Seoul’s contemporary art world can feel overwhelming. The city is home to some three dozen art museums, more than 100 commercial galleries, and an ever-changing profusion of non-profit and artist-run spaces, offering art lovers an abundance of exhibitions to take in — not just during Frieze Week that occurs every September, but all year round.
The most extensively developed arts district in Seoul can be found in and around the Samcheong-dong neighbourhood, where the city’s highest density of traditional hanok architecture is concentrated between two sprawling palace complexes: Gyeongbokgung to the west and Changdeokgung to the east. Home to aristocrats and well-heeled elites during the Joseon Dynasty, this area has for centuries been the capital’s cultural hub. Today it is anchored by the flagship branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), which in addition to temporary exhibitions and permanent-collection shows also hosts the annual Korea Artist Prize, one of the year’s most anticipated showcases of homegrown talent.
Adjacent to MMCA is the venerable Art Sonje Center, a private institution which since 1995 has helped launch the careers of Korean art-world royalty such as Haegue Yang and Do Ho Suh. The surrounding environs of Samcheong-dong are filled with commercial galleries that offer rotating exhibitions of contemporary artists. The oldest of these is Gallery Hyundai, founded in 1970 when the contemporary art market in Korea was virtually non-existent, followed 12 years later by Kukje Gallery. Located just 400 metres apart (with MMCA in the middle), both of these must-see galleries regularly present some of the best exhibitions the city has to offer.
A detail from ‘Taoist Immortals’, 1776, by Kim Hong-do, part of Leeum Museum of Art’s permanent collection © Courtesy of Leeum Museum of Art
The premier art museum in Seoul — or anywhere in the country, for that matter — is found in the trendy Hannam-dong neighbourhood, which stretches southward from the lower slopes of Mt Namsan toward the banks of the Han River. Here the Leeum Museum of Art boasts a permanent collection with deep holdings in traditional Korean art and porcelain (including 36 National Treasures such as “Taoist Immortals”, a large-scale 18th-century painting by the Joseon Dynasty old master Kim Hong-do) as well as modern and contemporary artists from Rodin to Rothko to Richter. Established in 2004 by the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, this museum has become synonymous with big-budget blockbuster exhibitions of world-renowned artists such as Korean sculptor Lee Bul, who mounts a major survey here this September.
‘Usual Suspects’, 2025, by Shin Min at P21, Seoul © SC Felix. Courtesy of Haneyl Choi and P21
Hannam-dong is a burgeoning cultural hotspot in the city, with a degree of cool cachet that has enticed many major international galleries to open brick-and-mortar outposts there. The first to do so was Pace, which opened a modest space in 2017 before later relocating to a three-storey complex located just steps away from Leeum. Other global heavyweights such as Thaddaeus Ropac, Lehmann Maupin and Esther Schipper have followed suit, building upon the momentum first created in the late 2010s by upstart Korean galleries P21 and Whistle. Perched on the hilly Gyeongnidan-gil street nearby, both galleries have earned a reputation for championing many of the most compelling and innovative artists — such as Haneyl Choi, Shin Min and Hyun Nahm — coming out of Seoul’s art scene in recent years.
A notable destination for blue-chip contemporary art is Amorepacific Museum of Art, named after the Korean skincare conglomerate behind brands like Sulwhasoo and Laneige. The museum is housed within the company’s David Chipperfield-designed global HQ in central Seoul, with cavernous gallery spaces that serve as a staging ground for ambitious solo exhibitions by the likes of Mark Bradford, Elmgreen & Dragset, Lawrence Weiner and Barbara Kruger.
