Exhibition view of “V8” (CYLINDER,
2022) ©CYLINDER
On the 6th, Frieze announced its list of
five galleries to watch this year, and the young gallery in Seoul 'CYLINDER'
was selected.
Founded in 2020 in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, CYLINDER plays
the role of an intermediary connecting alternative and commercial art,
contributing to the creation of diverse art ecologies. The gallery has
showcased the works of young Korean artists who are making significant strides
both domestically and internationally, including Hyangro Yoon, Heemin Chung,
Goen Choi, Sungsil Ryu, and Sun Woo Han.
Exhibition view of “TORQUE3 / HIGH BEAM”
(CYLINDER, 2023) ©CYLINDER
Originally the studio of artist
Dooyong Ro, this space now serves as a stepping stone for emerging artists to
take their next step. For example, CYLINDER has been running the exhibition
series ‘TORQUE’ since 2021 to support undergraduate artists at the beginning of
their careers. Now in its 5th edition, the ‘TORQUE’ series will be held at
CYLINDER ONE in Gwanak-gu this February.
While CYLINDER ONE primarily
introduces emerging artists, CYLINDER TWO in Yongsan-gu focuses on exhibitions
of mid-career artists. On the 25th, CYLINDER will open its first exhibition of
the year, a group show titled “Soft Stratum” featuring Rim Park, Niklas Asker,
Sungho Bae, and Hyunseog Oh, at CYLINDER TWO.
CYLINDER, Booth view of Sinae Yoo’s
solo booth at Frieze Seoul 2023 ©CYLINDER
Frieze recognized CYLINDER for
its active role in showcasing young and promising artists, as well as its
participation in international art fairs. CYLINDER won the Focus Asia Stand
Prize at Frieze Seoul in 2023 and garnered significant attention for being the
first Korean gallery to participate in the LISTE Art Fair, a satellite fair of
Art Basel, in 2024.
The five galleries selected as
ones to watch this year, alongside CYLINDER, are NIKA Project Space (Dubai,
Paris), Sea View (Los Angeles), a. SQUIRE (London), and Schiefe Zähne (Berlin).
References
Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.
