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Art Fair_Art Focus Next Wave: KiaFrieze Seoul 2025 Young & Emerging K-Artists - Young Korean Artists’ Challenges and Possibilities In September 2025, Kiaf and Frieze Seoul returned to COEX and the Jamsil area, reaffirming Korea’s position as a central hub of Asian art despite the uncertainty of the global art market. The most striking feature of this year’s fair was the prominence of young Korean artists. In their 30s and 40s,
2025.09.09

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Art Fair_Art Voice Kiaf SEOUL 2025: Resonance, Waves of the Future Shaking Seoul

In September 2025, Seoul once again draws the attention of the global art world. Marking its 24th edition at COEX, Kiaf SEOUL 2025 adopts ‘Resonance’ as its theme. The fair emphasizes not just market expansion but the creation of deeper structures through the shared reverberations of artists, galleries, and institutions.

2025.08.26
Art Market_Art Voice A Legislative Push for Korea’s Art Market, But Where Are the Voices from the Field?

On August 8, Seoul’s National Assembly Members’ Office Building played host to a marathon policy seminar, ambitiously titled “Legal Support Measures for Art Market Revitalization.”

2025.08.12
Art+_Art Voice The Return of the Old Boys — What Their Comeback Should Mean

In 2025, two of Korea’s most prominent art figures have returned to lead major cultural institutions. Yoo Hong-jun, former Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration, has been appointed Director of the National Museum of Korea, while Yoon Bum-mo, former Director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), has taken the helm as the new CEO of the Gwangju Biennale. Both are respected art historians, critics, and curators with long careers in the field. Their return has inspired expectations of “stability” and “experience.”

2025.07.29
Art+_Art Voice Why Are Black Artists the 'Trend' of the Moment? Two PCs and the Rise of Black Artists: What It Means for the Future of Korean Contemporary Art

Since the early 2020s, the global art world has undergone a rapid reconfiguration. At the heart of this transformation is an unprecedented focus on Black artists. From major museum exhibitions to art fair demand and collector interest, the entire ecosystem reflects this shift. Yet this isn't merely a passing trend. Rather, it is the visible outcome of two converging cultural forces: Postcolonialism and Political Correctness (PC).

2025.07.22
Museum_Art Voice Ron Mueck Exhibition and the Blockbuster Phenomenon of Museums : The Role and Value of Public Art Museums

The solo exhibition of Australian hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck, currently being held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Seoul, is drawing more than 5,000 visitors per day and is expected to surpass 500,000 visitors within two months.

2025.07.08
Museum_Art Voice On the Opening of the Seoul Museum of Photography

On May 29, 2025, the Seoul Museum of Photography (Photography Seoul Museum of Art) opens its doors in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul. As the first public art museum in Korea dedicated entirely to the photographic medium, this institution is not merely another museum opening—it is a historic milestone.

2025.05.27

Art Insights

Providing insightful perspectives and in-depth analysis of Korean contemporary art.
Art+_Art Insight The Age of Reification: The Crisis of Capitalism and Fine Art (Final Chapter) - Art is Art, Money is Money, Market is Market

In capitalist society, art can no longer remain solely in an independent and autonomous realm. Today, artworks are reduced to prices within the market’s evaluative systems; their lifespan is extended or erased depending on their investment potential.

2025.08.12
Art+_Art Insight The Age of Reification: The Crisis of Capitalism and Fine Art (9) - Analyzing the Structure of Collectors’ Desire - Is Collecting a Store of Value or a Social Signifier?

“Who bought that piece?” This question often wields more power than the artwork’s intrinsic aesthetics or philosophy. In today’s art world, the collector is not merely a purchaser but a powerful actor who structures value and inscribes narrative.

2025.07.29
Art+_Art Insight The Age of Reification: The Crisis of Capitalism and Fine Art (8) - How Semiotic Capitalism Has Neutralized Fine Art

In the 21st century, late capitalism has evolved beyond an economy of production and consumption into a system where symbols and signs dominate value. Jean Baudrillard called this the “political economy of the sign,” where the symbolic meaning of things supersedes their material substance. In such a system, commodities are no longer just physical objects—they are bundles of signs, socially coded and ideologically charged.

2025.07.15
Art+_Art Insight The Age of Reification: The Crisis of Capitalism and Fine Art (7) - How Must Fine Art Exist in the Age of AI?

Fine art has always touched the deepest strata of the human spirit. It is not simply the skill of creating aesthetic objects, but the act of a living human being attempting to understand themselves. While humans have evolved by using tools, it is in writing poetry and painting images that they crossed from utility into the realm of the mind. Art was born at this very threshold, and it has defined civilization ever since.

2025.07.01
Art+_Art Insight The Age of Reification: The Crisis of Fine Art and Capitalism (6) - Who Is Public Arts Funding Really For?

Public support was once the final bastion of art. It served as the only mechanism through which art could defend itself from the logic of the market—a space where the essence of artistic creation could be protected from the accelerating demands of capital.

2025.06.17
Art Market_Art Insight The Age of Reification: Capitalism and the Crisis of Fine Art (5) - Are Auctions and Art Fairs Destroyers or Creators of Pure Art?

In today’s global art market, auctions and art fairs are no longer simply distribution channels or temporary festivities. Auctions reduce art to quantifiable numbers, while art fairs promote the rapid reproduction and immediate consumption of market-friendly works. Empowered by capital, these two forces now dictate not only the market’s direction but also the survival conditions of artists themselves.

2025.06.03