Asian Import

May 2008 Movers+Shakers

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Art of the Diehl

Ron Arad Do-Ho Suh Bien-U Bae Vanessa Beecroft Marc Quinn Yong Ho Ji Piece by Piece Debut Design Sale Misses Estimates at Phillips U.K.

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Seoul-based Gana Art is the most recent Korean gallery— after Arario’s splashy opening last year—to take up residence in Manhattan’s Chelsea. New York director Jung Bong Lee opened the branch at 564 West 25th Street in March, the latest sign that contemporary Korean art is gaining serious ground in the West.

The two-story, 7,400- square-foot storefront space (formerly home to Yvon Lambert, who moved to 21st Street), designed by New York–based architect Ji You Lee—no relation— joins a vast Gana empire. Founded 25 years ago by Lee’s father, Ho-Jae, it now encompasses galleries in Busan and Paris, in addition to the Seoul flagship; the JangHeung Art Park Museum, outside Seoul; and the Seoul Auction House (soon to go public).

In Busan and Seoul, Gana shows some Westerners, including Ron Arad, Vanessa Beecroft and Marc Quinn, alongside native talents. The New York space, however, will focus on Korean artists. The inaugural show featured Bien- U Bae’s sublime photographs of pine trees ($40–80,000), and on view through May 10 are Yong Ho Ji’s “mutant animal” recycled-tire sculptures ($30–50,000). With such up-and-comers, not to mention stalwarts like Lee Bul and Do Ho Suh (both represented in New York by Lehmann Maupin), Lee says, “Korean art is not a local market anymore.”

"Asian Import" originally appeared in the May 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's May 2008 Table of Contents.