Seoul Art Week scene report: “My dreams of seeing the North Korean border are done”

Anybody who attends one of the countless art weeks around the globe knows exactly what it entails. It’s like running a marathon, if looking at art, socialising, attending fair previews, exhibition walk-throughs, cocktails, fancy dinners, and raucous after-partying and drinking (for those of us who imbibe) – were endurance sports. South Korea is no different, and this year the two anchor fairs at COEX — the three-year-old Frieze Seoul and its long-running regional partner Kiaf SEOUL — opened in conjunction with two biennials, the Busan Biennale and the Gwangju Biennale, making for an even busier week.

This year’s Seoul Art Week started on 1st September, but I didn’t land on the ground until the 3rd, so, regretably, I missed the Monday-night celeb-filled party at Paradise City that brought together two of the world’s pop superstars; Pharell, whose auction platform Joopiter, hosted a sale featuring the art and fashion of G-Dragon, the so-called King of K-pop. If you’re in the market for a Chanel leather belt or Nike x Off-White Air Jordan 1 Retros customised by G-Dragon, you have until tomorrow (10th September) to bid.

Tuesday, 3rd September

I land at the peak rush hour and don’t get into my car until 5:30 pm. It takes two hours to get to my hotel. This evening, I have a dinner and a party to attend–  too many events, too little time! Do I cancel one? Do I go to both? Seoul’s traffic rivals that of Los Angeles, another Frieze city, so you need to be strategic in your plans and not be overambitious with the event hopping, otherwise, you’ll spend most of your trip inside a car.

I got to my hotel at 7:30 pm, took a quick shower and changed, and called a car to take me to the Yeong Bin Gwan, a hanok-inspired event space at The Shilla Seoul, a grand five-star hotel where artistic director Diana Campbell and the Uzbekistan Art & Culture Development Foundation announced the Bukhara Biennial, Recipes for Broken Hearts, featuring artists like British sculptor Antony Gormley, Egyptian artist Wael Shawky and Egyptian food artist Laila Gohar. Dinner was underway when I arrived, so I quickly slipped in at the round table adorned with a beautiful floral arrangement by Goodveen Flower House’s Ruben Saakyan, an Uzbek floral designer who was seated at my right, and dealer Jun Tirtadji, director at Jakarta’s Roh Projects, on my left. Campbell pulled quite a crowd, who along with Tirtadji and Saakyan included artist Maria Taniguchi, Frieze Masters director Nathan Clements-Gillespie, and founding director of the Delfina Foundation Aaron Cesar. Uzbek food for my first meal in Seoul — what a cross-cultural experience!

I left before dessert to make it to the last hour of Kiaf x Marie Claire Art Night at the National Theatre of Korea, where I caught the tail end of a performance by Sangjaru, a Korean folk fusion band known for their enormous hats before catching heading back to my hotel to catch a night of rest before the fairs open.

Wednesday, 4th September

Jet lag is for the weak. I wake up bright and early and head over to the Frieze Seoul VIP pre-fair breakfast at the Intercontinental Seoul COEX, where I bump into Kate Oh, vice president of the Brand Communication Division at LG Home Entertainment Company. LG OLED is the fair’s headline partner. For this year’s fair presentation, two brothers, artist Do Ho Suh and architect Eul Ho Suh, collaborated on an installation that combined their sensibilities and paid tribute to their father, the late Se Ok Suh, by transforming his ink paintings into works for LG OLED screens, using them as a digital canvas.

At 11 am we head into the COEX Exhibition and Convention Center, located at K-POP Square. I decide to divide and conquer and go upstairs and downstairs between the Kiaf SEOUL on the first floor and Frieze Seoul on the third. I bump into Gagosian director and curator Antwaun Sargent. He was with the artist Derrick Adams, who opened an exhibition the night before at the Amorepacific Museum of Art. I bounce back and forth between the two fairs before catching a shuttle to Samcheong-dong, to Gaga Bar for the Frieze and Kiaf press reception where I eat delicious Korean fried chicken, but remain alcohol-free to avoid the terrible hangover I experienced on the fairs’ opening day last year.

