FRIEZE NEW YORK 2026

Kukje Gallery’s booth spotlights Korean and Korean-diaspora women artists who are making significant strides in the contemporary art landscape. Kim Yun Shin, currently the subject of a major retrospective Kim Yun Shin: Two Be One at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, presents Song of My Soul 2006-108 (2006) from her acclaimed painting series that expresses nature through a deep faith in art. Through a performative process of layering paint and scraping it off using a knife, Kim renders vibrant primary colors inspired by South American indigenous palettes and the traditional Korean obangsaek. Also featured is Paper Poem No. 24 (2024) by Jae-Eun Choi, who recently concluded J_ae-Eun Choi: Where Beings Be_, at the Seoul Museum of Art Seosomun Main Branch. Created by cutting and arranging blank pages from the discarded old books, the piece evokes a new sense of time through the depth and presence formed by the physical layers of paper. Kyungah Ham showcases Phantom and A Map / poetry 02WBS02 (2018–2024), completed in collaboration with North Korean embroidery artisans. Beneath the vivid embroidery lies not only thousands of hours of labor, but also the invisible reality of national division—such as censorship, intermediaries, and the tension of espionage—highlighting the gap between reality and visual beauty.

Haegue Yang introduces A Matter of Fact (from Dan) – Peep Asymmetry (2025), a recent variation of her Venetian blind sculptures inspired by American minimalist Dan Flavin. By weaving LED lights into her signature material, she creates a sensory scene where private and public realms intersect, challenging traditional perceptions of authorship. Yang is currently holding a solo exhibition, Haegue Yang: Star-Crossed Rendezvous, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Meanwhile, in a special tribute marking the first anniversary of the artist’s passing, the gallery presents Mora 55 × 40 #12 (2015), part of a signature series by the late Suki Seokyeong Kang. For Kang, “mora”—a linguistic unit smaller than a syllable—functions as the fundamental unit of painting. The grid structure, originating from the boundary of a single sheet of paper, forms her distinctive visual language, while layered paint flowing toward the edges of the canvas conveys temporality and narrative within her practice. Gala Porras-Kim presents Signal (Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporaneo 02/11/23-09/17/23) (2023). The seemingly random patterns on panels are drawn from water droplets collected by an industrial dehumidifier, which are then allowed to flow onto a cloth soaked in liquid graphite. Through this process, the work reflects environmental elements of the space, translating the invisible vitality of the exhibition hall into abstract trajectories. Porras-Kim is invited to present her works for the Applied Arts Pavilion in the Arsenale at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Furthermore, Kukje Gallery fosters a richer dialogue by presenting works by international contemporary artists based in New York. Roni Horn showcases Frick and Fracks (2018–2023), consisting of eight gouache and watercolor drawings. Borrowing its title from a slang term for an indistinguishable duo, the work juxtaposes organic and geometric shapes to prompt a fundamental reflection on similarities, differences, and the various ways of forging relationships. Ugo Rondinone presents a new sculpture, pink blue nun (2026), a work that combines his interest in natural phenomena with a distinct visual allure. Through its roughly hewn stone surfaces and the contrast between bold colors, the work radiates a quiet energy concentrated within its intimate scale. For over a decade, Rondinone has explored the structural qualities and textures of stone, as well as its profound ability to gather and condense time. Michael Joo, invited to the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, In Minor Keys, by Koyo Kouoh, introduces Untitled (the artifice of expenditure - No. American Standard) (1992), an early work that hints at ideas and materials that Joo would continue to develop over the following decade. Having long explored the intersections between nature, technology, and human perception, he poignantly addresses humanity’s attitude toward the environment while focusing on capturing and formalizing the point where mental thought meets physical response. Joo recently concluded his solo exhibition Michael Joo: Sweat Models 1991–2026 at Space ZeroOne in New York. Korakrit Arunanondchai, who lives and works in New York and Bangkok, showcases the painting Raindrop Nursery (2022), featuring inkjet prints, acrylic, and metallic foil applied onto bleached denim. Intersecting technology and spirituality with personal memory and cultural narratives, his work powerfully visualizes the cycles of extinction, rebirth, and transformation through the scorched traces of denim and the reflective luster of the foil. Arunanondchai is scheduled to hold a solo exhibition at Kukje Gallery Busan this August.

Lastly, the presentations by artists currently holding exhibitions at Kukje Gallery are also noteworthy. Park Chan-kyong, whose solo exhibition Zen Master Eyeball is on view at Kukje Gallery Seoul K1, presents the sculptural work Bright Stars 3 (2017). Completed by overlaying fake tiger skin and traditional dancheong pigments onto a birch wood panel, the work embodies cosmic imagery rooted in tradition and folk beliefs. To the artist, tradition does not exist as a disconnected style or sign of the past, but as fragmented “physical memory,” which he terms “tradition-reality” to explore the very essence of these cultural foundations. Lotus L. Kang, concurrently holding her solo exhibition Chora at Kukje Gallery Seoul’s Hanok and K3 spaces, showcases Mesoderm (You are already III) (2025). Using “mesoderm”—the middle layer of the three germ layers—as a metaphor, she explores the body’s permeability through collage and photogram techniques. In this series, an archive of lineage and influence is inscribed as highly abstracted images onto surfaces combining silicone, darkroom chemicals, and photographic paper. These works can be interpreted as a cyclical flow of energy that forms the structural framework for her future practice. Kang is also selected to present a site-responsive work as the inaugural artist for the Bvlgari Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Meanwhile, Hong Seung-Hye, presenting her solo exhibition On the Move at Kukje Gallery Busan, features her new work Frame Type Relief (2026). Hong has continually explored the movement of geometric imagery by expanding pixels—the fundamental units of the computer screen—into physical space. This new piece materializes virtual lines and planes from the monitor into a physical relief; as viewers move and shift their perspectives, the two-dimensional data is reborn as a tangible, three-dimensional entity. A key feature is the intentional circular apertures punctuated throughout the surface, which dissolve the boundaries between the work’s internal structure and the surrounding space.