Frieze Establishes Permanent Presence in Seoul
145Sept. 3, 2025
International art-fair operatorFriezeis set to openFrieze House Seoulon September 2, concurrent with the launch of Frieze Seoul 2025. The exhibition space, inside a former residence in the city’s Yaksu-dong neighborhood, allows Frieze to maintain a year-round presence in the burgeoning art hub and is modeled after No. 9 Cork Street, its venue occupying two town houses in London’s Mayfair district.
“As part of Frieze’s long-term strategy, we have built year-round ventures that strengthen the ecosystem and foster a sense of community,” Simon Fox, chief executive of Frieze, told theNew York Times. “Frieze House Seoul builds on this success and will enable galleries from around the world to experience Seoul’s dynamic cultural community all year long.”
Frieze will relocate its offices to the new venue, which will open to the public with the exhibition “UnHouse.” Curated by Jae Seok Kim, the show will “reimagine the home through the eye of queer artists,” Kim told the Times. After the exhibition closes on October 2, the house will be divided into two exhibition spaces, one roughly 860 square feet and the other about 1,500 square feet, with a gravel area reserved for sculpture. Galleries will be invited to use the venue to stage selling shows. Nodding to the cultural differences between Seoul and London, Frieze Seoul director Patrick Lee told the Art Newspaper that Frieze House Seoul would include a variety of artistic disciplines in its programming, mounting shows by architects, filmmakers, and fashion directors, hosting music industry events, and offering a regular series of educational talks and lectures. Lee, who expects strong interest from galleries based in Australia, New Zealand, and other Asia Pacific countries, said that Frieze will also make the space available to “curators and biennials, as well as some foreign government entities” to mount noncommercial exhibitions.