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Frieze Seoul, Kiaf and a Market Moving Past FOMO into Maturity

Five editions in, Frieze Seoul is more Asia-Pacific in scope and Kiaf is sharpening its local identity, even as opening day sales at both fairs suggest Korean collectors are moving with far less urgency than in years past.

The fifth edition of Frieze Seoul opened to VIPs on Wednesday, September 2, avoiding, for the first time, the long-criticized overlap with The Armory Show in New York (which is now part of the same portfolio). It runs, as always, alongside Kiaf at COEX, and the two fairs appear to have refined their specific profiles, both in exhibitor selection and offerings, while perfecting a partnership that involves intense collaboration. An expansive program extends through Seoul via Neighborhood Nights across the city’s gallery districts, serving as a spotlight for the city’s rich and continually expanding arts scene.

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Frieze this year has a lineup of more than 130 galleries from 30 countries, with some notable departures. International dealers such as Perrotin and MASSIMODECARLO are notably absent from the 2026 edition, while still maintaining their presence in the city via outposts and pop-ups. Paula Cooper is also skipping the fair this year but opened an exhibition at Frieze House ahead of the opening with top artists from its roster, much as it would have done at the fair. But many other exhibitors have returned, anticipating a lucrative art week thanks to Seoul’s strong system of institutions and culture of corporate and private collecting.

The fair’s focus has shifted toward the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 70 percent of exhibitors hailing from the region, demonstrating both the growth and consolidation of South Korea’s market in particular, with galleries and artists rising quickly over the past five years. Flourishing demand for cultural products and experiences, particularly among younger audiences, is evident throughout the country’s galleries and museums, and Seoul’s art week has turned into a widely embraced celebration, which was not necessarily the case in the past.

Yet Frieze Seoul’s fifth edition is taking place in a very different South Korea, and in a different global art market, without the frenetic energy and packed aisles that defined the first two editions. The overall Korean market was down nearly 25 percent to 615 billion won ($433 million) in 2025 from its 2022 peak. Over the last two years, South Korea’s economic and political climate has shifted markedly, and only in recent months has the country achieved a fragile balance. Political normalization following the June 2025 presidential election, fiscal support, a recovery in domestic consumption and exceptionally strong semiconductor exports have helped stabilize the country’s export-driven economy. The OECD now forecasts 2.6 percent growth in 2026, propelled in particular by the semiconductor cycle. Still, renewed buyer confidence might take longer to be felt, particularly as speculative behavior around the A.I. boom continues to trigger sudden market crashes, as seen at the end of July, when the KOSPI plunged 10.84 percent in a single session, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix among the hardest hit.

Market-wise, things have been less dynamic, Bianca Dolfin, an art advisor and former Bonhams specialist who has lived in South Korea for several years, told Observer. “Political instability and the downfall of the Korean Won haven’t helped. This year, Frieze Seoul and Kiaf will be important barometers of the market’s current health and direction.” Still, she sees the Korean art ecosystem as very exciting: in terms of museums and gallery exhibitions, Seoul ranks second in Asia. “Let’s not forget also the two incredible biennales, Gwangju and Busan, a remarkable achievement for such a relatively small peninsula.”

“This year’s Frieze Seoul went beyond a commercial art fair—you could see it extending into and connecting with the museum exhibitions across the city,” Tae Um, a young Korean collector who recently moved back after a few years in New York, told Observer. He pointed to Yoo Young-kuk, a master of Korean modern art, at the Seoul Museum of Art, set against Damien Hirst, a giant of international contemporary art, at the MMCA. He was also encouraged by the striking number of curators and directors from international museums in attendance this year. “It gives me reason to expect Seoul will emerge more prominently as a center of art in Asia.” LACMA and the Saint Louis Art Museum organized special trips, and Frieze owner Ari Emanuel was in town. The fair confirmed that on preview day, he acquired works from both local and international dealers, including a ceramic sculpture by Park Jong-Jin from Soluna Fine Art, a painting by Chase Hall from David Kordansky and a set of 10 Keith Haring drawings from Gladstone.

Frieze’s opening ultimately showed a market that has matured and moved past its bubble, becoming more conscious and selective, more attentive to locally grown talent alongside international names and more focused on building an institutional base of broader recognition rather than chasing trends and blue-chip status. At the same time, international dealers with a longer presence in Seoul have sharpened their sense of what works with local audiences and tailored their booths accordingly.

Lehmann Maupin dedicated its entire booth to a solo presentation of Do Ho Suh, coinciding with his extensive show at MMCA, which follows the blockbuster survey at Tate last year and anticipates his next milestones at the Guggenheim in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and M in Asia. The gallery sold three of his more domestic sculptural works and thread drawings on handmade cotton paper in the early hours, with others on hold and under discussion.

“We’ve seen an encouraging response at Frieze Seoul so far,” Rachel Lehmann told Observer, describing how it was particularly meaningful to present a solo booth dedicated to Do Ho Suh, whom they have represented for nearly three decades. “We placed a significant number of works on the preview day, with the majority acquired by Asian clients, reflecting the continued resilience and depth of the market in the region.”

Lehmann Maupin opened in Seoul back in 2022, as Frieze launched, appointing Emma Son as director. In just a few years, Son has built solid relationships with collectors, chaebol and institutions, while also meaningfully expanding the roster of local artists so that Koreans can better perceive the gallery as part of the ecosystem—a key point of success for any gallery operating within a system like Korea’s.

By the evening, Lehmann Maupin had also placed a number of works by other Korean artists from its program, including three works by Kim Yun Shin, each in the $30,000-80,000 range, all sold to collectors based in Seoul, with one going to a prominent museum collection in Korea following Kim’s recent solo museum exhibition at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, South Korea. Additionally, the gallery confirmed two new works by Guimi You sold to Asian collectors for a combined total of $30,000-80,000, right after her solo show in New York. From its international roster, the gallery also said it had placed a new painting by American artist Calida Rawles with a prominent Asian foundation, as it builds momentum for her Seoul solo debut in fall 2027.

A longtime presence at the fair and in the city, where it opened a permanent space in 2021, Thaddaeus Ropac was also satisfied overall with the first day, while realistically acknowledging the different conditions under which the fair is taking place, as well as the growth and maturation of the Korean ecosystem in just five years. “It’s fantastic to see how Seoul Art Week has matured across the city, with the impressive institutional developments and the caliber of museum exhibitions. An astounding offering, which is drawing a critical mass of collectors and art lovers,” Ropac commented. The Sehwa Museum of Art is currently presenting a Georg Baselitz retrospective encompassing the artist’s 60-year trajectory; Ropac has represented Baselitz for a long time and regularly shows his work at the fair. For the gallery, the start of Frieze was marked by swift sales, largely to collectors based in Korea but also spanning Asia between Malaysia, China and Hong Kong, as well as a few works going to European and American collectors.

By evening, Ropac was reporting the day’s top sale, a painting by Adrian Ghenie priced at €1.1 million. Among its early sales, the gallery had also placed three works by Heemin Chung, a young rising Korean artist Ropac began working with early on but gave time to solidly build her practice and positioning in the country before a proper solo, priced at $24,000, $33,000 and $28,000........

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