In Korea, September brings more than just fall foliage as a deluge of art exhibitions and sales sweeps across the country to coincide with the return of two mega-fairs: Frieze and Kiaf Seoul.
Seoul Auction, Korea’s oldest auction house, is among the big-shot local players jostling for the attention of incoming collectors during the frenzied Seoul Art Week. Its eight-story Gangnam Center is already abuzz with an array of genre-spanning exhibitions, ranging from a contemporary art showcase to a display of centuries-old European antique jewelry.
Unfolding as part of the company’s “Connect Seoul” initiative, which began last year, are a handful of simultaneous presentations — “Yoshitomo Nara,” an exhibition of 30 paintings and sculptures by the Japanese art star; “Mindfulness,” a rendezvous between painter Lee Ufan and ceramist Park Young-sook; and “Contemporary Art Sale,” a preview of its Sept. 10 marquee auction.
The auction house is also collaborating with Hong Kong’s K11 Art Foundation and Paris-based antique dealer Les Enluminures to host the “Lunar Water” media art show and the “European 카지노 Heritage” jewelry exhibition, respectively.
Taking the helm of this ambitiously scaled program is Hong Chang-hee, sales director of Seoul Auction’s partner team. He explained that one of the primary goals of “Connect Seoul” is to demonstrate the discerning taste and caliber of Korean collectors to the international arts community during the country’s busiest cultural week.
“We’re not a museum or gallery, so we don’t directly receive works from artists or exhibit our own collection,” he told The Korea Times in an interview Friday. “Instead, when organizing blockbuster shows like these, we reach out to collectors with whom we have long-standing relationships to feature pieces from their trove.”
Among the gems amassed by Korean connoisseurs on view are the 1.2-meter-long painting titled “Green Eyes” by Nara, which has seldom been seen by the public since its acquisition, as well as ceramic master Park’s large, luminous moon jars and new white porcelain assemblages adorned with Lee’s meditative brushstrokes.