‘Untitled (Burning Canvases Floating on the River)’, c1988, by Seung-taek Lee, on view at the Seoul Mediacity Biennale 2025 © Collection and courtesy of National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
Meanwhile, accessibility is the name of the game for the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), which currently operates five exhibition venues throughout the city — including the recently completed Photo SeMA and SeMA Art Archives — with a sixth set to open in November. Its exhibition programming is the most robust of any Korean institution, and the jewel in its crown is the Seoul Mediacity Biennale. Open from August to November, the biennial’s 13th edition takes place under the theme Séance: Technology of the Spirit, presenting artworks that engage with occult, mystical and spiritual traditions as alternative “technologies” in opposition to modernist rationalism.
‘Bend, Mångata’, 2025, by Min ha Park, who is participating in Panorama at SONGEUN Art and Cultural Foundation during Frieze Seoul © Min Ha Park and Whistle. Photo: Ian Yang
In terms of discovering younger artists, there’s no better place than SONGEUN, a non-profit art space in the city’s Cheongdam-dong neighbourhood south of the Han River. Its long-running SONGEUN Art Award brings together 20 up-and-coming artists in a juried exhibition format, acting as a reliable barometer for what’s next in contemporary Korean art. Smaller but no less respectable is the non-profit tastemaker DOOSAN Gallery, which for more than 15 years has identified and cultivated exceptional emerging artistic talent. Among the most promising recent additions to Seoul’s non-profit art sector is the curiously named Museumhead: a constantly shifting curatorial identity keeps its exhibitions fresh and imaginative, making it a perennial favourite within the artist community.
An installation view of the ‘Surgical Room’ exhibition at CYLINDER earlier this year © Courtesy of CYLINDER
A handful of cutting-edge galleries are also pushing curatorial and creative boundaries in Seoul. CYLINDER, A-Lounge and G Gallery are steady purveyors of highly experimental and frequently provocative artworks that challenge audiences to perceive reality in novel ways, embracing both high-concept and low-brow practices. Furthermore, new arrivals such as WWNN, sangheeut, xlarge and Shower continue to push the boundaries of contemporary Korean art and diversify the art scene by focusing on emerging artists.
2025 marks the fourth iteration of Frieze Seoul. This year, the fair is doubling down on its commitment to the city’s art scene by launching Frieze House Seoul, a permanent exhibition space that will host a slate of shows curated by international galleries throughout the year. With the Centre Pompidou’s Seoul branch, Centre Pompidou Hanwha, scheduled to debut in May 2026, Seoul is truly transforming into a world-class hub of contemporary art.
Six shows to see during Frieze Seoul 2025
Panorama
‘POWPOW’, 2025, by Onejoon Che and Sun A Moon’s AfroAsia Collective © Courtesy of the artist and SONGEUN
Intergenerational show of Korean artists engaging with conceptual concerns.
SONGEUN, August 22-October 16, songeunartspace.org
Korea Artist Prize 2025
Shortlisted artists Kim YoungEun, Im Youngzoo, Kim Jipyeong, and Unmake Lab propose answers to the question: “How can the invisible be made visible?”
MMCA Seoul, August 29-February 1, mmca.go.kr
Kang Seung Lee, Candice Lin: Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me
‘Vomit Clock’, 2025, by Candice Lin © Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Hyundai
Two diasporic Asian artists explore themes of queerness, embodied history and memory.
Gallery Hyundai, August 27-October 5, galleryhyundai.com
Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now
Almost 30 years of sculptures, installations and paintings by one of Korea’s most compelling contemporary artists in a rare hometown survey.
Leeum Museum of Art, September 4-January 4, leeumhoam.org
Adrián Villar Rojas: The Language of the Enemy
The Argentine artist reimagines one of Seoul’s most iconic museums as a single monumental sculpture and a stage for experimental installations.
Art Sonje Center, September 3-February 1, artsonje.org
Seeun Kim: Pit Calls Wall
Painter and rising star Seeun Kim examines the relationship between spatial movement and painterly movement through fragments of urban infrastructure.
Museumhead, July 16-September 6, museumhead.com
Andy St. Louis is director of Frieze House Seoul and founder of Seoul Art Friend