Major Museum Exhibitions to See During Frieze Seoul

There are a wild number exhibitions on view at museums and other institutions in Seoul, and beyond, during Frieze. Selections from the collection of super-patron Francois Pinault are at the Songeun Art Space in Gangnam, Anicka Yi is unveiling a new show at the Leeum Museum of Art, and Nicolas Party is taking over its sister museum, the Hoam, an hour to the south, in Yongin. The Seoul Museum of Art? Its many branches are overflowing with art offerings, as are the two branches of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art within the city limits. The Horim, Arumjigi, Amorepacific, and plenty more outfits have big things going, too. Rent a bike! Get your Kakao T taxi app working! Or hire a driver! Who has time for art fairs when an exhibition calendar is this robust? Only joking, only joking. You can do it all. But in case you are pressed for time, a few choice selections follow below.

“Sinae Yoo: Derivative Messiah”
Doosan Gallery
September 4 through October 12

Forty next year, Sinae Yoo is an artist for all seasons. At the last Frieze Seoul, Yoo’s fantastical paintings—part Bosch, part Dalí, part prog-rock album cover—at Cylinder gallery’s booth won the Focus Asia Stand Prize prize. The Korean-born artist also produces scintillating, sci-fi-inflected videos, craggily, winning sculptures, and a clothing line called Pocalyeap, a portmanteau of apocalypse and leap. Its slogan is “Not original, we are derivative.” That is a catchy but not accurate description of her practice, which involves deep art history, technical prowess, and wild visions that delight the eye even as they levy curveball critiques of how capitalism seeps into everyday life. This show, the result of winning the Doosan Yonkang Arts Awards in Visual Arts, sees her taking up topics like Scientology, “commodified religion, and the narcissistic desires inherent in salvation,” per a press statement. My advice before visiting: Brace yourself.

“Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists”
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Seoul
September 3 through March 3, 2025

Potential blockbuster alert! The MMCA’s Seoul branch in Samcheong-dong (near galleries like Kukje, PKM, and Hyundai) is mounting a blowout show of work by more than 50 female artists who have been active in Asia since the 1960s. The theme is “corporeality,” and the participants include the esteemed Filipino American polymath Pacita Abad (1946–2004), the unstoppable contemporary Korean sculptor Mire Lee, and the Japanese Gutai legend Atsuko Tanaka (1932–2005), famed for, among many other things, her 1956 dress made of electric lights. It is not the only major institutional show focused on women artists in Seoul right now: Through September 8, ARKO Art Center in the Hyewha neighborhood is hosting a show called “ZIP” with 16 Korean sculptors, including Rho Si-Eun and Kim Yun Shin, a star of the current Venice Biennale. We can argue about the value of ladies-only shows in 2024 (in Korea or elsewhere), but let’s first see what treasures are on view.

“Anicka Yi: There Exists Another Revolution, But In This One”
Leeum
September 5 through December 29

The acclaimed New York-based artist Anicka Yi has taken the Western art world by storm with her fascinating, interdisciplinary oeuvre at the juncture of politics and microbiology. Her otherworldly, multi-sensory creations, drawn from scientific research, challenge audiences with complex questions concerning pressing topics such as humanity, machines, and ecology. Frieze Week in Seoul marks a major homecoming for Yi, as “There Exists Another Evolution, But In This One” at Leeum is her first museum solo outing in the South Korean capital, where she was born in 1971, as well as in Asia. The show, whose title comes from Zen Buddhist koans, will feature recent and earlier works and reflect on her trajectory.

“Do Ho Suh: Speculations”
Art Sonje Center
August 17 through November 3

In 2003, South Korean artist Do Ho Suh held his first institutional solo in his native country at the Art Sonje Center. Two decades later, Suh, now an internationally renowned artist based in London, returns to the institution that launched his career for a show that contemplates the idea of home, identity, and belonging, informed by his experiences relocating across the world, from Korea to the U.S. and the U.K. Rather than presenting the iconic fabric sculptures that the 62-year-old is known for, “Speculations” showcases a series of peculiar installations, as well as their development process in drawings, sketches, and videos over the years. One of them sees a cottage dangling at the corner of a building’s rooftop, while another shows a rundown hanok (a traditional Korean house) on a beach, encased in a glass box. While some of these imaginative installations may give a few clues to what the artist’s ideal home may look like, they challenge audiences as to what their vision of a perfect home should be. —

“Ascending the Ashes: A Tale of Renewal”
K&L Museum
September 2 through December 28

Basel-based Swiss contemporary artist Claudia Comte will make her institutional debut in South Korea with   “Ascending the Ashes: A Tale of Renewal,” an exhibition that examines the intersection of art and ecology. Drawing inspiration from Werner Herzog’s film (2016), the show explores the cyclical nature of creation and destruction in the natural world, emphasizing the balance between geological forces and ecological resilience. Visitors will experience an immersive environmental installation featuring new sculptures and a large wall painting made with soil, all displayed within the museum’s expansive multi-level galleries. This body of work addresses the enduring impact of volcanic activity on global biodiversity, environmental sustainability, and cultural discourse.

“Elmgreen & Dragset: Spaces”
Amorepacific Museum of Art
September 3 through February 23, 2025

The provocateurs Elmgreen & Dragset are bringing their immersive practice to Seoul in their most extensive presentation in Asia to date. The exhibition features over 60 works,  a combination of existing and new pieces by the Scandinavian duo, including a full-scale family house, a public pool, a restaurant, and an artist’s studio. Visitors are invited to uncover narrative threads within these spaces, becoming protagonists in an unfolding story. In one room, visitors can explore a single-family house, filled with sculptural works and furniture that offer clues about its fictional inhabitants. Another room features a life-sized, drained public pool, a recurring motif in their work that symbolizes the decline of communal spaces. The journey concludes in a restaurant, “The Cloud,” with only a lifelike young woman engaged in a FaceTime conversation.