ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – The Korean art market faced a significant slump in 2023, with auctions and galleries struggling to ignite enthusiasm and deliver strong sales. Yet, amid this downturn, a more optimistic narrative unfolded on the global stage.
Korean artists garnered increasing international attention, and the country solidified its position as a burgeoning cultural hub in Asia. A key highlight of the year was the Venice Biennale, which opened on April 17.
This year marked a historic moment for Korea, as it made its largest-ever presence at the prestigious event, with galleries, artists, art foundations, and government institutions joining forces to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Korean Pavilion.
Including the four Korean artists showing at the biennale main exhibition held with the theme of “Stranieri Ovunque — Foreigners Everywhere,” some 330 artists presented art in the city. The Korean Pavilion in Giardini showed “Koo Jeong A – Odorama Cities” curated by Lee Sul-hui and Jacob Fabricius, delving into scents of Korea.
“I am so pleased that the Art Council Korea (commissioner of the Korean Pavilion) accepted the duo of artistic directors and dared to invite a foreigner (as an artistic director) and giving us this opportunity,” Fabricius, the first-ever non-Korean artistic director to curate a Korean Pavilion show, said on Thursday at a press conference held on the opening of “Koo Jeong A – Odorama Cities” at ARKO Art Center in Seoul.
Korean art was also on show in London in the fall with an array of of exhibitions featuring renowned Korean artists: Yang Hae-gue at Hayward Gallery, Lee Mire at Tate Modern and architect Cho Min-suk at Serpentine Pavilion opening, as well as artists showing at Frieze London.
Korea’s three art biennales – Gwangju Biennale, Busan Biennale and Jeju Biennale – coincided this year, opening in September, August and December, respectively.
The 15th edition of the Gwangju Biennale, curated by French artistic director Nicolas Bourriaud, reinterpreted pansori, a traditional Korean form of musical storytelling accompanied by a drummer.
The Busan Biennale took the theme of “Seeing in the Dark,” while Jeju Biennale shows stories of “drift” surrounding the island.
The most popular exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea was “What Things Dream About.” The show that opened in May triggered thoughts on the future where human beings interact with objects powered by artificial intelligence as though they were much like human beings. More than 220,000 people visited the show over its five-month run, according to the museum data obtained by The Korea Herald.
“The exhibition was quite popular among those in their 20s and 30s. More than 70 percent of the visitors to the exhibition were from those age groups,” said an official from the museum.
This year witnessed a rising interest in architecture, with some shows getting huge turnouts. Norman Foster’s first-ever solo exhibition in South Korea, “Future Positive,” at Seoul Museum of Art and “Performative Home: Architecture for Alternative Living” at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea were among the popular exhibitions held at the two museums.
Frieze Seoul marked its third edition this year. Although sales were slow for some galleries compared to previous years, art players from home and abroad showed optimism for the Seoul art scene, centering on museums and gallery events.
Taking place jointly with Kiaf Seoul, a long-standing art fair held by the Galleries Association of Korea, Frieze Seoul is reported to have signed a five-year contract. Frieze CEO Simon Fox, however, has expressed hope that the cooperative relationship with Kiaf Seoul would be maintained for the long term.
“If you look at the history of Frieze fairs, we have never stopped doing a fair in a city where we have started. I hope we will be in Seoul for 20, 30 or 50 years,” he said.
The art world was not without scandals. Controversy over the authenticity of some works of Korean modern art donated to the Los Angeles County Museum eventually led the museum to acknowledge, in a letter received by the Galleries Association of Korea in May, that further research was needed on the concerned works.
The donated works in question were shown as part of the exhibition “Korean Treasures from the Chester and Cameron Chang Collection” that opened at LACMA on Feb. 25, presenting 35 artworks including those by prominent Korean artists Park Soo-keun and Lee Jung-seop.
