Tina Kim, founder and owner of Tina Kim Gallery in New York, has been named to the ‘2025 Art Power Index’ announced by the New York Observer.
 
Since 2018, the Observer has annually selected influential figures who are shaping developments in the global art world, and the list is regarded as one of the most authoritative evaluations in the art industry.
 
Selected for this year’s list, Kim was born in South Korea and raised in California, and she has played a vital role as a cultural bridge, helping Korean art gain international visibility. She has also contributed to shaping discourse and market dynamics in the Asian art scene through her work as a selection committee member for Frieze Seoul.
 
Kim began her career at Kukje Gallery, founded by her mother, Hyun-Sook Lee, before establishing her namesake gallery in New York in 2001.

Tina Kim Gallery was instrumental in introducing Korean Dansaekhwa artists such as Park Seo-Bo, Ha Chong-Hyun, and Kim Tschang-Yeul to an international audience, establishing public and institutional awareness of this critically influential group of Asian Post-War artists.
 
In addition, the gallery’s expanding program of Asian-American and Asian diasporic artists, including Maia Ruth Lee, Minoru Niizuma, and Wook-Kyung Choi, evince the gallery’s commitment to pushing the conversation beyond national frameworks.

The Observer selected Tina Kim for this year’s index in recognition of her role in introducing Korean and Asian diasporic artists to the international stage and reshaping global perceptions of the contemporary art market. Her long-standing commitment to presenting Korean artists—well before Korean culture held the global influence it enjoys today—was noted as a significant contributing factor.
 
The ‘2025 Art Power Index’ also includes other key figures leading the contemporary art world and global art market, such as Refik Anadol (Dataland | Founder & Artistic Director), Sarah Arison (the youngest Chair of the Board at MoMA), and Vincenzo de Bellis (Art Basel | Chief Artistic Officer & Global Director of Art Fairs).

References

• 뉴시스, 국제 이현숙 딸 티나킴 대표, 옵서버 ‘아트 파워 인덱스’ 선정, 2025.11.21
• Observer, 2025 Art Power Index