Kukje Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2022, from October 12 to 16, 2022. Following the successful launch of the inaugural Frieze Seoul in collaboration with Kiaf SEOUL in September, the global art fair returns to its hometown, London, to greet art enthusiasts after a month-long hiatus. The upcoming edition of Frieze London and Frieze Masters will welcome galleries from 42 countries, presenting approximately 160 and 120 booths respectively across The Regent’s Park.
While Frieze London helps visitors to navigate the latest trends in contemporary art by featuring leading contemporary galleries that introduce exceptional works mainly created after the year 2000, Frieze Masters provides an invaluable opportunity to showcase ancient to modern masterpieces that possess art-historical significance. Participating in the ‘Main’ section at Frieze London and the ‘Spotlight’ section at Frieze Masters, Kukje Gallery will utilize ‘Spotlight’—focusing on pioneering women artists of the 20th-century this year—to celebrate the works of Wook-kyung Choi, whose abstract-expressionist practice resonated with local and international audiences.
For Frieze London, Kukje Gallery will bring together a comprehensive selection of Korean and international modern and contemporary artists. This includes Work (1979) by the pioneering Korean abstract painter Yoo Youngkuk, whose recent 20th memorial exhibition at Kukje Gallery welcomed over 42,000 visitors, as well as the leading Dansaekhwa artist Kwon Young-Woo’s Untitled (1986), which features a punctured surface with holes saturated and filled with ink, creating distinctive patterns. Kwon is known for his lifelong commitment to reinterpreting hanji, a form of traditional Korean paper, with a modern twist. Following the acquisition of two of his works by the Centre Pompidou in Paris last year, the artist is currently the subject of a solo exhibition (running through October 29, 2022) at Annely Juda Fine Art in London. Marking Kwon’s first-ever solo presentation in London, the show mainly highlights his works from the 1980s, which form the foundation of his oeuvre.
The booth will also present Kyungah Ham’s Needling Whisper, Needle Country / SMS Series in Camouflage / Are you lonely too? C 01-01-03 (2016), a meticulously hand-embroidered painting from the artist’s SMS Series, created in collaboration with North Korean artisans in a clandestine production process that alludes to the history of Korea’s division. One of Ham’s iconic embroidered canvases, depicting the image of a chandelier, is currently on view at the group exhibition Hallyu! The Korean Wave (running through June 25, 2023) at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which has one of the artist’s works from her SMS Series in its permanent collection. Meanwhile, Fluoroscopic Moth Shoulder-Lifting Soul Sheet – Mesmerizing Mesh #129 (2022), a new work from the Seoul and Berlin-based artist Haegue Yang’s Mesmerizing Mesh series, will also be displayed at the booth. Inspired by the Sacred Paper Cutting ritual, a tradition of making shamanistic paper objects, Mesmerizing Mesh integrates the methodology of forming layers and dimensions out of patterns and ornamentation using the elaborate translucency of hanji. Yang, who recently revealed her Quasi-Legit and Mesmerizing Mesh presentations in Kukje Gallery Busan and Seoul, respectively, is also actively participating in international exhibitions such as the Okayama Art Summit 2022: Do we dream under the same sky.
Kukje Gallery Participates in Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2022
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Kukje Gallery will also be showcasing a series of new works by international artists. This includes Untitled (RDOSFCES) (2022) by the Australian contemporary artist Daniel Boyd, who employs his signature technique of covering the painting with clear dots of glue, each of which serves as a “lens” that shifts the established perceptions of Australian colonial history. A representation of how Boyd’s confrontation of Western historical narratives transcends different generations and countries, the work references Auguste Rodin’s study of the Parthenon south frieze cavalcade, a part of Musée Rodin’s permanent collection. Also on view will be Interface Painting (2022) by SUPERFLEX, an artist collective known for deploying art as a tool for solving global challenges such as sustainability and environment. Consisting of bubblegum pink porous blocks of aluminum foam that are reminiscent of coral, the work invites viewers to contemplate the consequences of climate change, along with the present and future of our environment.
For the ‘Spotlight’ section at Frieze Masters, Kukje Gallery will present Wook-kyung Choi’s Untitled (undated), an exemplary work that conveys the artist’s unique abstract-expressionist composition powered by vivid hues and bold brushwork. Kukje Gallery looks forward to this opportunity to introduce audiences to Choi’s works in color—including her abstract paintings and collages— as well as her ink drawings, to further showcase the artist’s dedication to experimentation and her groundbreaking path as an artist.
Kukje Gallery is currently hosting a solo exhibition of Lee Seung Jio, a leader of Korean geometric abstraction, across its K1, K2, and K3 spaces through October 30, 2022, featuring a presentation of 30 works that represent his visual language. Meanwhile, Kibong Rhee’s solo exhibition Where You Stand will take place at the gallery’s K1, K2, and Busan space from November 17, 2022.
