Frieze Seoul sees slower sales, yet confirms stronger art scene in Seoul

The economic slowdown has affected the third edition of Frieze Seoul, which started Wednesday at Coex with relatively slow sales. Galleries brought works at lowered prices as though they were bracing for the economic impact on the art market.

Some galleries were hesitant to share sales figures, saying that collectors appeared to be taking more time to make purchases, or that sales had been similar to -- or worse than -- last year.

“We know that the economy here has not been at its best, even globally, the market is not turning so great,” said Anthony Bigot, deputy director in Paris for Massimodecarlo, Thursday. “But we opened a space here in Seoul as you know, so I am quite confident. It is a matter of a long-term relationship."

Marking its third year, Frieze Seoul, which closed on Saturday, saw the participation of around 110 galleries and was held alongside Kiaf Seoul, a homegrown international art fair at the same venue. The two fairs shared a single entrance ticket.

The number of visitors to Frieze Seoul was similar to last year, according to the organizer. The first and second editions of the fair drew around 70,000 visitors.

Some megasized galleries released reports after the VIP opening, including Pace Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, White Cube and Thaddaeus Ropac.

“It's somewhat slower on opening day in terms of sales compared to last year, but we're not in any way worried about how things will go by the end of the fair. So far our sales are mainly to Korean collectors,” Thaddaeus Ropac said after the VIP opening on Wednesday.

The European gallery sold German painter Georg Baselitz’s “Ein Pilgerort, Die Huette Gibt Es Noch (A Place of Pilgrimage, the Hut Still Exists)” at 1 million euros ($1.11 million), which marked the highest price for the first day.

Other works sold by the gallery included Lee Kang-so’s “The Wind Blows” at 250 million won ($188,000). The gallery had announced that it would represent the Korean artist just ahead of the fair.

While Korean collectors have been building rapport with various galleries since international galleries started to flock to Seoul from a couple of years ago as a new Asian art hub, some international galleries expressed that Korean collectors are still cautious of accepting diverse works unfamiliar to them.

Paula Cooper Gallery, which has participated in the art fair for three consecutive years, sold American artist Paul Pfeiffer’s wood-carved sculpture to a collector from overseas. The work, titled “Incarnator (Pampanga), Right Arm” is part of Pfeiffer’s new “Incarnator” series.

“It seems Paul Pfeiffer is not quite familiar to Korean collectors yet," said Jeong Eun-joo, an art adviser for the gallery at Frieze Seoul. "Pfeiffer’s new series shown at the fair is an important piece and getting a huge attention from audiences from museums in Asia."

Pfeiffer selected pop star Justin Bieber as the subject of his sculptures series. Bieber, a born-again Christian, is transformed into a contemporary embodiment of Jesus Christ, with each of his limbs carved in wood and painted with highly realistic detail. To the artist, Bieber “is emblematic of viral image circulation in the era of social media,” according to the gallery.

Growing art scene

Regardless of their sales, many galleries showed optimism for the Seoul art scene, as it continues to thrive, centering on museums and gallery events. As this year’s Frieze Seoul coincides with the Gwangju Biennale and Busan Biennale, the fair has been visited by many people from museums and foundations from across the world, with city and national museums hosting them at forums.

"The combined energy surrounding the fair and the city’s art week has been particularly strong this year, especially with Gwangju Biennale and Busan Biennale," said James Koch, executive director and partner at Hauser & Wirth, on Saturday.

"We've had many wonderful conversations with our network of respected museum curators and institutions, and we've also forged a constellation of new connections. The art ecosystem here is so vibrant," he said.

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, which has been criticized for remaining reserved in terms of its interaction in the art scene during Frieze Seoul, opened the exhibition, “Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists,” coinciding with the fair.

A gathering event for directors and officials from museums at home and abroad was held at the museum during Samcheong Gallery Night, a late-night event for galleries and museums.

“I do see that especially this year, it is really incorporating all the museums and institutional events and private events including galleries. So it is not simply about the commercial fair – I get a very strong sense of this,” said Shelly Wu, executive director of TKG+ from Taiwan.

The gallery presented a sculpture and installation of Taiwanese artist Joyce Ho, whose work is also on view at “Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists.”

“So we did not immediately break into the Korean art scene but actually – academically – we did really well because they (artists) caught many museums’ attention,” she added.

Arario Gallery director Kang So-jung said she saw quite a number of museum people at the art fair this year. The gallery is presenting works by Lee Jin-ju, whose style is based on traditional Korean painting.

“Maybe the reaction from museums or institutions would not come immediately in terms of sales, but for our artists it is good for them to be continuously introduced at the art fair like this, which is one of good effects of a global art fair like Frieze Seoul,” she said.

Many museums and galleries in the Greater Seoul area have prepared quality exhibitions to coincide with Frieze Seoul, including the Leeum Museum of Art, Hoam Museum of Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Amorepacific Museum of Art and Art Sonje Center.

Chinese collectors

As pandemic restrictions have been eased, the art fair has started to attract more collectors from Greater China visiting the fair for the first time, which is important, as attracting Chinese collectors is considered a key factor to a successful art fair.

“I am from Beijing and it was easy to get a visa to travel Seoul,” said a 40-year-old Chinese visitor to Frieze Seoul on Wednesday, declining to be named. Arranging an art tour of Seoul, she accompanied four Chinese collectors to the fair.

When she and one of the collectors made an inquiry into a piece by Francis Bacon at the booth of Galerie Lelong, based in New York and Paris, it had already sold.

“I feel like there’s some censorship in China around importing art and art fairs and stuff. This morning we took a flight and we saw many friends,” said Maimay Yu from Shanghai, on Tuesday who collects art and was visiting Frieze Seoul for the first time.

She and her friend were visiting Hannam-dong in Yongsan, Seoul, to go gallery hopping on Tuesday, with a plan to go to Thaddaeus Ropac’s Sean Scully exhibition, as he is quite famous in China, she said, then Pace Gallery and Perrotin.

“Seoul is more diverse and has more different galleries. So I wanted to come over and check it out,” she said.

Frieze CEO Simon Fox told reporters on Thursday that Frieze will continue the fair in Seoul, aiming to maintain a cooperative relationship with Kiaf Seoul and pledging to improve each edition of the fair.

“We have invested in being here, and we are here for the long term,” he said. “If you look at the history of Frieze fairs, we have never stopped doing a fair in a city where we have started -- in London, 20 years, and in New York for 10 years. So I hope we will be in Seoul for 20, 30 or 50 years.”