Seoul's art fair week is here

Frieze Seoul kicked off its fifth edition Wednesday at Coex in southern Seoul, where it opened to VIPs and the press a day before the public. More than 130 galleries from 30 countries and regions are taking part in this year's fair, which runs through Saturday.

Sharing the building, as it has every September since 2022, is Kiaf Seoul, the homegrown fair put on by the Galleries Association of Korea. Now in its 25th year, Kiaf brings together 175 galleries from 18 countries and stays open a day longer, through Sunday.

The blue-chip booths are where the crowds head first. New York's Gagosian has devoted its entire stand to Damien Hirst, while Pace, also out of New York, pairs a 1989 Yoo Young-kuk painting with a new James Turrell glass piece.

Austria's Thaddaeus Ropac shows Georg Baselitz alongside Lee Kang-so; Seoul's Kukje Gallery lines up works ranging from dansaekhwa master Ha Chong-hyun to Haegue Yang.