 2021, at a time when the City's art world was already hot. That continued, despite the lack of in-person events due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In 2019, we decided to start our gallery in Seoul, but we did not anticipate that the City would occupy such a central place in the world,” said Ropac. “We didn't expect Frieze to even think about doing something here. “We would have settled for the dynamic we expected.”
That dynamic seemed to change quickly, particularly after the arrival of Frieze Seoul in September of last year. This year's edition attracted 121 galleries exhibiting works of art from around the world.
Several prominent galleries have opened branches in Seoul over the past year. Perrotin opened a second gallery in Seoul around the time of the first Frieze Seoul. He has since closed his original gallery to focus on the new gallery, located in the exclusive Gangnam neighborhood, one of the City's burgeoning art epicenters, with dozens of galleries.
And then, of course, there are the City's many museums, where the history of South Korea is told through art. An important exhibition is the Kulim retrospective, which runs until February 12 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
On the museum's lower floor, dozens of Kim's paintings and sculptures spanned several rooms, a testament to his role in the country's rising artistic profile since the Korean War ended.
Ropac said South Korea's combined creative and business environment is unmatched in Asia. “You can move art inside and outside the country without restrictions,” he indicated.
“Also, world art centers can't exist if artists don't live there, and this makes Seoul really stand out.”
By: DAVID BELCHER
The New York Times
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/7036666, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-12-19 19:40:08
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