Top News Picks - K-ARTNOW
Top News Picks
Delivering essential Korean contemporary art news every week.

Latest News

Museum_News Leeum Museum of Art Announces Its 2025 Major Exhibition Plans The Samsung Foundation of Culture, celebrating its 60th anniversary next year, has unveiled the exhibition plans for the Leeum Museum of Art in 2025, encompassing both traditional and contemporary art.
2024.12.17
Art+_News Most Influential Koreans in the Art World This Year: ArtReview ‘2024 Power 100’ On the 5th, the renowned British art magazine ArtReview unveiled its ‘2024 Power 100’ list. Since 2002, the annual ‘Power 100’ has involved experts from around the globe in an in-depth and comprehensive evaluation to select 100 individuals who have made significant contributions to the global art and cultural scene through their activities and influence.
2024.12.17
Art never stopped a war and never got anybody a job. That was never its function. Art cannot change events, but it can change people. It can affect people so that they are changed.

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990, Musician)

Artist

Artist_News Artist Chung Hyun Named One of the ‘Editor’s Picks’ at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 Chung Hyun, an artist represented by PKM Gallery, was featured on the Editor’s Picks list for Art Basel Miami Beach 2024, held from December 4 to 8.
2024.12.17
Artist_News Artist Chung Seoyoung Participated in Asia Pacific Triennial 11 One of South Korea’s leading contemporary sculptors, Chung Seoyoung, is participating in the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT11). Held at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, Australia, APT11 has been underway since November 30 and features 70 artists and collectives from more than 30 countries.
2024.12.10
Artist_News Artist Keem Jiyoung Is Holding Her First Overseas Solo Exhibition, “Breath of the Month” at PHILIPPZOLLINGER The first overseas solo exhibition of Korean artist Keem Jiyoung (b. 1987), “Breath of the Month”, is holding at the PHILIPPZOLLINGER in Zürich, Switzerland, until January 18 next year.
2024.12.03
Artist_News Artist Seulgi Lee Presents Her Performance Work at the 17th Lyon Biennale Seulgi Lee is participating in the 17th Lyon Biennale, “Les voix des fleuves, Crossing the Water,” where she will present her performance SOUPE (2024) on November 8 and December 13, 2024.
2024.11.26
Artist_News Artist Moka Lee Has Been Selected as One of the 10 Artists of “The Artsy Vanguard 2025” The global online art platform Artsy has selected artist Moka Lee as one of the "Artsy Vanguard 2025" artists, highlighting the most promising talents working today. Among the 10 artists chosen this year, Moka Lee is the only Korean artist featured.
2024.11.12
Artist_News Lee Bul’s New Sculpture ‘Long Tail Halo’ Installed on the Facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Four new sculptures from Long Tail Halo, a series by renowned Korean artist Lee Bul, have been installed on the facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York.
2024.11.12

Museum

Museum_News Leeum Museum of Art Announces Its 2025 Major Exhibition Plans The Samsung Foundation of Culture, celebrating its 60th anniversary next year, has unveiled the exhibition plans for the Leeum Museum of Art in 2025, encompassing both traditional and contemporary art.
2024.12.17
Museum_News Art Sonje Center Announces Its 2025 Exhibition and Program Plans Art Sonje Center unveiled its 2025 exhibition program during a press conference held on December 2. The 2025 program spans a wide range of media and genres, from live contemporary music performances to large-scale installations that use the museum building and its surroundings as artistic media.
2024.12.10
Museum_News Set to Open in 2025, What Would the ‘Centre Pompidou Hanwha Seoul’ Look Like? The design concept of ‘Centre Pompidou Hanwha Seoul,’ the Seoul branch of France's world-renowned contemporary art institution Centre Pompidou set to open next October, has been unveiled.
2024.11.26
Museum_News Leeum Museum of Art Launches ‘Leeum Archive,’ Unveiling Significant Materials Related to Korean Modern and Contemporary Art On October 21, the Leeum Museum of Art opened the ‘Leeum Archive’ service, a collection of previously unreleased materials related to modern and contemporary Korean art.
2024.10.29
Museum_News MMCA Announces a New Partnership with LG Electronics The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) announces a new partnership with LG Electronics. This collaboration aims to advance the development of contemporary art and other arts and cultural initiatives across Korea. Under this agreement, LG Electronics will exclusively provide exhibition sponsorship and technical support for the ‘MMCA X LG OLED’ Series over the next three years.
2024.08.20
Museum_News Seoul Museum of Photography Pre-opening Program, “Photo SeMA Spotlight 1: A Place for Photography”, to Be Held on September 3 The Seoul Museum of Art will host an international seminar, “Photo SeMA Spotlight 1: A Place for Photography”, in advance of the opening of the Photography Seoul Museum of Art (Photo SeMA; 70, Madeul-ro 13-gil, Dobong-gu, Seoul, in the first half of 2025). The seminar, which will take place on September 3 at the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, will commemorate the establishment of Photo SeMA, Korea’s first public photography museum, and also serve as a place to share the visions of international photography institutions in Europe and Asia, along with their programs for contemporary photographers.
2024.08.20

