More than 100 galleries will be taking part in the inaugural edition of Frieze Seoul, with nearly half of the exhibitors based in the Asia Pacific region and a section dedicated to Asian galleries that are 12 years or younger.

Scheduled to run at the exhibition center COEX from September 2 to 5, with the first day serving as a VIP preview. Frieze Seoul is the fair’s first venture in Asia. (The London-based fair also has editions in New York and Los Angeles.) It will be run alongside KIAF, the veteran local art fair operated by the Galleries Association of Korea.

“There is a powerful sense of anticipation that gives every indication of the strong appetite for Frieze Seoul,” says the fair’s director Patrick Lee in a statement. South Korea has been flexing its cultural muscles in recent years, becoming one of the most important art markets in Asia, after Hong Kong, and attracting Western galleries to open outposts there. South Korean collectors have also been buying internationally, making a strong appearance at Art Basel earlier this month.

Tao Hui, presented by Kiang Malingue in the Focus Asia section at Frieze Seoul 2022. Still from Being Will (2021), single-channel HD video, color, with sound, 12 min 3 sec. Commissioned by Macalline Art Center. Image courtesy of the artist and Kiang Malingue.

The inaugural edition of Frieze Seoul will be divided into three sections. The main one will feature a mix of 90 international, regional and homegrown galleries; a Frieze Masters section will showcase 18 galleries offering classic collectibles and works of art from Old Masters to the late 20th century; and Focus Asia will highlight 10 solo artist presentations by Asia-based galleries that have opened since 2010. Horizon Art Foundation’s chief artistic director, Christopher Lew, and Hyejung Jang, a Seoul-based curator, serve as curatorial advisors of the Focus Asia section.

Around 47 percent of the exhibitors have outlets in Asia, including a number of international galleries that have already opened shops in Seoul, such as Gladstone Gallery, König Galerie, Lehmann Maupin, Pace Gallery, Perrotin, Thaddaeus Ropac, and Various Small Fires, all showing in the main section.

International names that have a presence in other parts of Asia are also featured in the main section, including Massimo De Carlo, Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, LGDR, Almine Rech, White Cube, and David Zwirner. Belgian dealer Axel Vervoordt, who has a space in Hong Kong, and Galleria Continua, which has seven locations including one in Beijing, are featured in the Frieze Masters section. Tabula Rasa Gallery, which operates in Beijing and London, is featured in Focus Asia, presenting British artist Laetitia Yhap.

Twelve galleries at the fair are Korean-owned, including Kukje Gallery, PKM, Gallery Hyundai, Arario Gallery, Leeahn Gallery, and Hakgojae Gallery. Some of them are among the 15 galleries that are new to Frieze, including Jason Haam, Johyun Gallery, Whistle, and P21.

A range of Asian galleries are also represented in the fair. These include Anomaly, Moho Kubota Gallery, Tomio Koyama Gallery, and Taka Ishii from Tokyo, Shanghai’s Bank and Don Gallery, Singapore’s STPI and Yeo Workshop, TKG+ from Taipei, and the Manila-based The Drawing Room. Empty Gallery and Kiang Malingue (which also operates in Shanghai) are the only Hong Kong galleries in the line-up.

It is uncertain if any of these galleries will also be showing at KIAF as the Korean fair has yet to announce its exhibitors list.

See the full list of exhibitors below:

Main Sector:

Frieze Masters

David Aaron, London
Acquavella Galleries, New York, Palm Beach
Cardi Gallery, Milan, London
Castelli Gallery, New York
Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins, Havana, Rome, São Paulo, Paris Daniel Crouch Rare Books, London, New York
Les Enluminures, New York, Paris, Chicago
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books, Basel, Stalden
Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, New York
Annely Juda Fine Art, London
Mazzoleni, London, Turin
Richard Nagy, London
Robilant+Voena, London, Milan, Paris, New York
Skarstedt, New York, London, Paris
Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, Tokyo, Beijing
Tornabuoni Art, Florence, Milan, Paris
Axel Vervoordt, Wijnegem, Hong Kong

Focus Asia

Dastan Gallery, Tehran, presenting Ali Beheshti
Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai, presenting Rana Begum
Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong, Shanghai, presenting Tao Hui
P21, Seoul, presenting Sungsil Ryu
Parcel, Tokyo, presenting Osamu Mori
ROH, Jakarta, presenting Bagus Pandega, Kei Imazu
Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto, Tokyo, Lisbon, presenting Kimiyo Mishima
Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing, London, presenting Laetitia Yhap
Whistle, Seoul, presenting Hejum Bä
Yeo Workshop, Singapore, presenting Fyerool Darma