Frieze Seoul: Advisory Selections

Philip Guston at Hauser & Wirth

Hauser & Wirth will present three works on paper by Philip Guston for Frieze Seoul, including the charcoal drawing Untitled (1968).

The work features the recurring masked figure motif that defined Guston's visual vocabulary in the last and most controversial decade of his life. Referred to by the artist as 'hoods', these figures grapple with the everyday aspects of evil.

Speaking on Guston's mature oeuvre, Vivian Chui highlighted in Ocula Magazine: 'these late works capture his masterful ability to tap into the lasting imprints that hatred and tragedy leave on the human psyche'.

The major travelling retrospective Philip Guston Now is currently in its final weeks at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition will open at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in October, and will continue touring through 2023—opening at the National Gallery of Art, Washington in February, and the Tate Modern, London in October.

Kim Tschang-Yeul at Tina Kim Gallery

It comes as no surprise that gallerist Tina Kim will be showing three fabulous paintings by one of Korea's most celebrated artists, the late Kim Tschang-Yeul, as a long-time advocate of the painter.

Alongside two of his iconic 'water drop' paintings, this 1969 work titled Composition will be showing at Tina Kim Gallery's booth.

Undulating and almost cellular in form, with rings of gradated nuclei wrapping around the pictorial centre, Composition is part of a series of works that Kim embarked on upon relocating to Paris in 1969.

Speaking on these oozing forms, Vivian Chui wrote for Ocula Magazine: 'These compositions allude to the visual vocabularies of Minimalism and Op Art—most tellingly in the way that sparse backgrounds give way to swelling, ambiguous shapes; Kim fittingly referred to the canvases as "paintings of the intestines", in light of their apparent biomorphism'.

Chen Ching-Yuan at TKG+

Chen Ching-Yuan's mystifying narratives depicting various scenes of everyday life seek to unsettle definitions of the ordinary and perceptions of time. He paints with a sombre palette evoking the sensate realism of historial paintings.

'As with the tree paintings, the figures' actions and situations in these works are not immediately explicable. Though the inhabitants of each scene look ordinary enough, they are absorbed in their own, mysterious narratives', describes Ocula Magazine.

Born in Tainan, Taiwan, Chen Ching-Yuan studied at the Taipei National University of the Arts, where he earned both his BFA (2007) and MFA (2013).

Ai Weiwei at Lisson Gallery

Ai Weiwei has developed his reputation through somewhat polemic works that question the Chinese government's ideas around democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech.

Concepts of appropriation and exploitation are at the core of Ai's practice, and are exemplified in his 'Coca-Cola' series, which feature Han dynasty urns adorned with the universally recognised Coca-Cola logo.

In combining the ancient tradition of Chinese ceramics with iconography synonymous with mass consumption and contemporary Western culture, Ai addresses the cultural reliance on familiar symbols, while repurposing the urn into a symbol of modernity and defiance.

In October, the group exhibition Freedom will open at London's Southbank Centre. Curated by Ai Weiwei, the exhibition will showcase artworks created by individuals in prisons, young offender institutions, and mental health facilities across the U.K.

Rirkrit Tiravanija at kurimanzutto

Rirkrit Tiravanija has become a seminal figure in the development of participatory and socially-engaged practices since the 1990s.

For kurimanzutto's Seoul presentation, they bring a large-scale multimedia work by Tiravanija which sees mezcal, clay, acrylic, and ashes sprayed onto newspaper on linen. Newspaper paintings have become commonplace in Tiravanija's oeuvre, and are often brandished with bold proclamations intended to create conversation.

Rikrit Tiravanija fans will be pleased to hear of his solo exhibition, Submit to the Black Compost at Gladstone Gallery's Seoul space in the Gangnam-gu district (31 August–14 October 2022).

Sterling Ruby at Xavier Hufkens

For Frieze Seoul, Xavier Hufkens will present a solo presentation of Sterling Ruby's 'TURBINE' series.

In four new paintings composed of acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas, Ruby revisits the notion of formal self-destruction adopted by the Futurists and Russian Constructivists. The resulting works create an experience that thrusts viewers into the whirlwind and mechanical propulsion of his forms.

Sterling Ruby has emerged as one of the most important artists working today. His interdisciplinary works can be found within some of the largest museums and public collections globally, including Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and London's Tate Modern.

Ivy Haldeman at François Ghebaly

Ivy Haldeman's anthropomorphic hot dogs have captivated collectors and gallery-goers alike.

Twice, Lips Edge, Thumb Index Angle, Wrist Bent (2022), a new painting showing with François Ghebaly, is sure to catch the attention of the crowds in Seoul. The work showcases bold, alluring colours alongside moments of delicacy—a feature that runs through Haldeman's impressive oeuvre.

With sold out shows across many corners of the world, including Down & Ross New York and Capsule Shanghai, and reaching six figures at Phillips last year, the New York-based Haldeman is one to watch.

There will also be a chance to see Haldeman's works in Europe in the group show FINGER BANG, which opens at Perrotin's Paris space on 3 September.

Helen Johnson, The Actual (2022). Synthetic polymer paint and pencil on canvas. 294 x 212 cm. Courtesy the artist and Pilar Corrias, London.

Helen Johnson at Pilar Corrias

Melbourne-born and based artist Helen Johnson presents three works with Pilar Corrias in Seoul, produced while undertaking training as an art therapist in a psychiatric unit at a public hospital.

Methods of observation and interactions between subjects, intrinsic to work of this nature, feed into the sensibilities of these paintings. Rather than depicting real, observed individuals, Johnson's figures are drawn from imagination in a bid to tackle the fickleness of reality. She considers what we experience on a conscious level, and the uncontrollable force that lies beneath.

On 10 September, Helen Johnson and fellow Australian artist Judy Watson will open the red thread of history at Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne. The exhibition explores the complex perspectives on the history of colonisation in the country, with an emphasis on the experience of women.

Jason Rhoades at Hauser & Wirth

Jason Rhoades was an artist who continuously challenged aesthetic conventions and the rules that governed the art world.

For their Frieze Seoul presentation, Hauser & Wirth are showing a 2006 sculpture by Rhoades titled NOM Korean Bedroom Idol. Featuring an array of found and handmade objects, the artwork is a prime example of Rhoades' ability to explore materiality, capitalism, and performance through an autobiographical lens.

While living in Los Angeles, Rhoades had a studio in the Koreatown neighbourhood. It was here that NOM Korean Bedroom Idol hung, with the neon sign that forms a part of the work salvaged from a nearby karaoke bar frequented by the artist.

Two of Rhoades' works, Caprice (1996) and Sutter's Mill (2000), are currently on show in New York for the Whitney Biennial, which ends 5 September.

Carmen Argote at Commonwealth and Council

Commonwealth and Council will present Mexico-born artist Carmen Argote. Argote studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she graduated with a BFA in 2004 and an MFA in 2007.

Emerging from the investigation into the shifts of her psychic landscape within the city of Los Angeles, where Argote lives, the mixed media work My Friend the Hen (2022) forms part of the artist's 'Mother' series.

Argote's process is driven by site-responsive actions when walking around the city, such as foraging and spatial exploration. The act of walking is expressed through seemingly chaotic mark-making on paper, and embellished with found objects—in this case, a rooster tail.

Argote's upcoming solo exhibition, Her Forms of Other, opens at Commonwealth and Council's Mexico City location on 24 September.