After that, I head to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art for its party and to check out the exhibition ‘Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists,’ then gallery hop around the neighbourhood, where Peres Projects, Kukje, and Gallery Hyundai are located. “The move is to go to the galleries first, or else we’ll get stuck at the museum,” announced one of the journalists. It turned out to be the wrong move because the exhibition, which I was excited to see, closed before the party ended, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to return. We start at Gallery Hyundai for Korean-American John Pai’s wire sculptures At Kukje, generous portions of pasta and fried chicken were handed out to visitors after seeing Kyungah Ham’s ‘Embroidery Project’, for which she sends sketches to women in North Korea who realize the intricate colourful pieces with their embroidery. I was scheduled to visit the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea the next morning. “Wow, food at a public opening,” said an impressed PR. After stops at Peres Projects to see Anton Munar’s exhibition and Riga-based Lazy Mike’s new Seoul space, we have to catch the shuttle back to the hotel. Navigating Seoul is incredibly complicated, especially for foreigners, because Google Maps and Uber don’t function in Korea. Kakao is king, and you need it to communicate, map your way around, and book cars. Do I take the easy way back to the hotel, or do I stay out on the scene? I wonder.

I make an executive decision to head to Porsche’s The Art of Dreams, which is presenting ‘Capsule Dreamscapes #1’, an immersive group exhibition and installation featuring artists Carsten Höller, who brought his Brutalisten kitchen concept to Seoul, and Kwangho Lee, who crocheted a white installation of chairs and tables surrounding a sculpture that hung from the ceiling. I arrive fashionably late at 10:50 pm for the party that ends at 11 pm. “You just missed Carsten Höller,” one of the PRs tells me. I did manage to catch K-Pop sensation Joshua Hong, the lead vocalist of the group Seventeen.

I make one more stop at BDBD in Itaewon to catch Fairclub, the roving art week party thrown by Tolga Albayrak. “What are you here for?” asks the doorman before I see Tolga in the stairwell. “Ann! Come in,” he yells and brings me in. Inside is the who’s who of dealers, artists, collectors and other assorted art industry scenesters. I run into Anthony Bigot-Addessi and Riccardo Chesti from Massimo de Carlo Paris and Hong Kong, and ask them how opening day went. They tell me American artist Shannon Cartier Lucy’s quirky paintings, which had their own section at the gallery’s Frieze stand, were selling. I snap a picture of Tolga and his two friends: Tobias Rehberger, who has a Seoul exhibition at Platform-L, and Rirkrit Tiravanija, who art directed the 2024 Art Spectrum group exhibition of emerging artists at the Leeum Museum of Art. “The press is here! We look like gangsters,” said Tolga after I showed him the photo. “Let’s stick with that one.” I leave at a reasonable 12:30 am to get enough sleep before the 7:30 am meeting time to go to the DMZ. In the car, I receive the disappointing message that I can’t go because I’m not registered. Strange, I think, considering I RSVPd last week. The PRs don’t pick up when I try to check I definitely can’t go. To wake up early, or to continue partying? I made the responsible choice and returned to the hotel.

Thursday, 5th September

I wake up at 7 am and the PRs tell me there was indeed a mix-up and despite RSVPing to visit the DMZ last week, the registration link was not sent to me promptly, so I can’t go. My dreams of seeing the North Korean border are done. No problem — plenty more to see.

I run into Emma McKee, a director at Mariane Ibrahim, at the breakfast buffet of the Shilla Stay Samsung COEX. I join her and the gallery team at their table. Emma kindly gives me a vial of red ginseng, a magic elixir that reduces stress and increases energy — just what we need! They tell me Mariane left Seoul last night after the preview and is currently on a flight to New York to open their booth at The Armory Show. Now that’s impressive.

My first stop is at the Herzog & de Meuron-designed SONGEUN Art and Cultural Foundation in Gangnam to see a presentation from the Pinault Collection. The tour guide tells me that Rosé, formerly of hit girl group Blackpink, was at the opening and that she was interested in the art. I’m blown away by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster’s haunting holographic rendition of opera legend Maria Callas’ final performance.

Next, we go to the Amorepacific Museum of Art for a tour of Elmgreen & Dragset’s massive exhibition given by Michael Elmgreen himself. “Unfortunately the museum used a little bit of a budget for this exhibition that you will see downstairs, so they had to introduce a donation box,” said Michael, cheekily referring to the box they created filled with a starfish, a pacifier and a sneaker, along with various bills and coins. Korean actress Jeon Hye-Bin and artist Alvaro Barrington are also here to check out the museum, including Derrick Adams’ show.

We meet with photographer Myoung Ho Lee, who shows us his photographs of the century-old tree he’s been documenting at the site of the former Seonwonjeon Shrine.

