Frieze Seoul's inaugural Artist Award goes to Woo Hannah

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

Tue, September 26, 2023 | 04:25

Theater & Others

Frieze Seoul's inaugural Artist Award goes to Woo Hannah

Posted : 2023-06-20 15:38

Updated : 2023-06-21 08:19

"The Great Ballroom" (2023), a fabric installation by Woo Hannah, a Seoul-based artist and the winner of the Frieze Seoul's inaugural Artist Award / Courtesy of Frieze Seoul

By Park Han-sol

Korean artist Woo Hannah / Courtesy of Frieze Seoul

Seoul-based artist Woo Hannah has been named the winner of the inaugural Artist Award at Frieze Seoul, Tuesday.

The newly launched prize, sponsored by Bulgari, aims to support young and emerging talent across the globe by providing the opportunity to execute a new commission during the annual Frieze Seoul fair.

Woo's large-scale fabric installation, "The Great Ballroom" ― a continuation of her latest series, "Milk and Honey," which explores the multilayered notions of the body ― will debut at the art fair's second edition, scheduled to run from Sept. 6 to 9 at COEX in the capital city's southern Gangnam District.

"The initiative (Artist Award), which sees its Seoul debut this year, provides invaluable support and significant international visibility for an artist in the early stages of their career," Frieze Seoul Director Patrick Lee said in a statement. "The jury strongly endorsed Woo Hannah for her captivating fabric installations, which thoughtfully examine femininity and invert the traditions of sculpture."

The hanging fabric in "The Great Ballroom," the shape of which is reminiscent of women's breasts, is designed to transform gradually over time due to forces of gravity. The piece thus speaks to the universal idea of aging and the bodily changes that inevitably come with it, according to Frieze Seoul.

To obtain recyclable textiles for her piece, the 35-year-old made multiple visits to small workshops and factories around Seoul's Dongdaemun Market, the largest wholesale shopping district in the country.

Those who want to take a peek into the artist's other similar installations ― such as "Milk and Honey-3" and "Bleeding 7" ― can visit Art Sonje Center in central Seoul in the meantime for a group exhibition, "Living in Joy," that will be on view until June 25.

The international jury of the Frieze Seoul's 2023 Artist Award consisted of Reuben Keehan, curator of contemporary Asian art at Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art in Australia; Kim Sun-jung, artistic director of Art Sonje Center; independent curator Koh Won-seok; Moon Kyung-won, interdisciplinary artist and professor at Ewha Womans University's College of Art and Design; and Seoul-based art critic Andrew Russeth.

hansolp@koreatimes.co.kr