{"id":140749,"date":"2026-09-02T16:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T16:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/140749\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T16:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T16:23:07","slug":"as-koreas-creative-industries-converge-fine-art-is-riding-the-wave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/140749\/","title":{"rendered":"As Korea\u2019s Creative Industries Converge, Fine Art Is Riding the Wave"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"KiafFrieze<\/a>Even as global platforms like Frieze draw international art lovers and collectors to the country, some argue that the Korean art scene\u2019s real strength still lies in local engagement. Photo by Chris Jung\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The cultural exports of South Korea have never held as much sway in the U.S. as they have in recent years. From the K-pop craze to the rising acclaim of streaming television series such as Squid Game to ongoing genre film imports, the American entertainment market is increasingly comfortable consuming the peninsula\u2019s productions. Still, the country\u2019s fine art scene remains more of an enigma. With evolving artistic factors within South Korea\u2019s borders brushing up against public and private efforts to make the outside world more aware of the nation\u2019s creators<\/a>, the question remains whether the nation\u2019s painters, sculptors and other gallery denizens will ever make the same impact across the Pacific<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Born in South Korea and now based in Copenhagen, chef Kristian Baumann<\/a> enjoys following the journeys of his Korean colleagues and the country\u2019s artists. \u201cIt has such a deep and layered cultural history, and I think we\u2019re now seeing that history unfold in new ways through the creative scene,\u201d he tells Observer. \u201cWhat\u2019s particularly interesting is that I don\u2019t think this recognition comes from one single factor. There\u2019s a real cultural influence, but also a willingness to experiment, innovate and move quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baumann credited Koreans with \u201ca remarkable ability to adapt to change and create space for new ideas to come to life,\u201d and he expects that energy will soon influence the global creative landscape. \u201cThe local scene feels incredibly dynamic right now. I think Korea\u2019s influence across food<\/a>, fine art, beauty and entertainment created something of a domino effect. These creative industries are all deeply connected to our culture, so when people discover one aspect, they do a deep dive into its traditions, societal norms or ingredients. As that curiosity grows, the different industries reinforce one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SKOREA-ART\"<\/a>South Korean sculptor Kim Yun Shin with one of the works in her 2026 retrospective \u201cTwo Be One\u201d at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, South Korea. Photo by Jung Yeon-je \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

South Korea is becoming a rich breeding ground for artists working on large-scale installations, in particular\u2014especially those combining industrial materials with cutting-edge technology. Artists like Kimsooja<\/a>, Do Ho Suh<\/a>, Haegue Yang<\/a> and Lee Bul<\/a> are emerging as leaders of that reconstruction movement.<\/p>\n

Can Yang<\/a>, CEO of DRX<\/a> (a Seoul-based game publishing and esports company utilizing emerging technology), agrees with Baumann that the overall Korean arts scene is becoming a connected ecosystem and moving away from its previous, export-oriented identity. \u201cThe global success of Korean entertainment created greater market confidence domestically,\u201d Yang says. \u201cKorean artists and creators are now developing work for both Korean and international audiences from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yang explains that the expansion of K-pop in particular created new opportunities for Korean artists to participate in global exhibitions, collaborations and commercial projects. He also credits the music craze for encouraging more cross-disciplinary work, which increasingly involved fine artists collaborating with musicians, game developers, filmmakers, brands and technology companies: \u201cThe important point is that fine art is becoming part of a larger conversation about Korean creativity, which includes tradition, technology, craftsmanship and contemporary cultural expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

As South Korea\u2019s capital and largest city, Seoul naturally emerged as the nation\u2019s artistic and cultural hub<\/a>. As the country\u2019s creative industries grow more interconnected, that status is further cemented. \u201cIt\u00a0 developed the infrastructure, institutions and international audience necessary to function as that cultural hub,\u201d according to Yang. \u201cIt is home to leading galleries, design firms, fashion houses, entertainment companies, technology companies, gaming studios, universities and creative communities. These industries constantly influence one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"South<\/a>Late artist Park Seo Bo with works from his Ecriture series at GIZI ART FOUNDATION in Seoul in 2023. Photo by Seung-il Ryu\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Yang cites Seoul\u2019s combination of deep cultural history and rapid innovation<\/a> for its people\u2019s ability to preserve traditional forms while experimenting with new technology, digital media and global business models.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts dense urban environment makes collaboration possible, and its highly connected population is often among the first to adopt new cultural and digital experiences,\u201d he says. \u201cSeoul is no longer only producing work for the rest of the world. International artists, brands, investors and audiences are coming to Seoul to participate in its cultural life. The city is becoming a place where ideas are developed, tested and then experienced globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Eleni Nicolaou<\/a> is an art therapist and creative wellness expert. She drew on concepts of Korean craftsmanship when she founded the therapeutic art programs at Davincified. \u201cThe methods of creating fine art in Korea are rooted in developing a relationship to materials and the hands-on training of working with those materials\u2014not the headlines that are made about K-pop or K-dramas,\u201d Nicolaou says. \u201cKorea\u2019s small, independent art studios take their time and use slow craftsmanship in order to maintain the honesty of the artist\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

She points to Frieze Seoul as a window into the vibrancy of Korea\u2019s art scene<\/a>; the Gwangju Biennale<\/a> is another and perhaps one that\u2019s accessible to more people. That kind of local-first, on-the-ground engagement, she argues, is the key to making art relevant overall: \u201cContemporary art does not have to become an international phenomenon in order to have an impact. It simply needs a person or entity that is going to take notice of the artworks created by their local artist or artistic community.\u201d<\/p>\n

More from Seoul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even as global platforms like Frieze draw international art lovers and collectors to the country, some argue that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[70739,71069,12923,519,71578,61793,65556,71579,2628,17586,34663,71577,2285,71576,171,71575,71076,33],"class_list":["post-140749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","tag-art-market","tag-art-scenes","tag-arts","tag-asia","tag-can-yang","tag-do-ho-suh","tag-drx","tag-eleni-nicolaou","tag-features","tag-frieze-seoul","tag-gwangju-biennale","tag-haegue-yang","tag-international","tag-kimsooja","tag-korean","tag-kristian-baumann","tag-lee-bul","tag-south-korea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}