What to See at Frieze Seoul 2024

Florian Krewer's until the day at Michael Werner Gallery

German-born, New York-based artist Florian Krewer uses searing colours to explore themes of tension and relief, togetherness and conflict. His subjects—often people and animals with indistinct facial features—reflect his elusive narratives.

In the oil-on-linen painting until the day (2024), a figure with lurid pink skin lifts weights before an audience seen only as shadows, while a black-and-white tiger prowls in front of bars. The garish colours create a nightmarish atmosphere, while the shadows intensify a feeling of isolation and vulnerability.

Krewer described to Ocula how colour enhances the energy of his compositions: 'Something that could look brutal at first, or strong and forceful, is perhaps just a façade, so I use colour to create a counterbalance.'

The artist opens his first West Coast exhibition, strike the dust, at Michael Werner Gallery in Beverly Hills on 13 September 2024.

Hyun-Sook Song's 19 Brushstrokes at Sprüth Magers

Hyun-Sook Song's work invites viewers to pause and linger with her objects.

The Korean-German artist's luminous egg tempera paintings on canvas stand out for their carefully crafted lines and shapes influenced by East Asian calligraphy.

In the large-scale 19 Brushstrokes (2021), which depicts a wooden post wrapped in white cloth, Song demonstrates her mastery of flow and opacity. The sinewy texture of the object is accentuated by broad brushstrokes, with visible mark-making contrasting against a smooth ombre background of mushroom grey.

The title references the surprisingly limited number of brushstrokes executed to complete the piece, reflecting the artist's focus on gesture, material, and durational processes.

This November, Song will present her first U.S. solo exhibition at Sprüth Magers, New York.

Pacita Abad's To Paint With a Twist at Tina Kim Gallery

It's impossible not to be drawn in by the lively energy of Pacita Abad's work, with its hypnotic patterns, exuberant colours, and seductive textures.

The late Filipina-American artist is celebrated for her unabashedly bold compositions, constructed using experimental techniques and an assortment of trinkets collected during her travels around the world.

In To Paint With a Twist (1991), Abad captures the joy of colour. The quilting-inspired trapunto technique, with its stitched and stuffed canvas, results in a beautifully dappled surface. Upon closer inspection, you'll find buttons embellishing the painted patterns which coalesce into a large-scale abstraction.

Tina Kim Gallery's booth will feature To Paint With a Twist alongside another of Abad's works, Twenty-five meters down on Layag-Layag Reef (1986).

While Abad's first major survey at MoMA PS1 in New York is coming to a close, it will tour to the Art Gallery of Ontario where it opens this October.

Daniel Sinsel's Untitled at Jason Haam

The joy of exploring the spatial layers of Daniel Sinsel's paintings is undeniable.

The German-born artist navigates themes of objecthood, shape, and illusion using materials including glass, wood, and paint in works that unfold like intricate puzzles.

In Untitled (2023), Sinsel's signature winding ribbons demonstrate his technical skill and pin-sharp brushwork. The transition from grey to pink in the background, along with the delicate, endless ribbon, frames a soft space.

In contrast, the structured horizontal lines of solid colour and playful glass triangles create a more punchy visual. Together, these elements exemplify Sinsel's talent for conjuring depth and volume on flat surfaces.

Anj Smith's Artist's Tools II at Hauser & Wirth

Discovering a work by Anj Smith is like stumbling across a cosmic treasure trove.

Her landscapes are littered with laboriously depicted objects and beings: some recognisable, like bird eggs, berries, and butterflies, and others entirely alien—kaleidoscopic translucent forms that resemble deep-sea creatures.

Each painting presents incomplete narratives with densely packed imagery that merges the genres of still life, landscape, and portraiture.

Smith's works reward close study, with hidden details revealing themselves to viewers who take the time to absorb her compositions.

Poppy Jones' Villa Flora at Mai 36 Galerie

Ocula Advisors are keeping a keen eye on Poppy Jones, a Royal College of Art graduate who has exhibited at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester and held a solo show at Herald St in London earlier this year.

Jones uses monotype printing and subsequent overpainting to transfer her tightly cropped photographs onto recycled silk, suede, leather, and cotton panels. This technique imparts an ephemeral, veil-like quality to her work, evoking a sense of nostalgia.

Her work Villa Flora (2024) exemplifies her trademark style. The composition centres on a window with sheer drapes that blur the view outside, with subtle shifts in blue and purple tones reminiscent of expired film photographs. Rendered on suede, this texture enhances the muted and soft quality of the work.

Kim Yun Shin's Vitality of Earth 1978-3E1 at Kukje Gallery

At nearly 90, Kim Yun Shin remains an active force in the art world. Recognised as one of Korea's pioneering female sculptors, she blends traditional Korean forms with influences from her time in France, Mexico, and Argentina.

Vitality of Earth 1978-3E1 (2024) continues her legacy of sculpting wood forms that emphasise her engagement with nature and materiality. The bronze totem, cast from irregularly chipped and carved wood, evokes the raw beauty of earth, showcasing visible grain with deep cracks and grooves. Its polished gold surface reflects light, elevating its tactile quality.

Earlier this year, Lehmann Maupin announced Kim's first partnership with commercial galleries, collaborating with Kukje Gallery to introduce her practice to a wider international art audience. Since then, her work has been shown at the Venice Biennale, the Lee Ungno Museum in Daejeon, and Lehmann Maupin in New York.

Henni Alftan's New Notebook at Karma

A master of capturing languid scenes, Henni Alftan spotlights ordinary moments in sleek, cinematic compositions.

New Notebook (2024) infuses movement into a moment of stillness, presenting a close-up of a notebook resting on a table, its pages fanning out as if just placed down. The restrained palette—the cool blue pages, the warm reddish-brown table, and the olive-green background—combine with refined brushstrokes that create subtle texture, elevating the simple subject.

In an interview with Ocula last year, Alftan described: 'I'm interested in finding different ways of applying paint for different subjects.'

A favourite among Ocula's Advisors, it's a joy to see Alftan's work featured in Karma's booth in Seoul alongside works by Andrew Cranston and Jane Dickson. This November, Alftan will open a solo exhibition at the Longlati Foundation in Shanghai. —[O]