d+a | Issue 127 • 2023

89 Gallery recorded a sale each by acclaimed Dansaekhwa artists Lee Ufan and Park Seo Bo, at prices exceeding USD400,000 and USD250,000 respectively. Dansaekhwa is a genre of monochrome painting imbued with Korean sentiments; while rooted in the 1970s post-war era, this genre is still very much relevant and has a profound continuing influence on the Korean artistic landscape today. Kukje Gallery’s Song emphasised that “no discussion of Korea’s contemporary art is complete without mentioning the Dansaekhwa movement”. Also at the 2022 Art Basel, Lehmann Maupin sold Lee Bul’s Study For Light Tower for USD115,000. A recipient of the Ho-Am Prize for The Arts — established in 1990 by South Korea’s largest conglomerate, Samsung — Lee is an accomplished sculptor and installation artist who is highly regarded as one of the leaders in South Korea’s contemporary art scene today. drawing attention: the art, seen Big corporations are increasingly sowing financial support into contemporary art and the nurturing of South Korea’s art talents. Korean beauty conglomerate Amorepacific, founded by avid art patron Suh Sung Whan, endeavours to create a Korean arena for art through its Amorepacific Museum of Art, which is located in Seoul’s Yongsan district. In 2000, French luxury house Hermès launched the biannual Hermès Foundation Missulsang, an art prize that recognises emerging art talents. Its 19th laureate, announced in March 2022, was Ryu Sung Sil.