Choi Goen (Frieze Seoul)

Korean installation artist Choi Goen has won the 2024 Artist Award and her work will be on display at the fair's venue at Coex in southern Seoul, Frieze Seoul announced Monday.

The third edition of the global art fair is to be held from Sept. 4 to 7 at Coex, bringing together some 110 galleries from across the globe. The global art fair takes place in collaboration with the country’s homegrown international art fair, Kiaf Seoul.

“The award enables an emerging or mid-career artist to realize an ambitious new body of work that will then debut at the fair,” Frieze Seoul mentioned in a press release.

Choi gathers common objects she uses in daily life, such as furniture, home appliances and pipes, and presents the objects as sculptures and installations works that interact with the exhibition space.

Choi’s winning commission will take the form of two large-scale sculptures, White Home Wall: Welcome and Gloria, transforming discarded industrial elements to create a dialogue on the materiality of technology. The award is supported by Bulgari, according to Frieze Seoul.

“I am delighted that the Artist Award at Frieze Seoul remains a cornerstone of our programming for a second year. … We are privileged to showcase artists of Goen's caliber at Frieze Seoul, and eagerly anticipate our audience discovering more about her remarkable work,” said Patrick Lee, director of Frieze Seoul.

The jury for the award consisted of Sungah Serena Choo, curator at Leeum Museum of Art, artist Jeon Joon-ho, Kim Sung-woo, curator and director at Primary Practice, and Yung Ma, a senior curator at Hayward Gallery.

The inaugural Artist Award at Frieze Seoul last year went to Korean emerging installation artist Woo Hannah, who presented an installation of “The Great Ballroom” at Frieze Seoul.