Seoul, once-rising art hub, feels pinch of global strains  

In Seoul’s Hannam district, the storefront that once housed Various Small Fires (VSF) now sits empty, a “For Rent” sign taped to its window. Inside, where high-profile exhibitions once attracted collectors, only discarded furniture and debris remain.

“The (VSF) Seoul gallery’s turnover reportedly came in much below expectations,” said an official in the Korean art market.

Leaving Seoul six years after its arrival, VSF will rather focus on North America, the world’s largest art market as of 2024.

The gallery, founded by Esther Kim Varet in 2012 with locations in Los Angeles and Seoul, is one of several recent closures as Seoul’s push to establish itself as Asia’s art hub faces headwinds.

Foreign dealers are pulling out, and domestic galleries are shuttering as a broader downturn in the global art scene is weighing on the sector.

König Seoul, the Korean branch of German König Galerie, has effectively suspended its operations since hosting its last exhibition, featuring Ayako Rokkaku, in January.

The hiatus comes just four years after its advance into the Korean market.

BROADER GLOBAL ART MARKET DOWNTURN    

Peres Projects, a prestigious contemporary art gallery headquartered in Berlin, is also projected to shut down its Seoul branch later this year as its parent has been declared insolvent and put under oversight by a German court in February after years of struggling with a slump in art sales.

The global art market experienced a notable downturn in 2024, with total sales declining by 12% to approximately $57.5 billion, according to the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report published in April.

This marked the second consecutive year of contraction, primarily due to a significant slowdown in high-end sales. The market for lower-priced segments, however, displayed resilience, the report said.  

Korea’s domestic art galleries are also bearing the brunt of the global art market slowdown, carefully walking a tightrope as they navigate the downturn.

ONE AND J. Gallery, founded in 2005 in Seoul as one of the first local galleries to focus primarily on young contemporary Korean artists, suspended its operation indefinitely this week.

“We have decided to pause due to the grim market conditions. We will take this time to reorganize the gallery system,” said Park Won-jae, the gallery’s managing director.

Another official from the local art industry echoed Park’s concerns, saying that, except for the biggest few players, “many galleries are weighing suspension or closure.”

“With the downturn dragging on for more than two years, even galleries that have barely managed to hold on are now reaching their limits,” added the official.

OTHER ART BUSINESSES TAKE A HIT

The lengthy slump has taken a toll not only on galleries but also on other art businesses.

All of this year’s fractional art offerings have failed to attract investors, remaining mostly undersubscribed.

ArtnGuide’s fractional public offering of Yayoi Kusama’s iconic “Pumpkin,” valued at 740 million won ($544,100), reached only 50% of its subscription target, underscoring weak investor appetite.

ArtnGuide is a Seoul-based fractional artwork investment platform operated by local startup Yeolmae Company.

Many other art-related startups are said to be on the verge of business shutdown, according to industry sources.

With no clear recovery on the horizon, some raise concerns that Frieze could exit Seoul after its five-year contract for a joint art fair with the Galleries Association of Korea ends in 2026.

As one of the world’s top two art fairs alongside Art Basel, Frieze launched its first art fair in Asia in Seoul in 2022.

Frieze hosts an international contemporary art fair in London, New York, Los Angeles and Seoul, and the main London event takes place every October in Regent's Park.

ASIA ART HUB

It chose Seoul as its international art fair destination after Korea’s capital city emerged as one of the fastest-growing art markets since the mid-2010s.

Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, ample liquidity flowed into the Korean art market, with those in their 30s and 40s actively participating in the country’s art auction scene.

That was also the time when many foreign galleries flocked to Seoul to open their branches in the city.

But the number of major global players joining Frieze Seoul has been on a steady decline, said an official from the local art market.

“This suggests Frieze Seoul’s turnover is lower than expected,” added the official.

But some others argue that Frieze Seoul would stay after the expiry of the contract, considering that there is no attractive alternative to Seoul as an Asian art hub for now.  

“Hong Kong, once Asia’s art center, is becoming increasingly China-centric, and the city’s art market remains mired in deep recession as trade tensions between China and the US persist,” said an official from a foreign gallery.

Reflecting such concerns, Meyer Riegger Gallery, located in Berlin, Karlsruhe and Basel, opened its Seoul branch last year.

MASSIMODECARLO also made its foray into Korea last year. Founded in Milan in 1987, the gallery has played a vital role in promoting Italian artists and contemporary art for over 30 years.

Write to Soo-Young Seong at syoung@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.