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| yna@yna.co.kr 2025-09-08 10:45:19
By Woo Jae-yeon
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Yonhap) -- The country's two largest art fairs -- Kiaf Seoul and Frieze Seoul -- concluded over the weekend, drawing a substantial crowd of art enthusiasts and reaffirming their potential to become pivotal art events beyond Asia.
During the festival period, which ran Wednesday to Sunday with Frieze closing one day earlier, approximately 70,000-80,000 visitors from 48 countries visited the two concurrent fairs each at the COEX exhibition center in southern Seoul.
Wednesday's exclusive previews attracted a host of influential figures from the art world, including high-ranking South Korean officials, such as Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and first lady Kim Hea Kyung.
Officials from global art institutions, like the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and Tate Modern in London, were also present. The event further sparkled with the attendance of cultural figures, including K-pop stars, like BTS members and BLACKPINK's Lisa, alongside other celebrities.
A headline-capturing sale at Frieze Seoul occurred on the preview day, where Zurich-based Hauser & Wirth sold Mark Bradford's "Okay, then I apologize" (2025), a triptych abstract painting, for US$4.5 million to an undisclosed Asian collector. This new artwork by the American contemporary artist stands as the fair's most expensive sale to date.
The gallery also sold paintings by American artists, George Condo and Rashid Johnson, for $1.2 million and $750,000, respectively. Two paintings by Louise Bourgeois fetched $950,000 and $600,000 each.
Salzburg-based Thaddaeus Ropac sold a work by German artist Georg Baselitz for 1.8 million euros ($2.09 million) and a painting by Alex Katz for $900,000.
At Kiaf, Kukje Gallery sold a painting by late artist Park Seo-bo for over 400 million won ($288,000), and all 10 pieces of Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone's "Color Mountain" sculpture series, which were priced between $45,000 and $54,000 each. Gallery Hyundai sold water-droplet artist Kim Tchang-yeul's painting for over 200 million won.
The Kiaf Highlights section, which showcased 10 promising Korean artists, also logged strong sales, with Gallery Theo selling 15 pieces by Park Grim and Space Willing N Dealing selling 10 pieces by artist Park Noh-wan.
"Kiaf is a platform that shows the energy and potential of contemporary art," said Lee Sung-hoon, president of the Galleries Association of Korea, which organizes Kiaf. "This year, we were able to witness the future direction and power of Korean art through the works of diverse generations and backgrounds presented in one place."
He also noted "the active participation" of young art lovers in their 20s and 30s, calling it "a crucial movement that will sustain the future art market."
These sentiments were echoed by other gallerists.
"I witnessed the notable presence of young collectors along with international collectors from Asia, Russia and other regions, and took that as the 24-year-old Kiaf's sustainable global potential going forward," said Kim Jung-sook from the Seoul-based Duru Art Space.
Gallery Mac President Jang Young-ho noted the exhibition quality and viewing environment of Kiaf have risen to a level comparable to Frieze as the co-hosting entered its fourth year.
This collaboration, he said, has helped domestic galleries and artists broaden their networking with overseas galleries and art institutions.
"I think the fair served as great chance for us to expand the overseas presence and global networking, beyond simple artwork sales," he said.
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]