Kukje Gallery is participating in Frieze London 2019, taking place from October 3 to 6, 2019. One of the world’s most anticipated art fairs, Frieze London has expanded to include Frieze New York, held annually in May, while Frieze Los Angeles opened its inaugural edition earlier this year in February.
The upcoming edition of Frieze London will be held in a sprawling tent temporarily installed in The Regent’s Park and will include 160 major galleries from 35 countries all over the world, showcasing critically acclaimed contemporary artworks. In addition to the gallery booths, Frieze London will feature a special exhibition titled Woven curated by Cosmin Costinas, Executive Director and Curator of Para Site in Hong Kong, as well as a section featuring performances and time-based works titled LIVE 2019, and Frieze Talks, a dynamic series of panel discussions, conversations, and keynote lectures. Frieze Sculpture—which opened in the English Gardens of The Regent's Park in July—will remain open to the public through October 6, while Frieze Masters—devoted to exhibiting masterpieces dating from the ancient era through the 20th century—runs concurrently, establishing what has come to be known as “Frieze Week,” the most important cultural event in London.
With Frieze London being one of the most widely visited art fairs of the year, Kukje Gallery will showcase important works by internationally renowned Korean artists. This includes paintings by Dansaekhwa masters such as Park Seo-Bo’s iconic Ecriture (描法) No. 161029 (2016) from his signature Ecriture series, along with Ha Chong-Hyun’s recent work Conjunction 18-34 (2018) from his Conjunction series.
The booth will also include Haegue Yang’s Sol LeWitt Upside Down – Open Geometric Structure 2-2, 1-1, Expanded 22 Times, Mirrored (2017), which incorporates venetian blinds and directly refers to the iconic geometric structures of the minimalist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007). Hung “upside down,” Yang’s sculptural interpretation expands or reduces LeWitt's original structure, while maintaining its minimalist legacy. Having recently opened at Kukje Gallery in Seoul, Yang’s acclaimed solo exhibition When The Year 2000 Comes (on view through November 17) includes Sol LeWitt Vehicles, a variation on the existing blind series that includes kinetic elements.
The Kukje Gallery booth will also highlight the work of Kyungah Ham who is celebrated for her meticulously hand-embroidered textile paintings including 85. Imaginary Forms and Vitamin C, Detail From SMS Series 04 (2017-2018). Created in collaboration with North Korean artisans, the charged work explores the relationship and competing ideologies of South and North Korea. In addition, Ham will participate in a group exhibition titled Negotiating Borders at the Korean Cultural Centre UK in London from October 1 to November 23. The upcoming show is a touring version of Sunjung Kim’s curated exhibition DMZ, which was on view earlier this spring at Culture Station Seoul 284. As part of the exhibition Kyungah Ham will participate in an artist talk at 6pm on October 3.
Works by Suki Seokyeong Kang, including Narrow Meadow #19-05 (2017-2019), will also be featured. Kang is currently on view in May You Live in Interesting Times, the 58th Venice Biennale (on view through November 24) and has emerged as an acclaimed new artist of her generation. The artist’s Land, Sand, Strand has been installed in the Arsenale, while her longest ongoing series, Grandmother Tower, is in the Giardini’s Central Pavilion. The winner of the Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel in 2018, Kang’s installation was acquired by Mudam Luxembourg and will be on view at the institution for an eponymous solo exhibition titled Suki Seokyeong Kang through the spring of next year.
Other works in the booth include Julian Opie’s Teresa Jeremy Amelia Sam. (2019), a new light box that captures the most fundamental human movement of walking, and FREE BEER (2007) by the Danish artist trio SUPERFLEX. Promoting the spirit of not “free (of charge)” but “freedom (of speech),” FREE BEER was first conceived in an attempt to apply the modern concept of open source and free software to a traditional material product. The recipe and branding elements of FREE BEER are published under a Creative Commons (Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5) license. In this arrangement, anyone is invited to brew their own FREE BEER using the shared recipe and yield profit from it. SUPERFLEX recently installed One Two Three Swing!. a public work situated near the DMZ at Dora Observatory in Paju in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Denmark and South Korea. A modular three-seated swing set, One Two Three Swing! is designed to promote collective effort and collaboration. SUPERFLEX is also the subject of a solo exhibition titled In our dreams we have a plan at Kukje Gallery’s Busan branch through October 27.
As part of the Frieze Talks program, Kukje Gallery is pleased to announce that the Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset will participate in a talk titled Conversations on Collecting Sculpture: Allan Warburg, Clara Lilley and Elmgreen & Dragset. The talk will begin in the Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Lounge at 11am on October 4.
