What to see at Frieze Seoul 2025

Frieze Seoul is back for its fourth edition, returning to COEX from 3-6 September 2025, running alongside Kiaf, South Korea’s leading art fair. Located in the heart of Gangnam at K-POP Square, the 2025 iteration of Frieze Seoul features presentations from over 120 galleries from more than 30 countries, plus a programme of performance art, film, talks, and artist projects. Gallerists, collectors, curators, artists, along with a K-pop star or two will travel there to immerse themselves in Seoul’s robust art scene.

‘Frieze serves as both a catalyst and an anchor for the city,’ Frieze Seoul director Patrick Lee told Wallpaper*. ‘The energy during the week, the engagement with a global audience, and the interaction between galleries, collectors, curators, and museums is deeply rewarding. Being a platform that connects people in support of artists and their work is at the heart of what we do. Ultimately, seeing this mission activate an entire city and continue to thrive each year is incredibly inspiring.’

From new galleries to around town, what to see at Frieze Seoul 2025

Inside the fair

Nearly two dozen galleries will exhibit at the fair for the first time, including Leo Gallery (Shanghai), Dirimart (Istanbul), and ThisWeekendRoom (Seoul). New York’s Carvalho will present its inaugural Frieze Seoul stand, a solo exhibition of works by London-based artist Yulia Iosilzon, whose dreamy paintings were influenced by the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus. Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based Make Room is showing Xin Liu, Sun Woo, Pia Ortuño, and Linn Meyers for its Frieze Seoul debut.

The Korean galleries have a stellar line-up; Kukje Gallery will show the breadth of Korean and Korean diaspora artists, from key Dansaekwha masters Park Seo-Bo and Ha Chong-Hyun to contemporary artists such as Haegue Yang, along with Byron Kim and Michael Joo. Gallery Hyundai will present three pivotal Korean artists: Chung Sang-Hwa, John Pai, and Kim Bohie.

Women will dominate the booth at San Francisco’s Jessica Silverman, with a presentation of four female artists: Andrea Bowers, Clare Rojas, Davina Semo, and Chelsea Ryoko Wong. Mind Set Art Center will also highlight women artists, with ‘Chora: A Feminine Space’ – featuring Juin Shieh, Ana Maria Micu, Marina Cruz, Lo Yi-Chun, Lee Jo-Mei and Yang Yu-Ning – exploring female identity and memory through a cross-generational selection.

Global galleries

The wide range of global galleries will show a mixed bag of emerging and established artists from their roster. Lehmann Maupin will show Korean artists Do Ho Suh (currently showing at Tate Modern in London) and Sung Neung Kyung alongside rising artists Anna Park and Tammy Nguyen. Sprüth Magers will feature a large-scale wall work by Robert Morris as one of the central pieces, as well as the gallery’s most important artists – George Condo, John Baldessari, Jenny Holzer, and Rosemarie Trockel, and new additions Gala Porras-Kim and Mire Lee. Esther Schipper’s booth will show Yeesookyung, Ryan Gander, Ugo Rondinone, and Simon Fujiwara. Massimo De Carlo will show a mix of works for a cross-generational group of artists, Alighiero Boetti, Paola Pivi, and Dominique Fung. Almine Rech will spotlight prominent Korean artists such as Ha Chong-Hyun, Kim Tschang-Yeul, and Kim Yong-Ik, along with historical works by John Giorno, and contemporary artists Chloe Wise and Claire Tabouret.

Hauser & Wirth is also showing a cross-generational mix, including artworks by Louise Bourgeois and Cathy Josefowitz with contemporary artists Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Rita Ackermann, Avery Singer, and Mark Bradford. Historic works by Adolph Gottlieb and Yoo Youngkuk will be the main attractions at Pace, which will also show Elmgreen & Dragset, Alicja Kwade, Kylie Manning, and Adam Pendleton. David Zwirner will show photographs by Wolfgang Tillmans (who also has an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris) and mini Lisa Yuskavage, artists from its roster who both currently have museum shows (Tillmans at the Centre Pompidou in Paris). Takashi Murakami will be the focal point of the group show at Gagosian.

Frieze Masters

Frieze Masters returns with concise presentations that connect eras – from rare manuscripts to late-20th-century highlights. Standouts include: Regis Krampf Gallery’s post-Cubist Georges Braque canvases (such as Les Rougets, 1937 and Baigneuse II, 1930-31); Hakgojae’s nine-artist homage to the 18th-century moon jar (from KIM Whanki and Park Soo Keun to Nam June Paik and Yun Suknam); Les Enluminures’ show of illuminated treasures and jewelled rarities (a 14th-century Roman de la Rose – an allegorical poem – a Golconda diamond court necklace, an emerald ring possibly from Muzo); Tokyo Gallery + BTAP’s Mono-ha/Dansaekhwa dialogue (Koji Enokura, Park Seo-Bo, Kumi Sugai); Gana Art’s Oh Su-Fan God of Valley series; Spurs Gallery’s solo exhibition of German artist Ulay (including early actions, Auto-Polaroids, and Relation Works with Marina Abramović); Mazzoleni’s post-war Italians (Bonalumi, Castellani, Pistoletto, Salvo); and Asia Art Center’s rare post-war Taiwanese works by Chu Weibor, Ju Ming, and Yuyu Yang.

And finally – don't miss these institutional exhibitions during Frieze Seoul Week

After a stint at Hamburger Bahnhof in autumn 2024, the Mark Bradford retrospective ‘Keep Walking’ is currently on view at the Amorepacific Museum of Art (APMA), through January 2026.

At the Leeum Museum of Art in the Yongsan District, multidisciplinary artist Lee Bul will open a major retrospective spanning four decades, from the 1980s to the present.

Adrián Villar Rojas will present his first solo exhibition in Korea, ‘The Language of the Enemy’ at Art Sonje Center, deconstructing the institutional structure of the museum through one monumental sculpture.

The late Kim Tschang-Yeul, one of South Korea’s most prominent contemporary artists, known for blending Western modernism with a Korean perspective, has a retrospective on view through December 2025 at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (MMCA).

South Korea’s first major Louise Bourgeois exhibition in 25 years opens at the Ho-Am Art Museum in Yongin. Expect to see the late artist's diaries and psychoanalytic notes, along with her earlier works.

The Seoul Mediacity Biennale explores the intersection of technology and spirituality through artists like Nam June Paik, Hilma af Klint, Joseph Beuys, and Mike Kelley at the Seoul Museum of Art through November 2025.