Nonprofit

Nonprofit_News Olafur Eliason’s Latest Work ‘Breathing earth sphere’ Has Been Unveiled on Docho Island in Shinan County On the 15th, world-renowned Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967) unveiled his latest work, 숨결의 지구 (Breathing earth sphere), on Docho Island, Shinan County, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. The installation, part of a larger initiative by Shinan County that celebrates the region's natural beauty, centers around public art projects that draw attention to reimagining the immediate environment.
2024.12.03
Nonprofit_News ‘Project Space Line’, a New Exhibition Space of Line Cultural Foundation, Opens On November 12, the Line Cultural Foundation opened a new exhibition space, ‘Project Space Line,’ in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
2024.11.19
Nonprofit_News Bio Art Workshops to Launch at Paradise Art Lab’s New Experimental Space, ‘Art & Bio Lab Seoul’ Opened last September on the first floor of the Paradise Building (299 Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul), ‘Art & Bio Lab Seoul’ will host a Bio Art Workshop program from November 6 to December 24.
2024.11.05
Nonprofit_News The National Asian Culture Center to Host international Symposium as Part of Its 10th Anniversary Special Project, “Manifesto of Spring” Ahead of its 10th anniversary in 2025, the National Asian Culture Center (ACC) will host an international symposium from October 24 to 25 as a pre-program for the special exhibition "Manifesto of Spring," which will take place in September next year.
2024.10.15
Nonprofit_News ‘FUTURA SEOUL,’ a New Large-scale Exhibition Space, Opens on September 5 On September 5, ‘FUTURA SEOUL,’ a new large-scale exhibition space (around 1,157m2), will open in Bukchon, Seoul. FUTURA SEOUL will present a new artistic experience based on the rich history of Bukchon, which was once the living space of the noble families in the Joseon dynasty.
2024.08.13
Nonprofit_News Gwangyang City Will Co-host Media Art Exchange Exhibition with Ars Electronica Center Gwangyang City will host the media art exchange exhibition “8637 from Light” from October 2 to 10 in collaboration with the Ars Electronica Center, which hosts the world’s largest new media art festival, Ars Electronica.
2024.07.15

Biennale

Biennale_News The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale Will Announce Exhibition Theme Through Pre-Biennale Program “Notes for a Séance” The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) will host a pre-biennale program titled "Notes for a Séance” on November 30 at SeMA Hall, introducing the curatorial direction and concept of the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale.
2024.11.26
Biennale_News 2024 Daejeon Art and Science Biennale Spin Off “Magnum Opus” on View Through February 2, 2025 Marking its fourth edition, the Daejeon Art and Science Biennale opened on October 25 under the title “Magnum Opus” As the only biennale in Korea dedicated to the theme of science and art, it will run until February 2 of next year at the Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon Creative Center, from the corner (Jeong-dong, Dong-gu), and GONGGAN55 (Seonhwa-dong, Jung-gu).
2024.11.12
Biennale_News Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres, and Lukas Brasiskis Appointed as the Artistic Directors of the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale On October 14, the Seoul Museum of Art announced the appointment of Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres, and Lukas Brasiskis as the artistic directors for the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, scheduled for August 2025.
2024.10.22
Biennale_News Gangwon International Triennale 2024 “Ecological Art from the Beneath”, on View Through October 27 The Gangwon International Triennale 2024, hosted by Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province and organized by the Gangwon Art & Cultural Foundation and Pyeongchang County, opened on September 26 and will run until October 27 across various locations in Pyeongchang County.
2024.10.08
Biennale_News The 7th Changwon Sculpture Biennale’s Various Programs Are Unveiled Starting on September 28, the symposium program “Seed and Peel” will be held at the Small Theater of Seongsan Art Hall. The symposium is scheduled for September 28 from 10 am to 4 pm and on September 29 from 1 pm to 4 pm, with simultaneous English translation available.
2024.09.24
Biennale_News The 7th Changwon Sculpture Biennale’s Pre-Exhibition Programs Successfully Concludes Since last July, the pre-exhibition programs for the Changwon Sculpture Biennale have been underway. The first citizen-participation program, “AVP X Muhayu” (July 15-18), took place at Audio Visual Pavilion (AVP) in Seoul and Muhayu in Changwon, featuring Jeuno JE Kim & Ewa Einhorn, who are based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmö, Sweden, and Sooncheon No, an artist based in Changwon.
2024.09.24

