As the international art world descends on Seoul, Kiaf Plus, the first in a trio of fairs that also includes Frieze’s first edition in the city, has officially opened. The fair is a satellite to Kiaf, a bigger, long-established edition, and its VIP preview was held on Thursday afternoon at the SETEC convention.
Kiaf Plus focuses on emerging artists, in particular, those working in digital media, including NFTs. This tightly curated fair has numerous exhibitors from across Korea, a majority of whom are showing local talent, as well as foreign dealers who are exhibiting a mix of international and local artists. Notably, there’s an emphasis on pop culture and video game aesthetics. Split across three main halls, the works on view often exude joy.
Below, a look at the best of what’s on offer at Kiaf Plus.
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Hanseam Kim at This Weekend Room
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews Six knockout mixed-media installations by Hanseam Kim hang on a small side wall, where they are easy to miss. The Korea-based artist is fascinated by gaming, cartoons, and religious mythologies, and his wall-hung sculptures works showcase an interest in the spiritual, forming a world of Kim’s own making. To create these works, Kim has collected stones from different locations in South Korea that he then draws fixes on. Along with mosaic artist Jaehee Kim, who helped him make these works, he paired each crystal with one of his objects.
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'Double Double' at L21 Gallery
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews Near the entrance of Hall 1 is an eye-popping installation from Spain’s L21 Gallery that takes its influence from ’80s video games. The gallery commissioned London-based artist Richard Woods to create a series of brick-patterned walls to display the booth’s paintings, as well as custom benches. He’s already well-known in South Korea, as he did a commission for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. The booth also includes Surrealism-inspired paintings by Jordi Ribes, Fátima de Juan, and others.
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Yoo Youngkuk at Garam Gallery
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews One of the oldest works on view at this fair comes from the Korean modern artist Yoo Youngkuk (1916–2002), who founded the Neo Realism Group and Association of Modern Artists after South Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, alongside artists like Whanki Kim and Lee Kyusang. With a price tag of $1.2 million, this 1977 painting, simply titled Mountain, presents a beautiful view of various mountains and the sky that are depicted in a flattened manner.
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Ilhwa Kim at HOFA
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews Korean artist Ilhwa Kim, whom HOFA has represented for about a decade, is showing three stunning abstract artworks made from Hanji paper that Kim hand rolls and hand dyes. She never starts with a set plan on how each work will unfold, however, and she sees these works as universes unto themselves, with each piece of paper included acting as one part of the cosmos. The pieces succeed in transporting you to another realm.
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Serwah Attafuah at the Columns Gallery
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews Serwah Attafuah’s works are by far the most intriguing ones dealing with the metaverse at this fair. He has two works on view, both of which are 3D-rendered digital images. They’re titled (from left) Metaverse: Perpetuity (2021) and Tarot Card: 4 of Cups (2019), and they present the artist’s “take on afro-futuristic abstractions that illustrate strong ancestral and contemporary themes,” according to a wall label. Perpetuity comes from a series titled “Metaverse” that looks at the cycle of life and death according to various mythologies.
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Kenny Scharf at Etnah and Gallery Hyundai
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews One of the stars of Seoul’s Korea Art Week right now is American artist Kenny Scharf, who has a solo show on view at Gallery Hyundai, a leading gallery in the city. In the central hall, which has the majority of the NFT-focused booths, Scharf is exhibiting a preview of an NFT that will launch this fall; he has created it with Etnah, an NFT platform run by Gallery Hyundai dedicated to established artists who involve buyers in the minting process. On a wall-sized screen, Scharf’s signature cartoon-like faces swirl by.
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Seung Hyun Kim at Let’s Keep It Fresh Gallery
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews Seung Hyun Kim delivers with three works from his “Born Series” that explore “his interest on the relations between the concept of text and visual experience,” according to the gallery’s website. At left is one devoted to the work of Gerhard Richter, and at right is another that lists the names of artists who participated in the 2005 exhibition “The Triumph of Painting” at London’s Saatchi Gallery, among them Peter Doig, Marlene Dumas, Martin Kippenberg, and Luc Tuymans. At center is one that looks at Donald Judd’s works and mimics the pattern and coloring of them. Transposed over these Judd-like images is a repeated sentence written by Kim: “I was born to decorate your living room with your Donald Judd.”
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Soonyong Hong at Seojung Art
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews Echoing the work of Yoo Youngkuk is a series of abstract paintings by Soonyong Hong. Particularly strong are three on wood panel that show the mountain and sky in balance and harmony. These works are truly transcendent.
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Kim Myoungin at Galerie Gaia
Image Credit: Maximilíano Durón/ARTnews A suite of paintings by Kim Myoungin seems to reference consumerism in a tongue-in-cheek way. Though the central character here clearly resembles Elmo (of Sesame Street fame), Kim has recast him as a character named Jellyman, who goes on adventures with his friends and family (Candy Girl and Sausage Man, to name two such figures) in a jubilant world. For whatever reason, their universe is dominated by floating whales and brands like Starbucks.