The 2024 Galleries Art Fair started with a VIP preview on Wednesday, April 3, and concluded on Sunday, April 7, at 6 p.m. with great success. The festival was held at COEX Halls C and D, and 156 of Korea’s top galleries participated. The participating galleries showcased the capabilities of promising artists on the platform, which has been redesigned with a younger BI.

The VIP preview on the last three days saw queues forming even before the opening, with an impressive 4,700+ attendees, up 5% year-on-year. The total number of visitors during the five-day event was more than 58,000, and despite the large number of visitors, the operation system was carefully coordinated to provide a comfortable viewing environment for visitors. In addition, many changes were made, including a new online ticketing system, free online catalog distribution, and BI improvements.

While the tendency to buy stable works remained, demand for promising emerging artists increased significantly in line with the fair’s new BI, which emphasized youthful energy. In particular, sales of reasonably priced works by emerging artists that cater to the tastes of generation MZ collectors, who have emerged as a powerful consumer segment in the retail market based on social media, were strong.

Young artists born in the ’80s and ’90s, such as Soonjae of Gallery BHAK, Shim Bongmin of Galerie Gaia, Sung Yeon-Hwa of Gallery Joeun, Han Choong Seok of Gallery Woo, Kim Ja Hae of LEESEOUL Gallery, Lee Doo Won of Gallery MAC, Jongkyu Kim of Bon Gallery, Park Nohwan of Space Willing N Dealing, Lucy Drawing of Insa Gallery, and Choi Hyeong Gil of Kidari Gallery, recorded high sales. Works by Koh Sang Woo and Kim Junsik of Gallery Now, Woo MinJung of Gallery Chosun, Heo Pil Seok and gosce of Gallery We, Goh Cha Boon of Gallery iLHO, Vivi Cho of Artspace H, and Ko Jiyoung of Yeemock Gallery were sold out. Mid-career artists such as Michel Delacroix and Fabienne Delacroix of 2448 ARTSPACE, Won Kun Jun of Gallery JJ, Byeonghyeon Jeong of Gallery Palzo, Sangmin Lee of Gallery Sklo, Yu Jin Goo of Picasso Gallery, and Heo Sukyung of Hidden M Gallery also sold well.

Kukje Gallery sold a large number of Korean and international artists such as Candida Höfer, Jean-Michel Othoniel, and Sungsic Moon from the first day of the fair, and Hakgojae also sold Kim Eun jeong’s works in the early days of the fair. Solo booths set up in various locations also attracted attention. Gallery Mark presented an experimental booth by young Spanish artist Javier Martin, while Wooson Gallery sold a number of works by emerging artist Heo Chanmi. Pop artist Artnom’s large-scale balloon installation at Gallery Yeh and Artside Gallery’s exhibition of Oh Byung Wook’s paintings depicting the sea were popular photo spots for visitors.

Now in its fifth year, ZOOM-IN, the Galleries Art Fair’s special exhibition for emerging artists, has established itself as a key platform for young talents to showcase their talents in front of the public. This year, 10 artists, including KWAK Aram, KIM Bokyung, KIM Hanna, SONG Jihyun, SIM Yeji, LEE Sungjae, LEE Hojoon, JANG Suik, CHOI Myeongwon, and CHOI Hyeyeon, were handpicked by experts through an open call and showcased their unique artistic worlds.

The voting to select the final three artists, which took place simultaneously online and offline during the ZOOM-IN exhibition, was fiercely competitive, with approximately 5,000 people participating. The final winners were LEE Sungjae (Grand Prize), KWAK Aram (First Prize), and CHOI Myeongwon (Second Prize), and the winner of the Porsche Special Prize was CHOI Myeongwon through Porsche’s internal judging process, which reflected the online and offline audience votes.

References

• 화랑미술제(Galleries Art Fair)