FRIEZE LOS ANGELES 2026

At Frieze LA this year, Kukje Gallery presents works by Korean artist across generations, engaging with current discourses in contemporary art and fostering dialogue between the two cities. Among the highlights is Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One 1992-11 (1992), a sculpture from a signature series by Kim Yun Shin, a pioneering first-generation Korean woman sculptor. The title embodies Kim’s philosophy of perceiving nature not as an object of contemplation, but as a subject that ‘add[s to become] one’ with the artist. In March, Kim will hold a major retrospective at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Korea, marking the institution’s first solo exhibition dedicated to a Korean female artist. Also included in the booth is Thinner...and Thinner...#16-36 (2016) by conceptual artist Kim Yong-Ik, who has long challenged the conventions of modernism. The work is the result of the artist repeatedly working on a set amount of canvas every day. Over time, the material presence on the surface becomes progressively thinner, presented without rhetorical intent. Following his 2016 retrospective at the Ilmin Museum of Art in Seoul, Korea, the work signals a shift in the artist’s attitude—from pursuing authenticity as a ‘modern subject’ to a lighter ‘deconstructive subject.’

Kyoto-based artist Jae-Eun Choi presents 2024 works from her Paper Poem series. Composed of layered blank pages from timeworn books, the series depicts a ‘portrait of time,’ shaped through the accumulation of varied temporal strata embedded in each page. The traces left in books published nearly a century ago—bleached over time by light—resemble the cross-sections of soft fruit or flower petals, revealing delicate tonal gradations and subtle dimensionality. Marking Choi’s first solo exhibition at a Korean national institution, Jae-Eun Choi: Where Beings Be is currently on view at the Seoul Museum of Art, Seosomun Main Branch, Korea. Kibong Rhee unveils his new painting, Extra - ordinary - late - summer (2026). His longstanding interest in foggy waterscapes is expressed through the layering of polyester fiber at a regular spacing from the canvas, superimposing two images on top of one another. The act of seeing beyond the translucent ‘film’ corresponds to the ordinary act of experiencing the world through one’s own distinct frameworks. Conceptual artist Gimhongsok’s new work A Villain Oliver (2026) creates a situation in which familiar, learned concepts no longer function as expected. Through deconstructed and entangled scenarios, the artist presents scenes that feel both recognizable and strangely unsettling. A character’s face is paired with the body of a cat, making it difficult to discern whether the figure is wearing a cat’s fur or the cat is wearing the character’s mask. This intermingling of reality and fiction, normal and abnormal, right and wrong, embodies a form of true contemporaneity—freedom unbound by universal concepts or predefined categories. Korea’s leading realist painter, Lee Kwang-Ho, brings to the fair BLOW UP 4768-3 (2025), a work inspired by an unexpected visit to a wetland near the Kepler Track during a trip to New Zealand. Grasses, flowers, moss, and puddled water intertwine in an all-over style, filling the canvas from edge to edge. These elements evoke the free, expressive composition and unrestrained brushstrokes often associated with abstract painting. Works by Haegue Yang are showcased in the booth, including Airborne Paper Creatures –Swimmers (2025). Inspired by centuries-old kite-making traditions across the pan-Asian region, Airborne Paper Creatures –Swimmers are adorned with decorative elements made from hanji and marbled paper, as well as Punjabi goat bell ornaments, addressing the interplay between different species in nature. Yang is currently presenting her works across the globe, including in Shanghai, China; Taichung, Taiwan; and Naoshima, Japan, among other locations. Coinciding with Frieze LA, Yang’s solo exhibition Haegue Yang: Star-Crossed Rendezvous at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, USA, will take place, followed by a special program of the same title in collaboration with the LA Philharmonic on March 10.The booth presents works by Suki Seokyeong Kang, who is widely recognized for reinterpreting Korean traditions through her contemporary artistic language and socio-cultural contexts. Kang’s practice has consistently explored personal space and boundaries, as well as objects and sensory experience. For the artist, the physical conditions of an artwork—such as its weight, scale, texture, and form—serve as crucial indicators for containing experience, memory, and emotion. In Warm Round 610 #23-01 (2022–2023), Kang stacked and configured various objects into a sculpture with a new narrative, imbuing warmth by threading and covering cold, perforated metal with yarn. Also featured at the booth is Gore Deco – A Split Smile (2026), a new painting by Jang Pa, who continues to challenge conventional representations from a feminist perspective. ‘Gore’ in the title represents both physical and metaphorical violence, while ‘Deco’ refers to the aesthetics and social order implicated in the notion of decoration, which is often dismissed as subordinate. By resisting traditional images of the female body through humor and subversive critique, she simultaneously reveals her sincerity toward painting. Jang Pa recently concluded her first solo exhibition with Kukje Gallery, Gore Deco.