In-ter-alia Gallery

It's hard to believe that the Internalia Gallery (next to Coex Mall at the Samseong subway station in Seoul) was established as recently as 2002. Talk about perfect timing. It's ridden a 7 year international art wave to crest and has become one of the wealthiest private galleries in Korea. Just a couple months back I attended an opening there that included work by Alex Katz, Damien Hirst, Julian Opie, and Keith Haring. So yes, they've got a lot cash. 

Next time you visit COEX, I'd recommend dropping in on Internalia to see what's going on. They are located across from the Duty Free corner of the mall, just beyond the Buddhist temple. I stopped in last night before they closed at six and was surprised to discover four artists that were new to me in a group exhibition that seemed to be united by the content of butterflies and/or flowers in their work. Unfortunately, no information was available in English. 

The work that follows is that of Kyung Dal Pyo, Choe Hyun Joo, Chung Young Han, and Cha Kyu Sun (in that order). 

SOAF @ COEX

The Seoul Open Art Fair is happening at Coex Mall in Gangnam this weekend. Perhaps to distinguish itself from the myriad of other art fairs, perhaps as an ever-too-predictable form of Korean celebrity worship, the fourth annual SOAF had significant floor/ wall space reserved for "celebrity" artists. That alone would seem good enough reason to skip (writing about) the event completely.

Upon entering the hall, a couple prints of Damien Hirst's diamond skulls glittered like McDonald's signs (they are the golden arches of the art world these days) and the rest of the fair exhibited many of the predictable heavy-hitters of the Korean contemporary art scene: Chun Kwangyoung, Kim Tschang (Chang)-Yeul. However, besides these more predictable staples (and the celeb-art), there is always something new to be discovered.


One such artist for me was Kim Hee Jin. His work is currently being exhibited at Keumsan Gallery in Paju (north of Seoul). A small work of his was selling for 600,000 won (US$450), believe it or not. A minuscule amount in this market, which (for some reason) has showed little signs of slowing.