I ingested a packet of Easy Tomorrow, one of Korea’s many hangover prevention products, before returning to Yeong Bin Gwan at the Shilla Seoul to see Frieze Music, in partnership with BMW, including DJ Why Be and singer Saay. I ask Marc Spiegler, the former global director of Art Basel, who has a nose for the best parties, where the spot for tonight is. “Right here.”

On the verge of hangriness, we go out into the city to sample the succulent pork at Geumdwaeji Sikdang, a Korean BBQ restaurant in Sindang-dong. We arrive at a random laundromat with no restaurant in sight. Whoops, wrong place! We order a car via K-Ride, the Kakao rideshare app specifically for foreigners, and get back on track. Unfortunately, the wait is too long for us to get a table before it closes, so we find an alternative restaurant across the street with the English name Aged Pork and Beef Intestines on the outside. “Are you a Swiftie?” asks writer Thessaly LaForce. “Yes, are you top or bottom?” I responded, thinking she’s said “switchy.” The whole table erupts in laughter when they realise my mistake. The next question at dinner: “K-spa or gay spa?” receives even more laughs. We down countless shots of soju and beer while eating Korean grilled beef and pork belly. Hangriness cured.

All the parties of the night — a Casa Loewe event, a Louis Vuitton cocktail, and a Perrotin — are over. In 2023 Thursday was my biggest night during Seoul Art Week, but I heard most of the big parties happened early in the week to allow for the people headed to Busan and/or Gwangju, so we decide to go to Itaewon to do some gay bar hopping. We have a drink at Kockiri, one of Seoul’s famed gay bars and the venue for a Frieze party I attended a year ago, before going around the corner to Trance, the oldest gay club in Seoul. “It’s not easy to be gay here,” a Korean man there tells me before we have a little dance.

We leave the venue and see a sign that says MASSAGE. We go upstairs and find a massage parlour open at 2 am. We agreed to get a 40-minute massage before they led us to a couples room. “We’re not a couple,” I declare, and they bring me to my own room where I feel all my knots and stress Thai massaged away. I emerge 30 minutes later feeling refreshed and energised and meet Antwaun and his college friend from Seoul Jason Lee, a budding actor, who are with DJ and Kockiri owner Bada Kwon, also known as Maktoop, the namesake of the 2016 Peggy Gou track. “You know you just got a massage from a gay massage place,” Kwon tells me. “I like you already.” We laugh and wander around and end up at Teller, a new nightclub that was hosting a fashion week party (it’s also Seoul Fashion Week) for a racing-inspired collaboration between Berlin label Ottolinger and Seoul brand ADSB ANDERSSON BELL. The music is good. The vibe is good. We dance for a little while and meet a Korean voguer, who did a demonstration for us.

The last stop is 7-Eleven, where we grab a mix of light-night snacks and gum before calling it a night.

Friday, 6th September

I return to Frieze for a closer look at the Asia Focus section, where I see Evelyn T. Wang’s Agnes-Martin-influenced paintings at Tokyo gallery Kayokoyuki, Cho Hyori’s driving-inspired works at Seoul gallery A-Lounge, and Focus Asia Stand Prize winner Lu Yang at Tokyo’s Parcel Gallery.

Critic Andrew Russeth told me to go to the Leeum Museum of Art to see Anicka Yi’s solo exhibition and the Art Spectrum show, ‘Dream Screen’, so I listen. After, I order a car back to the JW Marriott Seoul, where I’m staying for my last night to quickly change before I go to Piknic for my final event of the week, a Stone Island dinner for Frieze Focus hosted by Stone Island CEO Robert Triefus, Frieze Seoul director Pat Lee, and actor, writer, and Talk Art co-host Russell Tovey. “It’s like art Christmas every time you go to a Frieze art fair somewhere,” declared Tovey to the dinner guests, who included fellow Stone Island ambassador DJ Peggy Gou. By the end, I’m a little buzzed and ready to end my night at a K-spa before Thessaly suggests I  should enjoy a hot bath in my hotel room instead.

Saturday, 7th September

I arrive at the airport at 8:30 am to catch my flight to Amsterdam, where I spot a giant scrum of some 100 photographers waiting across the street, not for me, but for K-pop group Stray Kids’s Lee Know, a dancer, singer, and rapper, and his bandmate Felix Lee, a blonde-haired singer, who arrived minutes later to pose for the cameras before flying to New York for fashion week. What an end to Seoul Art Week.