d+a | Issue 127 • 2023

91 Star power has also shone a light on contemporary art. Song Min Ho of boyband Winner and Henry Lau of Super Junior-M, K-pop idols with noted artistic flair, have exhibited at the annual START Art Fair organised by London’s Saatchi Gallery. Famous Korean celebrity art aficionados and collectors have also lent their star appeal to their contemporaries and counterparts. Art enthusiast Kim Nam Joon, better known as RM of global K-pop sensation BTS, has collaborated with artist Sungsic Moon by having the latter create the cover art for his single ‘Bicycle’. Moon, at 25, was the youngest artist to have exhibited at the Korean Pavilion in the 2005 Venice Biennale. RM also donated USD84,000 to the MMCA (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea) Foundation to support the printing of rare and out-of-print art books in 2021. Lee Jung Jae of Squid Game fame and Big Bang’s Choi Seung Hyun (better known as T.O.P) are known supporters of contemporary artist Jina Park, whose art draws from and is inspired by Surrealism. Also noteworthy is the fact that T.O.P, who once revealed that he spends a whopping 95% of his income buying art, is the great-grandnephew of the late Dansaekhwa master KimWhan Ki. “The Korean art market is flourishing and expanding,” observes Joo Min Young, director of Johyun Gallery. Art exhibitions of various sizes are aplenty in the city, and younger audiences are showing a growing interest in art collecting. Kang So Jung, a director at Arario Gallery, opines that while this group of younger collectors may be spending far less on art than their older counterparts once did, there is no doubt that they will be the movers and shakers of the art market in the near future. With robust art infrastructure and a rich pool of talent to boot, demand for art from this growing group of high-profile and inquisitive collectors could be the boost that Seoul needs to progress and thrive in the global art world. (Facing page) Thaddaeus Ropac opened its first Asian outpost in Seoul in 2022. (Below) The works of Park Seobo, a pioneer in the Dansaekhwa art movement are very much in demand despite the astronomical price tags. The artist’s solo exhibition was a highlight at Johyun Gallery.