Seoul— The fourth edition of Frieze Seoul came to a close at COEX last week, once again casting the South Korean capital into the spotlight of the international art world. For four days, more than 120 galleries from 28 countries gathered in Gangnam, attracting nearly 70,000 visitors and over 160 institutional representatives. It was a spectacle of art, commerce, and cultural diplomacy—but one that also prompted debate: is Seoul truly Asia’s new art hub, or merely a market mirage?
From the outset, the fair delivered a powerful commercial statement. Hauser & Wirth reported the sale of a $4.5 million triptych by Mark Bradford, the highest single transaction since the fair’s 2022 launch. Works by George Condo, Georg Baselitz, Louise Bourgeois, and Lee Bul added to the million-dollar tally. Korean powerhouses such as Kukje, Gallery Hyundai, and Hakgojae also secured significant results, suggesting that both blue-chip names and regional artists retained strong appeal among collectors.
Cultural programming deepened the fair’s profile. Paradise Art Night blended ballet and contemporary art in a headline-grabbing performance by French étoiles Hugo Marchand and Hannah O’Neill, while the newly launched Frieze House Seoul opened with UnHouse, an exhibition rethinking domesticity from queer perspectives. These initiatives signaled an ambition to broaden the fair beyond sales, positioning Seoul as a city of artistic experimentation as well as commerce.
International observers praised the resilience of the fair in a challenging climate. The Art Newspaper described it as “performing much better than expected,” while Frieze magazine itself hailed Seoul as “Asia’s new art hub,” citing the fair’s optimism and institutional weight. Artnet emphasized that the event “beat low expectations” in what remains a bear market, underlining Seoul’s ability to sustain momentum where other regions falter.
Yet skepticism surfaced alongside the accolades. Observer noted that crowds felt thinner and the energy somewhat subdued compared to previous editions, describing a shift from speculative excitement to more measured acquisitions. Bloomberg, meanwhile, highlighted a slowdown in Korea’s broader art market, pointing to declining auction figures and gallery closures as potential challenges for the fair’s long-term trajectory.
These criticisms raised the question embedded in the fair’s very narrative: is Seoul’s rise in the art world a sustainable hub, or a temporary mirage created by hype and headline sales?
The answer, perhaps, lies in how we define a hub. If it means sheer transaction volume, Seoul may not yet rival Hong Kong or Basel. If it means vitality—a convergence of artists, collectors, institutions, and cultural imagination—then Frieze Seoul 2025 has already passed the test. The fair’s quieter tone this year could be read not as weakness but as maturity: a move from speculation to consolidation, from spectacle to sustainability.
Seoul is no longer asking whether it belongs on the global stage. The question now is how it will use this stage—whether to chase the mirage of short-term sales or to build a durable ecosystem where art, commerce, and cultural dialogue can coexist. In that sense, the fair’s true achievement was not only in what sold, but in how it redefined the role of Seoul itself: not a fleeting reflection of the global market’s highs and lows, but a city staking its claim as a lasting beacon for contemporary art in Asia.
Sayart / Jason Yim yimjongho1969@gmail.com
