Propelled by the Korean Wave that has swept across the globe in recent years, Korean contemporary artists are also gaining popularity and recognition on the international stage. To further promote the works of the prominent artists and noteworthy emerging artists, including but not limited to Korean artists, Seoul Auction opens its private sale gallery SA+ in Hong Kong.
Seoul Auction, founded in 1988, is the largest art auction house in Korea. The year 2018 marks not only the 20th anniversary of its establishment but also the 10th anniversary since the company stepped foot in Hong Kong in 2008. In Korea, the business scope of the auction house ranges from antiques to jewels to wines. In Hong Kong, the new gallery space focuses more on exhibiting and selling contemporary art, or possibly serves as a small auction room for future auctions.
Seoul Auction believes the close vicinity with other renowned galleries such as David Zwirner, Pace Gallery and Whitestone will draw in a diversity of potential collectors and art enthusiasts to its new space on the 11th floor of H Queen's, a building designed to be at the center of Hong Kong’s art and lifestyle.
Celebrating its big step forward to become an international auction house, Seoul Auction presents UFAN x KUSAMA, an exhibition showcasing works of two widely-acclaimed contemporary artists, Lee Ufan and Yayoi Kusama.
Lee Ufan, From Line
Lee Ufan, From Point
Lee Ufan, a Korean painter and sculptor who later moved to Japan in 1958, rose to prominence in the late 1960s as a pioneer of the Mono-ha (school of things) art movement in Japan. His works explore infinity through creation and extinction, existence and dissolution. Started with the From Point and From Line series in the 1970s, his style has shown fascinating evolution to the From Winds and With Winds series in the 1980s, to the Correspondence series in the 1990s, and finally to the recent Dialogue series in the mid-2000s to present.
There has been growing interest in Lee's works in auctions. One of his work, titled From Line (image above), was sold for US$2.165m with buyer's premium at Sotheby's New York in 2014.
Yayoi Kusama, Statue of Venus Obliterated by Infinity Nets
Yayoi Kusama, Soul Burning Flashes
Yayoi Kusama, Japanese contemporary artist who is best known for her works of "infinity nets" (with hallucinatory loops and polka dots), is one of the most sought-after artists today. The exhibition presents her net paintings, pumpkin paintings as well as Venus sculpture which is entirely covered by her signature "infinity nets".
U F A N x K U S A M A
Period: 2018/2/8 - 3/17
Opening hours: 10am - 7pm
Venue: SA+ Seoul Auction Hong Kong
Address: 11/F, H Queen's, Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong
Free admission