The event in the Korean capital will be Frieze's first art fair in Asia
Frieze, the media and events company that operates art fairs in London, Los Angeles and New York, is launching its first Asian fair in September 2022.
The first edition of Frieze Seoul will take place in COEX, a convention centre in the buzzing Gangnam district, from September 2-5, 2022.
Frieze Seoul will feature approximately 100 galleries in its first year with a primary focus on contemporary art, supplemented by a Frieze Masters section dedicated to art from antiquity through to the 20th century.
Frieze Seoul is being launched in partnership with the Galleries Association of Korea, the trade organisation that runs the Korea International Art Fair—better known as KIAF—which is currently the country's leading contemporary art event. The first edition of Frieze Seoul will run alongside KIAF.
"We are honoured to be working alongside the Galleries Association of Korea in a spirit of collaboration that is right for our times," says Victoria Siddall, board director of Frieze. "Together, we will create an unmissable week in Seoul that brings together galleries from all over the world and celebrates the city’s vibrant art scene. Seoul is a natural home for Frieze with its extraordinary artists, galleries, museums and collections. I am thrilled that it will be the location for our new fair."
Dal-Seung Hwang, the chairman of Galleries Association of Korea added: "We are proud to announce the partnership with Frieze and we are excited to invite art enthusiasts around the world to Seoul. In a period of high public interest in the Korean art market, the collaboration between South Korea’s largest art fair and Frieze will confirm Seoul as a hub of the global art market, and South Korea a major destination for the art market in Asia."
The South Korean capital is becoming an increasingly important art hub in Asia. Over the past few years, several international galleries have put down roots in the city, including Pace, Perrotin, Lehmann Maupin and König Galerie. Last week, Thaddaeus Ropac announced it is opening its first gallery in Asia in Seoul this October.
See also: South Korean Artist Lee Bul On Her Homecoming Exhibition At The Seoul Museum Of Art