Art Market

Art Market_News The Korean Art Auction Market in the 3rd Quarter of 2024 Saw 26% Decrease Compared to the Previous Year The "2024 3rd Quarter Art Market Report," released on October 31 by the Korea Art Authentication & Appraisal Research Center's corporate research lab KAAI, indicated that the slump in the Korean art market continues.
2024.11.19
Art Market_News South Korea’s MCST Plans to Implement Art Policies for the Continued Growth of the Korean Art Market, Which Exceeded 1 Trillion KRW in 2022 Over the past year, many local experts predicted that the size of the Korean art market would surpass 1 trillion KRW (Korean won) in 2022. This speculation has turned out to be true, as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) announced on January 4, 2023, that the size of the art market in 2022 was estimated to be 1.0377 trillion KRW (approximately $1 billion USD).
2023.01.09
Art Market_News "Korea Art Market 2022" Delivers Various Trends and Issues in the Korean Art Market in English The most-searched term in the Korean art world in 2022 was “Frieze Seoul.” The inaugural fair received not only explosive attention from the domestic art world but also aroused international interest in the Korean art market, bringing many global artists to Korea.
2023.01.02
Art Market_News Korean Arts Management Services Estimates the Size of the Korean Art Market in 2021 The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea (MCST) and the Korean Arts Management Services (KAMS) have been publishing a report on the previous year’s Korean art market since 2008.
2022.02.21

Auction

Auction_News Seoul Auction to Host ‘Connect Seoul 2024’ During Frieze·Kiaf Seoul Week Seoul Auctions hosts ‘Connect Seoul 2024,’ a series of exhibitions and events from August 24 to September 13 at its Gangnam Center, to coincide with Frieze-Kiaf Seoul Week. Connect Seoul consists of two special exhibitions highlighting major Korean and international artists of modern and contemporary art, a group exhibition of media art, and a preview of upcoming auctions.
2024.09.03
Auction_News SBI Art Auction to Host Its First Overseas Auction Preview at Art Chosun Space in Seoul Japan’s SBI Art Auction will present its first overseas auction preview, "Early Highlight Viewing in Seoul," from October 1 to 6 at Art Chosun Space (ACS) in Gwanghwamun, Seoul. The preview is part of the "68th SBI Art Auction | MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART" to be held on October 25 and 26.
2024.08.13
Auction_News Global Auction House Phillips Appoints Lim Yeon-ah to Lead the Korean office On the 5th, Phillips, one of the world’s top three auction houses, appointed Lim Yeon-ah as the head of its Korean office. Since joining Phillips in 2020, she has overseen Phillips exhibitions during the Frieze Seoul art fair over the past two years.
2023.12.11
Auction_News 3 Korean Women Leaders Who Are Demonstrating Their Leadership at the Asian Offices of the World's Top 3 Art Auction Houses Today, many women figures are active in the contemporary art world, trying to reflect diversity and fostering Korean art.
2022.11.28
Auction_News Phillips Will Hold Its First Exhibition in South Korea during the Frieze Art Fair in Seoul Phillips, one of the three largest auction houses in the world with headquarters in London, has announced that it will hold its first exhibition in Seoul concurrently with the Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul art fairs.
2022.08.15
Auction_News Christie’s First Exhibition in South Korea, What Does This Mean for the Local Art Market? The booming Korean art market attracts many international art galleries and art fairs to Seoul. World-renowned galleries, including König Galerie, Thaddeus Ropac, and Gladstone Gallery, have opened a branch in Seoul, and Frieze has partnered with Kiaf SEOUL to hold art fairs in Seoul for five years from this year.
2022.08.01

