These neighborhoods are known as the international areas, where the American military base and global embassies are headquartered. It’s also seen as the city’s more libertine neighborhood. So it’s not a surprise that many Blue-chip international galleries call Itaewon home.
Pace Gallery
Pace Gallery
Pace has had a presence here since 2018, and this week inaugurates an expanded complex, further cementing its commitment to the region. Opening Sept. 2 are Adrian Ghenie’s first solo exhibition in Asia and new works by teamLab. The new complex also includes the Osulloc Tea House (that does indeed serve teas and cocktails), offering Korean-language versions of Pace publications alongside editions, prints, and multiples by Kohei Nawa and Lee Kun-Yong.
Lehmann Maupin Gallery
The gallery inaugurated a major expansion of their Seoul location with a Lari Pittman show this past fall, and was the first to show Korean-born artist Do Ho Suh beginning in 2000. An exhibition by McArthur Binion opens Sept. 1, continuing the connected bodies of work “DNA:Study” and “(Visual:Ear),” of colorful, jazz-influenced grid paintings.
Various Small Fires
Opened in LA in 2012, the gallery’s name was inspired by Ed Ruscha’s 1964 artist’s book, “Various Small Fires.” Longtime friends Ed Ruscha and Billy Al Bengston inaugurated the Seoul space 3 years ago with a duo exhibition. A Diedrick Brackens show of new wall-based textiles, “together our shadows make a single belly,” opens Sept. 2, the LA-based artist’s first in Asia.
Whistle
Established in 2017 with an emphasis on sensory experiences of art, Whistle represents emerging and mid-career Korean artists including Jiieh G Hur and Gi Young Kim. Known for his sculpture installations that often incorporate colorful squiggles and television sets, Taeyoon Kim presents “Oblique Afternoons” starting Aug. 19.
Still from Temporary Angles, a video work in Taeyoon Kim’s exhibition at Whistle Gallery
Gallery Baton
Song Burnsoo’s new exhibition installed at Gallery Baton
Alongside their Hannam gallery, Baton prioritizes support for under-presented artists with two not-for-profit studio and exhibition spaces and their video and new media art venue, Observation Deck. In “Know Yourself,” Song Burnsoo’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, opening Aug. 23, he presents a series of new works based on the motif of the thorn, which has developed over the course of his 50-year career into a religious symbol for the ups and downs of everyday life.
P21 Gallery
P21’s unique space, made up of two separate adjacent storefronts (P1 and P2), encourages artists to step outside their normal practice to create site-specific installations. Opened in 2017 by Soo Choi, the founder also serves as managing director of König Gallery’s Seoul location (see below). A solo exhibition by queer sculptor and photographer Haneyl Choi opens on Aug. 25.
