7 Artists at Frieze Seoul with Museum Shows in Korea

From 20th-century masters to contemporary talents, many artists from around the world being shown at Frieze Seoul 2025 are also featured in major exhibitions in the capital and beyond. Visitors to the fair will have the chance to encounter artists with blockbuster solo shows at Leeum Museum or who are part of the dynamic Seoul Media City Biennale. Discover screenprints by the likes of Lee Bul and Louise Bourgeois, stories behind the water drops of Kim Tschang-Yeul and Antony Gormley’s meditation on the body and space.  

Kim Tschang-Yeul | Almine Rech, BHAK, Johyun Gallery  

Kim Tschang-Yeul Retrospective | MMCA (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Seoul | 22 August – 21 December 2025

Almine Rech, BHAK and Johyun Gallery are all bringing work by the ‘painter of water drops’, Kim Tschang-Yeul (1929–2021). Kim’s major retrospective at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art from 22 August to 21 December will shed new light on the artist’s creative world which sublimated the tragedies of modern history into droplets.  

In a documentary produced by his son, he explained, ‘I saw countless deaths and cruelty. Perhaps the reason why I chose water droplets in the beginning was to get rid of all the memories of humankind, and the unbearable pain...’ Recurrence, presented by BHAK, is part of a series where water droplets are layered on top of the Thousand Character Classic, a reference to learning from his grandfather as a child, as well as the artist’s return to ‘the East’.  

Louise Bourgeois | Galerie Lelong  

‘Louise Bourgeois’ | Hoam Museum of Art, Yongin | 30 August 2025 – 4 January 2026 

Galerie Lelong presents the works of Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), in time for the Hoam Museum’s solo exhibition of the artist. Galerie Lelong will bring etchings, emblematic of both the early and late phases of Bourgeois’s artistic career, printed in the 2000s. The exhibition at Hoam Museum of Art, from 30 August to 4 January next year, is the first institutional solo exhibition dedicated to the artist in South Korea in 25 years. Early paintings, diaries and psychoanalytic journals will be on display to provide a deeper understanding of her inner life, as well as show-stopping pieces such as the bronze cast of Maman (1999).  

Lee Bul | BB&M, STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery  

‘Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now’ | Leeum Museum, Seoul | 4 September 2025 – 4 January 2026

BB&M and STPI bring works of Lee Bul in time for the first iteration of her international tour, on view at Leeum Museum from 2 September to 1 January 2026. The exhibition will explore the relationship between humans and technology. BB&M presents a new example from Lee Bul’s ‘Perdu’ series that combines intricate inlays of mother-of-pearl and layers of acrylic paint repeatedly applied and sanded down to reveal forms reminiscent of Lee’s early biomorphic sculptures, evoking ideas of utopian modernity, also observed in her large-scale installations. Meanwhile, STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery brings Lee’s copper screenprints on paper created in collaboration with the gallery during her residency.  

Wing Po So, Angela Su | Blindspot Gallery  

13th Seoul Media City Biennale: ‘Séance: Technology of the Spirit’ | SeMA (Seoul Museum of Art) | 26 August – 23 November 2025 

Blindspot Gallery is bringing the works of Hong Kong artists Wing Po So and Angela Su, who will both participate in the upcoming Seoul Mediacity Biennale, from 26 August to 23 November. Wing Po So creates mixed-media works and installations stemming from her formative encounters with traditional Chinese medicine. The artist will create new kinetic sculptures that straddle animal and vegetative forms, moving ever so slightly, as if esuggesting a life within. Angela Su, having represented Hong Kong in the 2022 Venice Biennale, will have hair embroideries on display in the booth, depicting body parts punctured and sewn, unfurling the female body as a site of resistance and healing. The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale will also be in collaboration with the 2025 edition of Frieze Film.  

Antony Gormley | Thaddaeus Ropac 

Antony Gormley: ‘Drawing on Space’ | Museum SAN, Wonju | Until 30 November 2025  

Antony Gormley’s meditation on the human form, which began with casting his own body in plaster, has evolved into increasingly abstract structures that prompt a reconsideration of how the body exists within space. Coinciding with the largest presentation of Antony Gormley at Museum SAN, on view until 30 November, Thaddaeus Ropac is bringing a carbon-and-casein-on-paper work from ‘Tangle’ series, which defines intimate human relationships as one instance of ‘bodies as space’. Also on view at Museum SAN is ‘Ground’, a newly conceived permanent installation created in collaboration with the artist and Japanese architect Tadao Ando; this marks the first permanent space dedicated exclusively to Gormley’s work worldwide. 

Katherine Bernhardt | David Zwirner  

Katherine Bernhardt | Seoul Arts Center | 6 June – 28 September

Missouri-born artist Katherine Bernhardt’s first and largest retrospective is currently on view at the Seoul Arts Center until 28 September. David Zwirner brings Bernhardt to the fairin work that conflates global consumer culture, childhood memories and everyday obsessions, rendered in electric colours. In this Pink Panther painting, Bernhardt pays homage to Memphis Milano, the 1980s Italian design and architecture group. The painting’s title refers to the flame-accented ‘Santa Fe’ lamp, which is shown above the Pink Panther’s head. 

Further Information 

Frieze Seoul, COEX, 3 – 6 September 2025.

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Frieze Seoul is supported by Headline Partner LG OLED, in a collaboration that merges the worlds of art and technology, and Global Lead Partner Deutsche Bank, continuing over two decades of shared commitment to artistic excellence. 

^{Main image: Kim Tscahng-Yeul, Waterdrops, 1979. Oil on Tinfix on canvas, 55 x 46 cm. Courtesy: the artist’s estate and Almine Rech}