All Aboard the Seoul Train

Frieze Art Fair held its inaugural edition in Seoul last month, following the opening of a number of international galleries in the city in recent years.Tatler explores how art could be the next K-culture phenomenon

By Aaina Bhargava

“Every orthodontist, podiatrist, whoever: everyone seems to be collecting [art],” says Korean American gallerist Esther Kim Varet of the mushrooming South Korean art scene. “It’s incredibly robust.” Varet opened a branch of her Los Angelesoriginated gallery, Various Small Fires (VSF), in Seoul in 2018, and was taken aback by the response it received. “I was anticipating a slow growth when I opened the space four years ago, but collecting has gone so mainstream in Korea.” For Varet, establishing a presence in Seoul felt like a natural move: she spoke the language and was familiar with the city and its culture. Moreover, her programme lent itself well to cross-cultural collaboration, as it primarily features American and Korean contemporary artists—a solo exhibition featuring the work of US artist Diedrick Brackens is currently…

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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2022

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