Gallery Hyundai Exterior ©Gallery Hyundai
Gallery Hyundai, one of Korea’s major galleries, is participating in Art Basel, Basel in Switzerland, starting with a VIP opening on the 13th and running through the 18th. Gallery Hyundai is participating for the first time in 16 years since 2008 and will introduce more than 40 works by monochrome painting master Ufan Lee and ceramic artist Park Young-sook.
In the past, Gallery Hyundai has missed out on Art Basel in Miami and Hong Kong, as well as Art Basel in Switzerland, due to criticism of the gallery’s investment in Korean auction house K-Auction. (The two companies have since separated and no longer have any equity or business exchanges.) But during that time, Gallery Hyundai has been looking for opportunities around Art Basel. During the 2007 edition of Art Basel, it introduced top Korean artists through the Bayeler Gallery in Switzerland, and in 2021, it was invited to participate in Art Basel Miami, USA. Art Basel approved Gallery Hyundai’s participation this year after years of only considering applications from domestic galleries.
Art Basel is the world’s largest art fair, dating back to the 1970s, with 284 world-class galleries participating in the main exhibition, ‘Galleries’, as well as the ‘Feature’, ‘Statements’, and ‘Edition’ sections, and the ‘Unlimited’ exhibition, which features installations, ‘Film’, which showcases film projects by artists from around the world, and ‘Messeplatz’, which hosts a variety of live concerts and performances, among which Gallery Hyundai will participate in ‘Galleries’, ‘Unlimited’, and ‘Film’.
The main event, ‘Galleries,’ will feature more than 40 large-scale white and porcelain works by artist Ufan Lee and ceramicist Park Young-sook, who have collaborated for more than 30 years. ‘Unlimited’ is an Art Basel highlight featuring 76 large-scale installations, including video installations by Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho. In addition, the ‘Film’ section will present “Delivery Dancer’s Sphere” a work by Kim A-young that captures sensitive contemporary issues in a new video language.
HyungTeh Do Gallery Hyundai’s owner and CEO said that Art Basel “will be an important platform to promote Korean art,” adding, “Gallery Hyundai will showcase the uniqueness and artistry of Korean art to the world with the exhibitions and programs we have prepared in Basel.”
