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| Thaddaeus Ropac Seoul located in Hannam-dong, Seoul / Courtesy of Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery ― London, Paris, Salzburg, Seoul |
By Park Han-sol
International art dealer Thaddaeus Ropac has announced the expansion of its current outpost in Hannam-dong, Seoul, with the enlarged exhibition space set to open in time for Frieze Seoul in September.
The Austrian gallerist ― with locations in Salzburg, London, Paris and Seoul ― first opened a space in the upscale neighborhood of Korea's capital city in 2021 to gain a foothold in the Asian market.
Currently nestled on the second floor of the Fort Hill building, Thaddaeus Ropac Seoul will double its space with the addition of a first-floor gallery.
The two floors will concurrently spotlight different icons of 20th-century art ― American Minimalist Donald Judd on the second floor and German conceptualist Joseph Beuys on the first ― to coincide with the second edition of Frieze.
"Each artist had personal ties to South Korea ― Beuys largely through his friendship with Korean artist Nam June Paik, and Judd through the formative year he was stationed in Korea with the U.S. army in 1947, when he was deliberating between becoming an architect or an artist," Ropac said in a statement.
A solo exhibition of Judd's three-dimensional works and paintings will be curated by Flavin Judd, the artist's son and the artistic director of the Judd Foundation. Meanwhile, Beuys' show will feature his paper drawings from his family's collection.
"With the larger space, we can further contribute to Seoul's burgeoning art scene and community," noted Hwang Kyu-jin, the gallery's executive director in Seoul.
With the planned expansion of its Seoul location, Thaddaeus Ropac will be joining a flurry of international exhibitors that have recently strengthened their presence within the Korean art market.
Paris-headquartered Perrotion, which opened its first venue in central Seoul's Samcheong-dong in 2016, unveiled its second outpost in the city's southern Gangnam District last August.
Blue-chip art dealers Pace Gallery and Lehmann Maupin, both of which initially made inroads into Korea in 2017, announced the major expansion of their Seoul spaces in Hannam-dong last year.
And Berlin-based Peres Projects, which had been operating in the basement of the Shilla Seoul hotel since 2022, opened its second location in the city just a year later in April.
Also joining the art scene here this year as a newcomer will be White Cube. The powerhouse international gallery is scheduled to open its permanent exhibition space in Gangnam District this autumn.
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