On September 1, ARTnews, the American art magazine, spotlighted five emerging Seoul galleries to watch. Unlike the city’s more traditional galleries, these new spaces stand out for their distinctive sense of place and independent programs. The ARTnews highlighted PS CENTER, WWNN, Shower, Sangheeut, and Xlarge.
 
The first on the list is PS CENTER, formerly the nonprofit Eulji Art Center, which opened in 2024 in the alleyways of Euljiro’s metalworking district. Located on the top floor of a former metal factory, the gallery retains traces of its past through its arched ceiling.
 
Grounded in this unique sense of place, PS CENTER has become known for curatorial projects that reflect contemporary currents in Korean art. Its programs emphasize active, multidimensional dialogue with artists and present differentiated curatorial approaches. By staging exhibitions that pair talented emerging voices with established figures of Korean contemporary art, PS CENTER provides a platform for young artists to build their own distinctive practices.
 
Currently on view is 《March to March》, a solo exhibition of new works by Indian artist Naresh Kumar. The show runs through September 13.

Founded in 2021, sangheeut is located in Haebangchon, a neighborhood that once housed migrants displaced after the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War. Today, it is known as a culturally diverse and “hip” area, where cafes, bars, artist studios, and other creative spaces coexist, attracting a steady stream of young visitors.
 
sangheeut has embraced this distinctive local atmosphere to function as an incubating gallery. By presenting experimental exhibitions across painting, sculpture, performance, and screenings, it continually questions how art is experienced and perceived.
 
Currently, the gallery is hosting 《Doorstep》, a solo exhibition by Jisoo Lee, which draws on her experience living as a woman living alone in Korea to explore the fragile boundaries of private space. The show runs through September 27.

Located in Palpan-dong, Jongno-gu, WWNN is a young gallery founded in 2023 by artist Jungwoo Lee and curator Juhyun Oh. With a flexible, non-fixed perspective, the gallery questions how we should view the world and what discourses should be formed, offering a lens through which to explore contemporary life.
 
WWNN presents experimental programs that cross generational perspectives to better understand the present and probe the role of art in modern society. During Frieze Seoul, the gallery collaborated with Japanese gallery CON to host a group exhibition, 《Fantasy in the Unexpected》, featuring four artists from Japan and Sweden. The show runs through September 27.

Founded in 2023, Shower is a gallery and project space located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Moving beyond the framework of a traditional commercial gallery, it positions itself as a community, a platform, and a venue for ambitious and radical forms of art.
 
Shower also co-runs the exhibition design studio ‘Shampoo,’ providing artists with production support and technical resources to bring more ideas to life. The gallery is committed to building a structure that enables a circular economy within the often-consumptive environment of the art world.
 
Currently, Shower is presenting a solo exhibition by Shanghai-based artist Ruofan Chen, titled 《Dust》, on view through September 14. The show transforms sawdust sourced from factories into large-scale installations, exploring the hidden realities of laborers behind the massive industrial structures.

Meanwhile, Xlarge, a newly established in 2025 and founded by Jae Seok Kim—past editor-in-chief of Art in Culture and a former director of Gallery Hyundai—utilizes a real living space as its exhibition site. Located in a residential area of Gahoe-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Xlarge is accessible only by prior appointment, with visitors receiving the full address once their booking is confirmed.
 
By navigating the boundaries between private and public space, Xlarge brings art closer to everyday life and highlights LGBTQ+ artists, whose visibility remains limited in Korean society, reflecting Kim’s curatorial vision.
 
Currently on view is the gallery’s third exhibition, a solo show by Lee Dong-hyun titled 《Hole-Hole Hoo-ha》. The show features sculptures that deconstruct stuffed animals and Olympic mascots, installed throughout the domestic space to create an uncanny atmosphere. The exhibition runs through October 4.

References

• ARTnews, Five Under-the-Radar Galleries to Watch in Seoul, 2025.09.01
• PS CENTER 
• WWNN
• 샤워 (Shower)
• 상히읗 (sangheeut) 
• Xlarge