Seoul's art scene is experiencing its most dynamic period of the year as the city prepares for the fourth edition of Frieze Seoul and its collaboration with Kiaf Seoul. Late August through early September has become the busiest time for art enthusiasts in the Korean capital, a phenomenon that began with Frieze Seoul's arrival three years ago. This year's art week features an unprecedented array of museum and gallery exhibitions spanning from master retrospectives to contemporary LGBTQ narratives, transforming the city into a comprehensive art destination.

North of the Han River, the Amorepacific Museum of Art is showcasing "Mark Bradford: Keep Walking," featuring around 40 works spanning two decades of the American artist's career. Bradford, who grounds his practice in his identity and experiences as a gay Black man from an urban working-class background, developed his artistic vision while spending his childhood in his mother's hair salon. "I like to work in a big scale. I like to fall into and get lost, and I like to struggle with edges," Bradford explained during his visit to Seoul, describing his monumental artistic approach. The seeds of stories he heard in those diverse communities have flourished into art that often commands attention through its impressive scale.

Gagosian Gallery returns to Seoul for Frieze art week with a pop-up exhibition at APMA Cabinet, located on the ground floor of the Amorepacific building. The mega-sized gallery is presenting "Seoul, Kawaii Summer Vacation," featuring new paintings and sculptures by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Meanwhile, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in Samcheong-dong is hosting the first retrospective of Kim Tschang-yeul since his death in 2021. This comprehensive exhibition chronicles the work of the artist renowned for his waterdrop paintings, spanning from his early works through his New York and Paris periods to his final creations.

Gallery Hyundai, situated near the state museum, is running two significant exhibitions simultaneously. "Not I, Not I, but the Wind That Blows Through Me" presents a two-person exhibition featuring Lee Kang-seung and Candice Lin, while "One After the Other" showcases Kim Min-jung's new Zip series. Kim's latest works feature burnt "hanji" – traditional Korean mulberry paper – layered in zigzag shapes that merge and harmonize two heterogeneous elements, creating a compelling visual dialogue.

This year's Seoul Mediacity Biennale at Seoul Museum of Art explores spirituality's role in modern and contemporary art development with the theme "Seance: Technology of the Spirit," featuring 49 artists and collectives. "We approach it not as an endorsement of any particular religions, any particular spiritual practices, but as researchers," explained Anton Vidokle, co-director of the biennale's 13th edition alongside Hallie Ayres and Lukas Brasiskis. The city museum is also collaborating with Frieze Seoul for a series of rooftop screenings as part of the Frieze Film program from September 1 to 4, including films such as "Portal" by Korean-Danish artist Jane Jin Kaisen.

Art Sonje Center is breaking new ground with "Off-site 2: Eleven Episodes," curated by Kim Sun-jung, which brings the next generation of Korean female and genderqueer artists to the forefront for the first time. The exhibition extends beyond the museum to Kukje Gallery and the art space Together Together, featuring participating artists all younger than 37 years old. "The female queer artists have gotten less attention as they were reluctant to reveal themselves in public shows in Korea. But younger artists are becoming more open to communicating with audiences through art," Kim explained on Thursday. According to the museum, these artists represent a generation shaped by Korea's regional and gender dynamics, exposed to both internet and virtual worlds as well as resistant subcultures and mainstream pop culture.

The private museum will also open Argentine Peruvian artist Adrian Villar Rojas's first solo exhibition "Adrian Villar Rojas: The Language of the Enemy" on Wednesday, transforming the entire museum building into a sculptural ecosystem. For Villar Rojas, the museum is reimagined not as a site of preservation, but of decomposition, mutation and inheritance by both nonhuman and synthetic agents alike, challenging traditional notions of institutional space.

Louise Bourgeois, one of the past century's most influential artists, is featured prominently across multiple venues. Kukje Gallery's exhibition "Louise Bourgeois: Rocking to Infinity" will have its VIP opening on September 2. Simultaneously, Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, about an hour's drive south of Seoul, is hosting Korea's first large-scale museum show of Bourgeois in 25 years. "Louise Bourgeois: The Evanescent and the Eternal" reveals the artist's psyche through more than 110 works selected from different periods throughout her career.

The Hoam exhibition, which has toured countries across the Asia-Pacific region, conveys the pain and growth Bourgeois experienced as a young girl, wife, and artist who underwent psychoanalysis for 33 years. "For Louise Bourgeois, each work is an expression of her emotions. I hope visitors will not only feel those emotions, but also reflect on how they resonate with universal and contemporary language, which is the most important purpose of the exhibition," said Kim Sung-won, deputy director of the museum, at Wednesday's press opening.

Arario Gallery is featuring globally rising Korean artist Lee Jin-ju, whose painting technique is deeply rooted in traditional East Asian painting methods. Her new works reveal the abyss of the artist's unconscious, provoking uncanny feelings in viewers through her distinctive approach. At Lehmann Maupin, New York-based artist Teresita Fernandez makes her Seoul debut with "Liquid Horizon," showcasing glazed ceramic wall installations and luminous sculptural panels that evoke watery realms. "So it can be a beautiful thing, it can be an image that maybe looks like a landscape. It can also be the social and political connotations that arise in us psychologically when we imagine the idea of a place – and it's all of those things at the same time," Fernandez explained about her works during Tuesday's exhibition preview.

Frieze House Seoul, the newly opened space in the central Jangchung-dong area, will present the inaugural exhibition "UnHouse," curated by Kim Jae-seok and directed by Seoul-based art critic Andy St. Louis. This groundbreaking exhibition reimagines the home – one of the most intimate yet political spaces – through an LGBTQ frame, bringing together internationally acclaimed artists with emerging Korean voices to explore themes of identity and belonging.

South of the Han River, G Gallery in Cheongdam-dong is featuring fabric installation artist Woo Han-han, winner of the inaugural Frieze Artist Award, who has made a comeback with more developed works for the exhibition "Poomse." The title refers to Korean martial arts postures that symbolize balance and discipline, reflecting the artist's continued exploration of cultural identity through textile art.

Following the well-received exhibition that opened in June at Museum San in Gangwon Province, British sculptor Antony Gormley is presenting the twin exhibition "Inextricable" at both White Cube Seoul and Thaddaeus Ropac Seoul. This collaboration between two major galleries creates a dialogue across their respective spaces, offering visitors a broader perspective on Gormley's exploration of the human body, space, and presence. White Cube Seoul presents six works inside and outside the gallery space, including Gormley's ongoing "Blockworks," "Bunker," and "Beamer" sculptural series, while Thaddaeus Ropac Seoul displays sculptures from the artist's "Extended Strapworks," "Cast Knotworks," and "Open Blockwork" series alongside his drawings.

Songeun Art Space rounds out the offerings with a panorama exhibition as part of the Korean artist showcase initiative. This group show features eight artists highlighting their distinct practices, ranging from painting and sculpture to installation, photography, and video, providing a comprehensive view of contemporary Korean artistic expression.

Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul will officially kick off on Wednesday at Coex in southern Seoul, running through September 6 and 7, respectively. A single ticket provides admission to both fairs, which will see participation from approximately 300 galleries from around the globe, cementing Seoul's position as a major international art destination.