Jay Jongho Kim, the CEO of Aproject Company, Ltd. announced that the online art market platform K-ARTIST.COM will be pilot launched on Monday, June 27, 2022. The platform aims to develop and establish a transparent and reasonable art market operation system to revitalize the domestic art market and promote Korean artists to the international art market.

K-ARTIST.COM is joined by twenty-one selected artists representing the Korean contemporary art scene, including established artists who have been active in the field since the 2000s, such as Hong Kyoungtack, Lee Donggi, Chung Suejin, Hong Sungchul, Park Meena, Gwon Osang, and Yoo Seungho. Artists who have begun to achieve recognition on the national stage include Son Donghyun, Lee Eunsil, Lee Yunsung, Kim Taedong, and Kim Shinwook.
K-ARTIST.COM will be officially launched in the first half of next year after undergoing a pilot operation for the next six months. Through this process, the platform will consolidate a foundation to actively and constructively introduce artists who represent the Korean contemporary art world to the international art market.

Since November of last year, Aproject Company has also been operating K-ARTNOW.COM, a news and information platform that introduces the Korean contemporary art world to international audiences for the first platform of its type in Korea. The platform has been running a newsletter service both in Korean and in English every Monday. The platform aims to provide selected news and information on the Korean contemporary art scene to promote the excellence of Korean contemporary art.

CEO Kim has been active for about ten years in Korea’s leading art galleries and museums, such as Gallery Hyundai and the Art Center Nabi. Between 2006 to 2017, Kim also worked with galleries in New York, including Gana Art New York. In particular, he served as the general director of the visual arts programs at Doosan, overseeing Doosan Gallery Seoul, Doosan Gallery New York, and Doosan Residency New York and introducing talented Korean artists to the local area for about ten years from 2008 to 2017.

Through these experiences, CEO Kim realized that the lack of a proper art market infrastructure in Korea was inhibiting Korean artists from advancing into the world art market and gaining proper international recognition despite their outstanding competencies. To solve this insufficiency, CEO Kim has been developing an online art market platform that meets global standards after returning to Korea in 2017.

Consistent development in the art market can be achieved through a virtuous cycle structure, which is a rational and transparent market operation structure. To create this structure, it is important to first form a solid primary market by selling outstanding works by excellent artists. The next step entails building a secondary market that deals with resales of the artworks, which is typically the case for artworks by established artists who have built a substantial reputation.

Therefore, being able to access helpful and decisive information about the artist and the work is necessary to objectively understand the value of an artwork. K-ARTIST.COM provides such information and a marketplace through its online platform, which provides information on the Korean artists based on a structure that meets global standards.

After a six-month pilot, K-ARTIST.COM aims to become a platform that contributes to the advancement of Korean contemporary art, and adds to a more diverse representation within the international art world through the works of Korean artists.

The works of artists participating in K-ARTIST.COM can be viewed at A lounge (alounge.space) on the third floor and A gallery (agallery.space) on the first basement floor of the Aiden Cheongdam Hotel until the end of September. The original works can be purchased onsite and online

– Viewing Room –

Date: June 20, 2022 – September 30, 2022
Opening hours: 10:00 – 6:00 (Mon-Sat) 
Location: Aiden Hotel, Cheongdam – A lounge (3F) & A gallery (B1F), (216, Dosan-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea)
Participating Artists:  Gwon Osang, Hong Kyoungtack, Chung Suejin, Hong Sungchul, Park Meena, Lee Donggi,  Lim Sunhee, Ji Yong-ho, Kim Heejo, Lee Yunsung, Kim Taedong, Park Chanmin, Jeong Kyungja, Kim Shinwook, Kim Chunsoo, Jung Jihyun, Son Donghyun, Kim Jipyeong, Lee Jinju, Lee Eunsil, and Yoo Seungho (21 artists)
Inquiries: aproject.company@gmail.com / 0507-1461-7815

References

• K-ARTIST.COM