"Strong Sales by Emerging Artists"... Hwarang Art Festival Closes with 58,000 Visitors

156 Galleries Submit 10,000 Works
New Artists' Works Selling Well at Reasonable Prices
Art Fairs Held in Busan, Daegu, and Seoul in April-May

The Art Fair, a barometer of the art market each year, closed on the 7th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 8th, the Korea Gallery Association announced that about 58,000 visitors attended the Art Fair held at COEX in Seoul for five days from the 3rd. This year's Art Fair featured participation from 156 galleries, exhibiting 10,000 works, and ran from the 3rd to the 7th. The VIP preview, which started on the afternoon of the 3rd, saw about 4,700 visitors, a 5% increase compared to the previous year, marking a fresh start. The total number of visitors over the five days was similar in scale to last year, according to the Gallery Association.

This year's Art Fair drew attention for a 'new regulation' limiting the number of artists each participating gallery could showcase at their booth to six or fewer. All galleries were evaluated to have been cautious in selecting artists and works, as they had to consider this new regulation along with the uniform booth sizes.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After the opening, the previously overheated scenes like open runs disappeared, but visitors actively engaged by asking diverse and in-depth questions about the artists and works, leading to an overall increase in understanding and interest in contemporary art.

Participating galleries reported that due to the economic downturn following Art Basel Hong Kong, sales focused more on works by young artists or smaller pieces rather than expensive large-scale works. The Gallery Association analyzed, "It is notable that sales of reasonably priced works by emerging artists, catering to the tastes of MZ generation collectors who have emerged as a strong consumer base in the retail market based on social media, performed well."

Among the 10 artists participating in the 'ZOOM-IN' special exhibition, a program for discovering emerging artists, Lee Seong-jae was awarded the grand prize through voting and expert judging, while Kwak Aram and Choi Myung-won were selected for the excellence and outstanding awards respectively. Choi Myung-won also received the Porsche special award.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Following the Art Fair, large-scale art fairs will continue to be held. From the 11th to the 14th of this month, the 13th Busan International Gallery Art Fair, hosted and organized by the Busan Gallery Association, will take place at BEXCO Exhibition Hall 1 in Busan. This year’s event will feature a total of 150 galleries, including 16 overseas galleries, exhibiting and selling about 4,000 works.

From the 19th to the 21st, 'Art O&O' will be held at SETEC in Seoul. This is a newly established art fair created this year by CEO Noh Jae-myung, a former collector, with participation from about 50 galleries from over 20 countries. A notable feature is the high proportion of foreign galleries. From May 3rd to 5th, the Daegu International Art Fair, hosted by the Daegu Gallery Association, will be held at EXCO in Daegu, and from May 9th to 12th, Art Busan will take place at BEXCO in Busan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.