In the prestigious hills of Seongbuk-dong, often called the Beverly Hills of Seoul, a young gallerist named Jason Haam has transformed from a fresh military service graduate into one of the city's most influential art dealers. At just 27 years old in 2017, Haam opened his eponymous gallery in an area better known for historical art institutions like the Kansong Art Museum, founded in 1938, which houses pre-colonial Korean artifacts.
Haam's gallery debut made an immediate splash with a sold-out exhibition featuring works by Los Angeles-based painter Oliver Arms. This buzzy launch set the tone for what would become a series of high-profile shows, including the first Seoul solo exhibitions of internationally acclaimed artists Sarah Lucas and Urs Fischer. Fischer's semi-retrospective in 2024 completely transformed the gallery's second venue into an all-white space when Haam expanded his footprint that year.
One of Haam's most notable success stories involves painter Moka Lee, an alumna of The Artsy Vanguard whom he discovered working part-time in a small studio as a struggling young artist. Under Haam's guidance, Lee's paintings now regularly sell for six-figure amounts, representing a true Cinderella story in the contemporary art world.
Haam's path to gallery ownership began with his family's background in art collecting. His parents, who found success in the dermatology industry during the 1990s, were avid collectors of works by 20th-century Korean masters including Cheon Kyeong-ja, Kim Whanki, and Park Su-geun. When young Haam questioned why his mother spent money on art instead of luxury cars or clothes, she explained that she viewed the paintings not as luxury items but as a savings account that could be cashed in whenever needed.
This practical approach to art's monetary value followed Haam to New York, where he studied material engineering at Cornell University after attending high school in Switzerland. In 2013, around his graduation time, a visit to Pace Gallery in Chelsea to view Yoshitomo Nara's works on behalf of his mother proved transformative. Initially puzzled by the gallery's business model – wondering how a space with seven paintings could afford Manhattan rent and staff salaries – Haam's conversation with a sales director revealed the sophisticated economics of the art world.
Returning to Korea in 2014 for mandatory public service, Haam worked in a laboratory while moonlighting as an art dealer for acquaintances. During the early 2010s, Seoul lacked the international art connections it enjoys today, allowing many dealers to sell overseas-purchased works at double or triple their original prices to Korean clients. Haam's cosmopolitan background and fluency in both Korean and English gave him a significant advantage in navigating international art markets.
Haam's fearless approach to pricing discussions – "People don't mind telling me prices, so I ask all the time. It's my thing," he says – helped him establish a niche as an international, transparent dealer. He quickly began trading works by renowned artists including Nara, Yayoi Kusama, and Jonas Wood, eventually deciding to open his own gallery with ambitious goals of making unknown artists famous worldwide.
For approximately one year after opening, Haam focused on bringing established and mid-career European and American artists to Seoul for the first time. These included not only Arms but also Belgium-based artists Peter Buggenhout and Marie Cloquet, who participated in a dual exhibition at Jason Haam in 2018.
A pivotal connection came through London gallerist Sadie Coles, who surprisingly responded to Haam's cold email requesting advice. When Coles visited South Korea just before Haam's gallery opening, she offered to let him show works by her artists. Having purchased Sarah Lucas's mixed-media collage "Supersensible" (1994) from the artist's first New York solo show, Haam jumped at the chance to exhibit the iconic British artist. The resulting 2019 exhibition, titled after Lucas's collage, marked her solo debut in Asia.
Recent years have brought significant changes to both Haam's career and Seoul's art scene. From 2021 onward, more international galleries began opening Seoul branches, and the announcement of Frieze art fair's Seoul debut in 2022 created new pressures and opportunities. As Haam recalls, "Everyone was judging me for the Korean artists [I worked with]; they didn't care if I had an American artist." The need to include Korean artists for Frieze participation led him to discover Moka Lee's work online.
Lee's paintings immediately captivated Haam with their mysterious technique – surfaces that appeared marble-like, flat yet luminous, with lifelike depth without being realistic. His curiosity sparked a conversation that proved prophetic: "I knew I was onto something big." In March 2023, Lee showed with Haam at Art Basel Hong Kong's Discoveries section, and two years later appeared in a group show at No.9 Cork Street, Frieze's London gallery.
Today, Haam's gallery program features a dynamic mix of emerging and established talents. He's currently preparing a group exhibition focusing on the nude body, featuring 1990s-born artists of Korean heritage – Lee, HAN Jihyoung, and Cindy Ji Hye Kim – alongside international stars like Fischer, Lucas, Daniel Sinsel, Issy Wood, Emily Mae Smith, and Amanda Baldwin. Many of these artists will also appear at his Frieze Seoul booth this year.
For Haam, success now means finding artists who define generations, times, and backgrounds – essentially creating lasting legacies. He compares the commercial art world to the Champions League Final, where 22 of the world's best soccer players compete, noting that "to a certain degree, it's only the top that matters." Just as having a Korean player in such a match would emotionally impact Korean viewers regardless of ticket prices, art possesses value that transcends quantitative definition.
"There is an aspect of art that is very valuable in a way that is not quantitatively definable," Haam explains, emphasizing his evolution from viewing art as a mere savings account to understanding its deeper cultural significance and lasting impact on society.
