TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Frieze Seoul is set to open its doors on Wednesday at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center in South Korea, a four-day event bringing together over 120 international galleries.
A major highlight of this year's art fair is the strong presence from Taiwan, with five galleries participating alongside Hong Kong's gdm, which has a location in Taipei. This collective showing marks a significant moment, injecting unique Asian perspectives and cultural depth into this world-class art event.
Tina Keng Gallery and TKG+ are co-presenting an exhibition titled “Coordinates of the Unseen,” featuring works by seven artists. The exhibition aims to re-map the subtle structures and emotional landscapes that are often invisible but profoundly influence our reality.
Among the featured artists is Indian artist Amol Patil, whose works expose the realities of India's working-class society. Using pen strokes to depict the rough skin of those engaged in manual labor, his allegorical figures address issues of caste, class, and labor.
Taiwanese artist Su Meng-hung (蘇孟鴻) reinterprets traditional Chinese bird-and-flower paintings, transforming them into contemporary cultural symbols and highlighting the literati tastes they traditionally represent.
Also on display are works by Sopheap Pich, an artist who, as a child, fled the Khmer Rouge regime. His work, which uses materials like bamboo, rattan, and metal, translates his memories of a ravaged land into an abstract, poetic language that explores themes of nature, history, and identity.
Liang Gallery will present a solo exhibition of Taiwanese female artist Lee Chung-chung (李重重). As one of the first-generation abstract ink painters alongside Liu Kuo-sung (劉國松), she is currently the only female artist from that movement who continues to make it the core of her practice.
Lee's works blend Eastern philosophy with modern techniques, using delicate colors and ink washes to inject a unique feminine perspective into a male-dominated movement, setting a new milestone for modern Eastern art.
Mind Set Art Center's booth offers a powerful exploration of female consciousness, memory, and physical experience, featuring works by six women artists, such as Hsieh Hung-chun (謝鴻均), Marina Cruz, and Lo Yi-chun (羅懿君).
Hsieh abstracts female domestic labor and household chores into visual patterns and textures, making everyday details a recurring theme in her art.
Taiwanese artist Lo is known for her installations made from dried banana peels. Her featured work, "Colonel Reading Letters,” is a warm adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, constructed entirely with banana peels.
PTT Space will feature a new series of works by Taiwanese American artist Tien Wang (王恬), who uses a unique and humorous perspective to analyze contemporary issues, reinterpreting the dynamism and chaos of the global economic system and exploring the modern landscape of Asian family values.
Hong Kong's gdm will present works by Thai-Chinese artist and poet Tang Chang. This marks the first time since a 2016 group exhibition that his work will be shown in East Asia.
As a pioneer of abstract painting in Thailand, Chang integrated philosophies from Taoism and Zen Buddhism into his art, intuitively moving between painting, drawing, and literature to reject Western modernist traditions.
In addition to the impressive showing from Taiwanese galleries, several internationally renowned galleries are bringing works by major artists.
Hauser and Wirth will feature works by Louise Bourgeois, Mark Bradford, and George Condo. Thaddaeus Ropac will present works by 20 contemporary artists, including Antony Gormley and Erwin Wurm. Lehmann Maupin will also exhibit pieces by artists like Do Ho Suh and others who are holding solo exhibitions in Korea.