Art Fair

Art Fair_News ‘Access Bangkok’, the First Korean Art Fair to Expand Internationally The first Korean art fair to venture overseas, ‘Access Bangkok,’ was held from December 5 to 7 at ICONSIAM in Bangkok, Thailand, garnering significant attention.
2024.12.10
Art Fair_News Director Kim Jeong Eun Appointed to Lead 'T3 PHOTO ASIA’ Art Fair in Tokyo, Japan Kim Jeong Eun has been appointed as the Fair Director of ‘T3 PHOTO AISA’, which will be held at Tokyo Midtown Yaesu in Japan from October 18 to October 21.
2024.10.08
Art Fair_News Highlights at Frieze Seoul 2024 Highlights of Frieze Seoul 2024, taking place September 4-7 at COEX, Gangnam, Seoul, have been revealed. The world's leading galleries participating in Frieze Seoul 2024 are highlighting a wide range of distinguished artists in the Solo, Group, Frieze Masters, and Focus Asia sections.
2024.09.03
Art Fair_News Kiaf SEOUL 2024 to Host Special Exhibition “Kiaf onSITE: Invisible Transitions” The Galleries Association of Korea announced that it will present the special exhibition “Kiaf onSITE: Invisible Transitions” at Kiaf SEOUL 2024, which will be held for five days from September 4 to 8. “Kiaf onSITE” is a special exhibition showcasing the
2024.08.27
Art Fair_News How to Enjoy Frieze Seoul 2024 to the Fullest Frieze Seoul 2024 will not only feature a fair showcasing globally acclaimed artworks but also present the most extensive and diverse Frieze Week to date, featuring a variety of programs including cultural events in collaboration with galleries and nonprofit organizations.
2024.08.27
Art Fair_News Frieze Seoul 2024 to Feature More Than 110 of the World’s Leading Galleries From 30 Countries The third edition of Frieze Seoul takes place at COEX from 4 – 7 September, once again under the direction of Patrick Lee. Featuring more than 110 galleries spanning 30 countries, this year’s fair features a strong core of exhibitors from across Asia,
2024.08.27

Art+

Art+_News South Korea’s Income Tax on Art Transactions Has Increased 36 Times, but the Collected Taxes Have Only Increased 1.7 Times The number of income tax assessments on art transactions surged 36 times in a year, yet the actual tax collected only increased by 1.7 times, raising concerns about the fairness of taxation on art, which is often exempt or subject to reduced tax rates.
2023.10.16
Art+_News Artnet Interviews Korean-American Tech Investor Jung Lee on Supporting Contemporary Asian Artists Korean-American tech investor Jung Lee is soon to be the founder of TEN X, a robotic digital studio in Carrara, Italy, that combines cutting-edge digital robotics with traditional stone craftsmanship to help artists realize their visions. Lee and his wife, Jeeyoon Lim, who began collecting Asian contemporary art more than 20 years ago, founded Rén Space, an experimental art space in Shanghai in 2012 to support Chinese contemporary artists, and have now expanded their efforts globally to provide artists with cutting-edge tools.
2023.09.11
Art+_News The Arts Council Korea Plans a Comprehensive Overhaul of 2024 Open-Call Projects South Korea provides a substantial amount of support programs for artists, more than many other countries. However, there has been widespread consensus in the field that the open-call support system, managed by public institutions, is overly complicated and difficult to navigate. Additionally, critics argue that there is an overemphasis on minor, one-time project grants, making it challenging for sustainable growth.
2023.08.14
Art+_News South Korea's Art Promotion Act Sparks Debate Over Artists' Resale Rights In June, South Korea’s National Assembly passed the Art Promotion Act, sparking some controversy within the Korean art scene. This dispute stems from differing opinions among members of the art community regarding the specific implementation guidelines for the “droit de suite,” which refers to an artist’s resale royalty rights.
2023.08.14
Art+_News Hyundai FutureNet, Discovering and Supporting Emerging Media Artists...'Media Art Project' Hyundai FutureNet, an ICT company affiliated with the Hyundai Department Store Group, signed a business agreement with the Korea Mecenat Association and Alternative Space ARTFORUM RHEE on the 27th of last month to revitalize the media art industry. Under the agreement, Hyundai FutureNet and the art organization Alternative Space ARTFORUM RHEE will carry out the ‘Hyundai FutureNet Media Art Project’ as part of the ‘Arts & Business’ collaboration project organized by the Korea Mecenat Association.
2023.03.24
Art+_News Kim Daljin Art Research and Consulting, 128 Exhibition Spaces Newly Opened in South Korea in 2022 Kim Daljin Art Research and Consulting (hereinafter the Institute) has been tracking the number of newly opened exhibition spaces in South Korea every year since 2005. These exhibition spaces include museums, galleries, cultural spaces with exhibition halls, memorial halls, and coffee shops or other corresponding places with gallery spaces.
2023.01.09