Six Directors Share Artwork Highlights at Frieze and Kiaf Seoul 2024

Preview the highlights of Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul at COEX this September, as introduced by directors of P21, Almine Rech, Alzueta, Arario, GALLERY2, and THEO.

1. Soo Choi, Founder of P21
Frieze Seoul

'Haneyl Choi's sculpture Three Brothers creates an emotionally charged space where bodies and objects are dissected and reassembled, engaging the complex interplay between bodily autonomy and societal norms.'

'It's part of a new series that continues his exploration of identity, ownership, and mortality, and is showing at this year's Gwangju Biennale.'

'Keem Jiyoung's 'Glowing Hour' series is rooted in the exploration of individual existence and collective resilience in the face of manmade disasters that have impacted South Korean society.'

'Using the symbol of a flickering candle flame, Keem reflects on the fragility and warmth of life, exploring themes of illumination and obscurity and offering a poignant commentary on human experience and the aftermath of tragedy.'

2. Almine Rech, Director of Almine Rech
Frieze Seoul

'Ha Chong-Hyun's painting is a strong, irreversible gesture, the result of meditation that can lead the viewer into a state of meditation, too.'

'Korean monochrome painting developed after the Korean War, in the 1970s, when artists sought change in society and turned to abstraction. This year marks 50 years since Ha began the "Conjunction" series.'

'Oliver Beer's painting shares Ha's abstract form and use of monochrome in a very different way. Beer uses a unique pigment which he disperses and controls while sound is activated under the surface, creating waves of the pigment reflected on the canvas.'

'John Giorno was a performance poet and painter. The painting we are showing from Giorno's "Rainbow" series is emblematic of his research in perception, visual language, and sound.'

'The colours in the background are very much in dialogue with his poetry verse; he shares this performance aspect of creation with Oliver Beer and Ha Chung-Hyun.'

3. Júlia Alzueta, Director of Alzueta Gallery
Kiaf SEOUL

'Maria Yelletisch's works explore reverberation as a gateway to transcendence, flawlessly weaving nature, light, memory, and emotion. Her debut in Seoul is a minimalist essence of what surrounds us in a tranquil abstraction of landscape and still images.'

'She delves into the meditative power of recurrence, drawing correlations between the rhythm of nature and contemplative states of daydream.'

'Catalan artist Xevi Solà debuts at Kiaf with the impact of bold colours and protagonists—whether human, natural, or architectural.'

'Xevi consistently works form and colour as a means of returning to the essence of painting. He's not shy of depicting the uncomfortable and fills the canvas with vibrant scenes that seem to almost jump out of their frames. His works promise to highlight the quality of Catalan art in the international scene.'

4. Sojung Kang, Executive Director of Arario Gallery
Frieze Seoul

'Lee Jinju delicately depicts uncanny and strange scenes, objects, and landscapes she encounters in her daily life, applying the colouring techniques of East Asian painting.'

'Her "black paintings" portray body parts such as hands and faces emerging from the pitch-black, focusing on fragmented subjects for an eerie, dramatic result. The details that emerge go beyond simply replicating the subject: they capture the artist's gaze, rejuvenating the memories from the process of encounter.'

'Her works open up landscapes where truth and fiction coexist. The canvas becomes the intermediary zone where boundaries between life and death, underground and surface, and day and night are transcended, and overlapping layers of metaphor unravel and sustain a fragmented world.'

5. Jaeho Jung, Director of GALLERY2
Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul

'Haekang Lee uses spray and oil paint in a technique the artist calls "morphing". Though the two materials seem physically and stylistically incompatible, each represents different cultures that Lee personally connects with. Combining the two makes for an unpredictable artistic matrimony.'

'Juae Park describes her work as 'testimony'. Free from format or style, her only guiding principle is authenticity.'

'The work is a process of transforming her troubles and desires into something more tangible. Through it, she finds positive perspectives and solutions; the candidness of her paintings will resonate with others.'

'Taeyeon Kim looks at frameworks of standardisation, limitations, and institutions, and uses them as scaffolding for his work. These lead to a sense of deep-seated frustration and dissatisfaction that nips at the roots of existence.'

'Kim seeks exceptions, back doors, or dead spots in those rigid frameworks to offer alternate possibilities or meanings.'

6. Hyunmin Kim, Director of THEO
Kiaf SEOUL

'Hyangro Yoon explores the potential of abstract painting in contemporary visual culture. Her "pseudo paintings" reinterpret the history of popular culture and painting through image editing program algorithms.'

'At the core of her approach is a focus on the contemporary modes of image consumption. This series encapsulates physicality, the materiality of paint, and the convergence of past and present times.'

'Self-taught artist Jack Kabangu has a style full of vibrant colours and energetic lines. His works combine figurative elements with resonant colours and abstract shapes, spontaneity and movement. Kabangu's preferred tools are his fingers, spatulas, scrapers, and paintbrushes.'

'Jeong-ui Yun is conducting experiments to reconsider the processes and structures of sculpture, based on the acts of cutting, attaching, and carving materials.'

'Yun divides the structure of this sculpture into bones, muscles, and skin. He shapes forms that are both structure and surface. With his large-scale works, he experiments with how these elements influence each other and develop forms based on their respective limits.' —[O]