The Korea International Art Fair, the biggest art fair in Korea, kicked off Tuesday, introducing a wide range of artworks presented by 182 local and international galleries at Coex.

In its 14th year, the fair invites leading galleries in Korea and from overseas, including Kukje Gallery, Arario Gallery and Hakgojae Gallery in Korea, Pearl Lam Gallery in Hong Kong and Tomio Koyama Gallery in Japan.

Featured artists include world-renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik, Tracey Emin, Kim Tschang-yeul, Romero Britto and Lee Lee-nam.

This year’s fair designates Japan as a guest country to highlight Japanese contemporary art. It invites 20 leading Japanese galleries, such as Mizuma Art Gallery, Kenji Taki Gallery and Galerie Tokyo Humanite, representing emerging and established Japanese artists including Kishio Suga, Makoto Aida and Amano Yoshitaka.

A separate section, sponsored by Lotte Department Store, is dedicated to show representative works of respected Japanese artists, including Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Kohei Nawa and Yoshimoto Nara.

The fair has turned hallways between gallery booths into exhibition spaces for large installations and sculptures of major Korean players, such as Kwon O-sang, Choi Jeong-hwa and Lee Hwan-gwon. 

The fair opened Tuesday exclusively for VIP clients in an attempt to attract veteran, top-tier art collectors. It’s open to the public from Wednesday through Sunday.

“This is to revitalize the depressed art market and attract more sales of artworks,” said Park Wu-hong, president of Dongsanbang Gallery and chairman of the KIAF committee.

This year’s talk programs present diverse lectures on art investment strategies, recent art market trends and Korean monochrome paintings, offered by art and financial experts. 

For more information, visit www.kiaf.org.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)